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

In brief: Cruelty charges filed against horse owner

The owner of a ranch near Palisades Park is being charged with 21 counts of animal cruelty stemming from a property search last month that revealed 26 emaciated horses.

Jan Hickerson, 48, will face felony charges of animal cruelty and misdemeanor charges of transporting animals in an unsafe manner when she is arraigned in Spokane County Superior Court on Aug. 19, according to a news release from Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services.

A search of the property at 6805 W. Deno Road north of Airway Heights found two dead horses and extremely malnourished mares with foals.

The felony charges carry maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to the news release.

Rescued horses are being treated by a veterinarian, the news release said.

Kip Hill

Go-kart driver dies in collision with SUV

A 25-year-old man is dead after he was struck by an SUV while riding a homemade go-kart on a rural road in Pend Oreille County on Friday.

Treavor M. Miller was riding southbound about 2 p.m. on a private driveway about six miles west of Newport, according to a Washington State Patrol news release. Douglas B. Culver, 63, was driving a Ford Excursion eastbound on Coyote Trail Road.

Miller, who was not wearing a helmet, shot into the road and Culver collided with him, ejecting Miller from the go-kart, according to the release. Miller was transported to Newport Hospital, where he later died.

Culver was uninjured and was not cited.

Kaitlin Gillespie

Not guilty plea entered in fatal crash

A Stevens County woman pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal charge of involuntary manslaughter following an alleged drunken crash that killed another woman.

According to court records, Lisa C. Weaselhead was driving drunk on May 1 in Stevens County during a crash that killed Ann McCrea.

Weaselhead had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent, the legal threshold for drunken driving, two hours after the incident, the records say. She remains in jail and faces up to eight years in federal prison if convicted.

Thomas Clouse