In brief: Services delayed, closed for holiday
The following offices and services will be affected by the July Fourth holiday:
• City, county, state and federal offices will be closed.
• Most banks will be closed.
• Post offices will be closed and no deliveries will be made.
• Garbage won’t be collected in Spokane, Spokane County and Coeur d’Alene today. Collection will take place one day later than scheduled for customers whose regular pickup takes place today or Friday.
• Spokane Transit Authority will be running on holiday schedules, which are the same as Sunday schedules, but with extended service to accommodate the Riverfront Park fireworks show.
• Drivers don’t have to plug parking meters in downtown Spokane today.
Boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene hits girl
A 14-year-old girl was injured Wednesday afternoon when the raft she was in was struck by a boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
About 4:30 p.m., emergency crews responded to reports that the girl was in a rubber raft when Pamela Tempe, a 34-year-old Spokane resident, accidentally hit the raft with the boat she was driving, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office news release.
Tempe, who had no boating experience, was helping teach a child how to water ski, according to the release. Tempe lost track of where the raft was and hit it.
The girl was transported to Kootenai Medical Center and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Her life jacket probably kept her from drowning, according to the release.
Alcohol was not a factor in the accident, deputies said.
Man sentenced in 2011 machete killing
A man who pleaded guilty to the torture and murder of a Cheney man in 2011 was sentenced to about 33 years in prison Friday.
Taylor J. Wolf, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection to the April 13, 2011, death of Nicholas J. Thoreson, 22. Thoreson’s body was found burned in the trunk of a car after Wolf and Justice E.D. Sims tortured him for an hour with a machete. The assault ended in a gunshot to Thoreson’s head.
Sims was sentenced in March 2012 to more than 33 years in prison.
Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen sentenced Wolf to about 33 years, followed by three years probation. He also owes more than $5,000 in restitution.
No glass, alcohol in CdA parks, beaches
The city of Coeur d’Alene reminds park visitors this summer that glass containers and alcohol are banned on city parks and beaches.
It is illegal to throw, carry or possess any glass beverage container and any container holding alcohol, opened or not, in any park, beach, natural area, playground and playfield that the city of Coeur d’Alene owns, leases or maintains, according to City Code. It’s also illegal to make, use or have any open fires in those locations, except in designated barbecue areas.
Fireworks on public property are also illegal, unless in an authorized public display.
Sea-Tac airport land to be bee haven
SEATTLE – There are hundreds of thousands of new wings at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
In a partnership with a local nonprofit, the Port of Seattle is donating land to beekeepers to maintain a handful of beehives on wooded and grassy land around airport runways. Airport officials estimate that there are about 500,000 bees flying around.
The Common Acre beekeeper Bob Redmond said airport lands are a great spot to grow bee colonies. His aim is to help bee populations hurt by colony collapse and to educate the public about the honey makers.