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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Police involved in CdA shooting ID’d

From Staff And Wire Reports

The Coeur d’Alene police officers involved in an exchange of gunfire that left a shooting suspect dead Saturday have been identified.

Officers Mario Rios, Eric Johnson, Bryan Alexander and Brady Reed were involved in the incident, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. They had completed initial interviews with investigators, but the Sheriff’s Office released no details on those interviews.

Christian Nicholas Buquet, also known as Christian Nicholas Mallon, 19, of Hayden, was killed by police after he reportedly shot another man Saturday morning in downtown Coeur d’Alene, then fled, shooting at bystanders as he drove southeast through town. Buquet crashed near Higgens Point on Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive and shot at officers, whose return fire killed him, police said.

The investigation into the shooting is being conducted by a regional team composed of personnel from various law enforcement agencies.

Hart ordered to pay more than $10,000

BOISE – Tax protesting lawmaker Phil Hart has been ordered to pay the state more than $10,000 in legal fees and costs stemming from his tussle with the Idaho State Tax Commission.

The decision was handed down by the Idaho Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Republican representative from Athol was ordered to pay $9,960 in attorney fees and another $168 in costs to cover the commission’s tab in the case.

In June, the high court dismissed Hart’s last-ditch request to consider his state income tax appeal. Months before, the court rejected Hart’s claim that he should not have been held to a 91-day deadline to appeal a $53,000 income tax bill due to the state.

Hart lost his bid for another term when he was defeated in the GOP primary in May.

Owners of historic documents sought

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is looking for the owners of 21 Civil War and World War I-era documents recovered during a recent investigation.

Deputy Craig Chamberlin said the documents include photographs and letters dated as early as 1863.

He said it wasn’t clear where the documents turned up, but authorities believe they were stolen and the owner may not be aware they are missing.

“These are obviously probably pretty sentimental or valuable to somebody, whoever owned them,” he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call (509) 477-3181. The rightful owner of the documents will be asked to provide proof of ownership.

Fire burns homes near Omak, Wash.

OMAK, Wash. – A wildfire that burned two homes near Omak grew to 5,000 acres on Wednesday and threatened an Indian boarding school on the Colville Reservation in north-central Washington, authorities said.

The blaze also burned an outbuilding near the historic St. Mary’s Mission as it neared the Paschal Sherman Indian School, said Kathy Moses, public information officer for the Mount Tolman Fire Center. Both the school and the mission were protected by bulldozer lines, officials said.

The school has about 300 students. About 30 boarding students were evacuated to a motel in Omak, and classes were canceled Wednesday.

The fire broke out Tuesday along a highway and spread through grass and sagebrush by winds up to 35 mph, Moses said. The cause was under investigation. No injuries were reported.

DOT fines Boise charter airline

BOISE – A Boise-based airline company was fined $300,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for allegedly violating rules protecting passengers from cancellations.

Xtra Airways, which moved to Idaho from Nevada in 2010, stopped flying charters for another airline, Direct Air, earlier this year after it didn’t receive payments.

Consequently, DOT said numerous passengers didn’t receive service for which they’d paid.

DOT requires charter operators to have provisions in place to protect consumers’ money if a flight is canceled. Rules also ban canceling most flights less than 10 days before departure.

Xtra said on Wednesday it did everything it could to protect the traveling public and regrets any inconvenience caused to passengers.

Affected flights were between cities in the Midwest and the Northeast, including Niagara Falls, N.Y., to southeastern U.S. destinations.