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

In brief: Birthplace of Microsoft to become apartments

Albuquerque, N.M. – A Route 66 motor lodge in Albuquerque where Bill Gates and Paul Allen stayed while launching Microsoft Corp. is being redeveloped into apartments as part of a neighborhood revival project.

Officials broke ground Thursday on the redevelopment of the Sundowner Uhuru Apartment Complex.

The federally funded project will create 70 apartments for veterans, the homeless, mixed-income residents and people with special needs.

The Sundowner Motel was built in 1960. While living there in the 1970s, Gates and Allen wrote a version of the programming language BASIC for a company called MITS. The motel served as Microsoft’s first office before the pair moved the company to the Seattle area.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said the motel was “ground zero” for the personal computer revolution and needs to be redeveloped for history.

Woman sentenced for killing grandson

PONTIAC, Mich. – A 75-year-old Detroit-area woman who killed her grandson expressed remorse Thursday but repeatedly accused his parents of dumping a troubled boy at her doorstep during a desperate, emotional plea to avoid a prison sentence that likely means death behind bars.

The judge wasn’t swayed, sending Sandra Layne away for at least 22 years and capping a wrenching case that revealed family strife, adolescent rebellion and fatal consequences.

Joanthan Hoffman was shot six times, including twice in the back, last spring. Layne, a former teacher and real estate agent, said she shot him out of fear during a physical altercation, but a jury in March rejected her claim of self-defense and convicted her of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said there were no signs of Layne being injured by Hoffman. A recording of a 911 call reveals him being shot again while pleading for help – a critical piece of evidence that jurors played over and over during deliberations.