In brief: Downpour doubled Spokane rainfall record

Spokane set a daily record for rainfall on Thursday with 1.18 inches, more than double the previous record of 0.54 inches set in 2003.

Nearly a half-inch of rain fell between 5 and 6 p.m. at Spokane International Airport. The downpour caused local flooding.

Across the region Thursday, rainfall amounts of a half-inch to an inch were common. Coeur d’Alene reported 0.95 inches on Thursday at a measuring location near the lake.

High flow on small streams and creeks was reported. Latah Creek was at 1,260 cubic feet per second at Spokane, about double its average for this time of year.

The Palouse River at Potlatch, Idaho, was flowing at 3,580 cfs due to rain and snowmelt. That was more than five times normal for this time of year.

Mike Prager

19-year-old sentenced for kidnapping, murder

A 19-year-old Spokane man was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison Friday for his role in the murder and kidnapping of a 22-year-old man whose burned body was found in the back of a car last year.

Justice E. D. Sims, 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection to the slaying of 22-year-old Nicholas J. Thoreson, whose remains were found April 13.

According to court records, Sims, his sister Breeana C. Sims, 20, and 21-year-old Taylor J. Wolf brutally beat Thoreson in a garage at the Knotty Pines apartment complex, 13615 E. Trent Ave., in Spokane Valley. Court records indicated that Sims then fatally shot Thoreson.

Both Breeana Sims and Wolf have charges pending.

Staff reports

Senate panel will probe ethics complaint

BOISE – Idaho’s Senate appointed a six-member Committee on Ethics on Friday to investigate a complaint against Senate Resources Chairman Monty Pearce for not revealing conflicts of interest before voting on oil and gas legislation.

The panel will meet Monday at 8 a.m. Chaired by Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, it also includes Sens. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene; Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson; Elliot Werk, D-Boise; Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello; and Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow.

Pearce, who signed a lease to Snake River Oil and Gas in November for his Payette County property, labeled the complaint “political” and denied any wrongdoing.

Betsy Z. Russell