In brief: $50,000 bond set for suspect in shooting

A man charged with shooting another man during a fight in the victim’s apartment was ordered held Wednesday on a $50,000 bond.

Superior Court Judge James Triplet ordered the bond for Jesse T. Adams, 28, who was charged with first-degree burglary and assault stemming from the Tuesday morning shooting of Justin R. Jordan. A bullet passed through Jordan’s abdomen.

Officers responded Tuesday to 2104 E. Heroy Ave. and found Jordan, who said he had been shot by a man he knew only as Jesse. Jordan explained an ongoing feud with the suspect, who accused Jordan of stealing a motorized minibike, according to court records. Jordan said he awoke Tuesday to find Adams standing in his bedroom swinging a collapsible police baton. Jordan said he was struck several times and struggled with Adams, who then pulled a gun and shot Jordan.

Jordan said he wrestled the gun away from Adams, unloaded it and handed it back to Adams, who then fled the residence, according to court records.

Officer Eugene Baldwin later found Adams walking near Colton Street and Magnesium Road. Adams had an unloaded pistol magazine in his pocket, according to court records.

Hybrid rattlesnake seized from apartment

OLYMPIA – Thurston County authorities have seized a nearly 5-foot-long illegal hybrid diamond back rattlesnake from an Olympia apartment.

An animal control officer seized the snake on Sunday after a neighbor called with concerns. The neighbor said the man who owned the hybrid snake said he’d been bitten before and airlifted to a Seattle hospital. The man has other legal snakes.

Washington state Fish and Wildlife Officer Greg Haw said hybrid snakes are dangerous because there isn’t antivenom readily available that could be used as an antidote if it bit someone.

The snake’s owner may face a civil fine of up to $2,000.

Officials say the hybrid snake will move to a reptile zoo near Monroe.

It is illegal to own a rattlesnake, or any other “dangerous wild animal” in Washington state, unless a pet owner has an exemption from the law, such as for a reptile refuge or for educational purposes, Haw said. But Haw said under the state’s dangerous wild animal law, people who possessed an animal prior to July 22, 2007, were grandfathered in and allowed to keep their pets.

Pendleton area makes play for drone testing

PENDLETON, Ore. – Pendleton officials trying to lure manufacturers of drone aircraft to their industrial park say a slowdown in commercial flights and sparse population make their Eastern Oregon site area prime for testing unmanned aircraft.

“There’s not much to hit in the air, there’s not much to hit on the ground,” economic development consultant Steve Chrisman told the East Oregonian.

Chrisman said he and the leader of the local convention center plan a conference in Pendleton in October for drone manufacturers, and they hope to recruit participants at a similar conference in Seattle this week.

Drones have attracted the attention of economic development officials over much of Oregon, and especially in the open areas east of the Cascade Range.

“For dramatic industrial development, it’s probably our best bet at this point,” Chrisman said.

The local airport is underused, he said. The only commercial airline, SeaPort Air, has seen passenger numbers fall by more than half since 2001.

North Idaho man gets life term for 2011 slaying

SANDPOINT – A North Idaho man has been sentenced to life in prison in the 2011 shooting death of a romantic rival.

First District Judge Barbara Buchanan sentenced 20-year-old Austin Blake Thrasher of Cocolalla Tuesday.

The judge ordered Thrasher to serve at least 25 years before becoming eligible for parole in the slaying of 19-year-old Michael Wyatt Smith.

Detectives said Thrasher resorted to violence after learning he and Smith were dating the same 16-year-old Clark Fork girl. Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said Tuesday the slaying was committed out of jealousy and with premeditation.

Smith was initially reported missing and his killing was undetected until early 2012 when Thrasher’s wife – arrested for a separate crime – then told police where the body was buried.