In brief: SCC president finalist for NIC job

The president of Spokane Community College is one of five finalists to replace North Idaho College’s retiring president, Priscilla Bell.

Joseph Dunlap, who previously served as vice president of learning at SCC, joins administrators from colleges in Illinois, Oregon and Washington in vying for the position, a news release from NIC said.

The five finalists were selected by a 22-member search committee including community, college and other stakeholder groups. Ken Howard, an NIC trustee and search committee co-chairman, said an “unusually high” number of applicants applied for the job.

Bell will retire in June after five years in the position, the release said.

In addition to Dunlap, the candidates are: Jack Becherer, president of Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill. and a past president of Wenatchee Valley College; Karin Hilgerson, vice president for instruction at Central Oregon Community College in Bend and a past executive vice president of instruction at Walla Walla Community College; Nathan “Clark” Williams, vice president of operations at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Ore.; and Denise Yochum, president of Pierce College Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood, Wash.

Open forums for each candidate will be held daily the week of April 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the student union building. Additional information can be found at www.nic.edu/ presidentialsearch/.

Sementi named new WV superintendent

The West Valley School Board unanimously selected Gene Sementi, 53, as the district’s new superintendent during its meeting Wednesday.

Sementi has been with West Valley schools for 23 years and has worked at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

“It’s been said that the most important job a school board does is to hire a superintendent,” said school board chairman Bob Wentworth. “I believe we’ve done that job well again.”

Board member Samuel Andrews told Sementi that he is looking forward to working with him.

“You started out as my elementary principal and moved with me to the middle school and were at the high school with me,” Andrews said.

Current Superintendent Polly Crowley, who will retire in June, said transitions can be stressful, but she was looking forward to making this transition.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” she told Sementi, who will begin his new position July 1.

Man found on deck accused of burglary

A man arrested on suspicion of prowling a home early Wednesday was intoxicated and told deputies “he had no idea what was going on or where he was at,” authorities say.

A homeowner found Brandon L. Woodward, 22, as he was sitting on a chair on the deck of the home in the area of East Sprague Avenue and North Barker Road in Spokane Valley about 2:20 a.m. The man detained Woodward until deputies arrived, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

The homeowner’s wife called 911. He told police he saw a second man run from the backyard before he got outside.

Deputies say Woodward was drunk and possibly on drugs. He was booked into jail on a second-degree burglary charge.