Traffic school option in Liberty Lake for drivers draws interest

A new program in Liberty Lake that allows people to attend traffic school in order to have their tickets dismissed is garnering a lot of interest, said Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus.

The department has brochures available that have information on the program. “We’ve handed out several of them just today,” Asmus said Monday, the first day of the program.

Drivers can take the six-hour class for $124. They must sign up in person at either the Spokane County District Court window in the downtown Spokane Public Safety Building or at the Spokane Valley Police Precinct, 12710 E. Sprague Ave. Drivers can only participate once every 18 months.

The week of June 25 to July 2 was fairly quiet for the police department, but there were several calls involving misbehaving teens or children. Police were called to the 21200 block of East Country Vista Drive at 10:10 p.m. on June 27 on a report of several teenagers who had jumped the fence of an apartment complex swimming pool. The teens were warned not to enter the pool when it was closed, Asmus said.

A caller told police that kids were breaking branches on trees in Pavillion Park at 7 p.m. on June 27. Officers discovered a group of boys tying ropes to trees and trying to balance on the rope, Asmus said. The third call involved a group of juveniles setting off dry ice bottle bombs in Pavillion Park at 10:45 p.m. on July 1. Their parents were contacted and the children were banned from the park, Asmus said.

There were three arrests for driving with a suspended license during the week and one for third-degree theft. A Spokane resident reportedly took a set of keys from the Trailhead Golf Course and used them to access a range ball machine. An employee told police who he suspected had taken the keys, Asmus said. “We got the keys back and he apologized,” Asmus said.

An investigation into a theft reported on June 23 is continuing and may result in arrests soon, Asmus said. A woman reported a television and iPod missing after a gathering in her home in the 23000 block of East Maxwell Avenue. “We located the items at a pawn shop,” he said.

During the week officers handed out three citations for expired license tabs, two for violating an intermediate license, four for failure to show proof of liability insurance and three for speeding. Additional citations were given for failure to dim headlights, failure to yield right of way and texting while driving.