In brief: Tesoro, Walgreens robbed in CdA
The same armed man may have robbed a service station and a drug store in Coeur d’Alene.
Clerks gave police similar descriptions of a white man wearing a black hoodie and displaying a handgun in his waistband, first at a Tesoro station store at 11:47 p.m. Monday, then at a Walgreens at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday.
In the first robbery, at 2301 Sherman Ave., the man stole an undisclosed amount of cash. In the second, at 335 W. Appleway, he demanded cash but left only with stolen cigarettes.
Officers believe he escaped Walgreens in a dark vehicle that traveled east through the parking lot.
The Tesoro robber was described as 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and stubble on the sides of his face, and wearing a black cotton hoodie zipped all the way up with a white ball cap underneath, blue jeans and dusty black work boots.
The Walgreens robber was described as 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 with a slender build and two piercings in his upper lip, and wearing a gray or white billed hat with a black hoodie pulled over it and blue jeans.
Anyone with information on either crime is asked to call the Coeur d’Alene Police Department at (208) 769-2320.
Police seek victims of random attacks
Spokane police are looking for victims of unprovoked assaults similar to one along the Centennial Trail last week.
In light of the arrest of 17-year-old Avondre Graham in the attack of a woman last week on the Centennial Trail, detectives are investigating any similar assaults, said police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe.
The woman was walking on the trail near Mission Park when police say she was attacked by Graham with some sort of mallet Thursday. She suffered a head wound that required stitches.
If anyone has been a victim of an assault or attempted assault this year by an attacker who was a black male in his late teens or early 20s, along the Centennial Trail near Mission Avenue and Perry Street, they should contact the police by filing a report with Crime Check at 456-2233.
Graham appeared in Spokane County Superior Court Monday. He faces first-degree assault and first-degree robbery charges. Police are investigating any possible connection to the slaying of Sharlotte McGill who was stabbed to death in May in the area.
Otter aide to be
construction lobbyist
BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter’s budget chief is leaving at the end of the month to head a major construction lobbying group in the state.
Wayne Hammon, 41, has headed Otter’s Division of Financial Management for five and a half years. A former congressional aide, lobbyist for the National Association of Wheat Growers, and seven-year head of the federal Farm Service Agency in Idaho, Hammon called his new position as executive director of the Idaho Associated General Contractors a “great opportunity.”
He’s the latest in a line of top Otter Administration officials, including two former chiefs of staff, to head directly into lobbying the state government; no Idaho law restricts such moves.
Public invited for transportation input
Members of the public are invited to provide input on a draft transportation plan for the Spokane region for the period from 2013 through 2016.
The meeting is from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the office of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, 221 W. First Ave. The SRTC is located on the third floor of the Intermodal Center building.
The public can drop by at any time during the meeting and review the proposal before providing comment on projects of regional significance, including those with federal funding.
Nearly 300 layoffs coming to Hanford
RICHLAND – Nearly 300 workers will receive layoff notices at Hanford this week.
The Tri-City Herald reports the layoff notices are being handed out to 157 workers at CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., close to 120 employees of Bechtel National and its subcontractor URS, and 11 Mission Support Alliance employees.
The layoffs were expected.
In addition, Washington Closure Hanford is continuing its gradual ramp-down of employment toward the end of its contract in 2015. It laid off fewer employees than expected in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, but plans to cut 385 positions in fiscal 2013.
CH2M Hill’s layoffs were the second phase of a two-part layoff that started with layoffs in June and now totals 218 job cuts.
Several post office employees fall ill
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. – The police chief in Lake Stevens, Wash., said a U.S. Postal Service building was evacuated for about two hours after several employees fell ill.
Chief Randy Celori tells the Daily Herald of Everett that four people taken Tuesday to an Everett hospital were treated and released. They reported symptoms including nausea and difficulty in breathing.
The chief said crews trained in handling hazardous materials searched but found no noxious chemicals. The cause of the ailments is undetermined.
Fire crews ruled the building safe by early afternoon.
In all, about 30 employees were screened by emergency crews.