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

In brief: Fire destroys home, kills three felines

From Staff And Wire Reports

Fire gutted a north Spokane home near Whitworth University early Sunday. No one was injured, but three cats perished, KHQ reported.

Firefighters believe the fire originated around 1:30 a.m. in the kitchen of the home in the 10700 block of Kensington Court.

Neighbors said the young man who lived there discovered the fire when he returned home from work. He knocked on a neighbor’s door for help but had a hard time communicating the emergency because he is deaf and mute, the Spokane County Fire Department said.

No one else was at home. The young man’s parents are in Europe.

Firefighters were able to rescue one of the family’s four cats.

Office IDs woman who died in fall

The woman who died Saturday after she fell into a hole in a remote part of Kootenai County was identified Sunday as Dixie A. Farman, 39, of Newman Lake.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the incident, said it appeared to be “a tragic accident.” The cause of death is still unknown and an autopsy has been scheduled, the agency said.

Farman was walking with her children in a marshy area when she fell head-first into a hole created by animals and became stuck, the Sheriff’s Office said.

A deputy with a backcountry unit responded after hearing calls for help about 2 p.m. Saturday. Kootenai County Fire and Rescue and U.S. Forest Service personnel responded, but attempts to remove the woman failed and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The hole near Copper Creek in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest was 2 to 3 feet in diameter and filled with water, a sheriff’s sergeant said.

Farman had been looking for frogs or other wildlife with her children in knee-high grass.

Services shuttered for Memorial Day

The following offices and services will be affected by the Memorial Day holiday today:

• Garbage will not be collected in Spokane, Spokane County and Coeur d’Alene today. Collection will take place one day later than scheduled throughout the week.

• City, county, state and federal offices will be closed.

• Most banks will be closed.

• Idaho state liquor stores will be closed.

• Post offices will be closed and no deliveries will be made.

• Spokane parking meters will not be in operation.

• The Spokane Transit Authority will run Sunday hours today.

• Spokane Public Library branches will be closed.

• Riverfront Park attractions will operate during extended hours.

Father put infant in freezer, police say

TACOMA – Pierce County authorities say a 25-year-old father placed his 6-week-old baby in a freezer for about an hour because she was crying.

KOMO News reported that the man was arrested near the town of Roy on suspicion of attempted murder.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the baby girl was taken to a local hospital with a temperature of 84 degrees but is expected to recover.

The girl’s mother called police after she saw her boyfriend taking the baby out of the freezer.

More applied to UW than ever before

SEATTLE – The University of Washington says it received more freshman applications than ever before, and even though the university plans to enroll 150 more Washington students this fall, it was still more difficult to get into UW this year than last.

Admissions Director Philip Ballinger can’t explain why UW saw a nearly 16 percent increase in applications, with more than 30,000 applications for fall 2013 admission, the Seattle Times reported.

Ballinger speculated, however, that the increase might be tied to a decision by the University of California system to tighten admissions for its own resident students.

The biggest increase in UW applications came from out-of-state students, but in-state and international applications also grew.

Other Washington four-year colleges and universities saw their applicants hold steady or drop slightly because of a demographic shift. Fewer Washington state high school students graduated in 2013.