In brief: Students hear woman screaming for help

A man was arrested on a domestic violence assault charge after two middle school students reported a woman screaming from the back of a speeding motor home he was driving Thursday morning.

James Davis, 50, was arrested by Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputies after two Evergreen Middle School students reported the suspicious vehicle to school officials shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday. The two students were walking to class when they heard a woman scream for help through the tinted windows of a motor home driving erratically.

The witnesses reported seeing the vehicle as they walked north on Adams Road about a block and a half from the school. The two reported what they saw to school officials, who alerted police.

Deputies found the motor home, Davis and the woman about 2 miles from the school at the intersection of North McDonald Road and East Sprague Avenue.

Suspected shooter sought by deputies

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies are seeking a man suspected of shooting his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in the face Thursday evening.

John Payne, 60, came to the woman’s residence in south Spokane Valley and allegedly shot her friend in the face, Deputy Mark Gregory said in a news release. Deputies found the victim at a residence on South Conifer Court with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his face.

Payne allegedly fled the scene riding a brand-new, red Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the release said.

Anyone who sees Payne is asked to call 911, as Payne is considered armed and dangerous, authorities said. He is wanted on suspicion of attempted murder.

Help sought finding missing Spokane teen

Authorities are looking for a Spokane teenager who has been missing for 10 days.

Carolyn JoAnn Toner, 17, was last seen Sept. 3, according to a Washington State Patrol report. She is white, about 5-foot-9 and 125 pounds. She has blue eyes, red hair and wears glasses.

She also goes by the nickname “Poptart.”

Anyone with information about Toner’s whereabouts is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233, the WSP Missing Persons Unit at (800) 543-5678 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.

Saturday is annual Day of Service

Neighborhood residents and others are invited to take part in the Spokane Valley Day of Service on Saturday. Groups of volunteers will tackle cleanup, landscaping and other improvement projects at several locations.

Project locations include:

• University High School, 12420 E. 32nd Ave., 8 a.m. to noon.

• Rockford Fairgrounds, 9 a.m.

• Rose Pointe nursing home, 13013 E. Mission Ave., 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

• Yard cleanup, meet at 4014 S. Bowdish Road, 8:30 a.m.

• Fairfield Park, 9 a.m.

For more information and to find out what equipment to bring, go to spokanevalleydayofservice.blogspot.com.

North Cascades Highway reopens again

WENATCHEE – The Washington state Department of Transportation reopened the North Cascades Highway at noon Thursday, after the second closure this summer due to mud and rock slides.

Spokesman Jeff Adamson in Wenatchee said the way was cleared Thursday morning when the last big boulder on the roadway was pulverized by a dynamite blast.

The section of Highway 20 was closed early last Friday morning by slides set off by heavy thunderstorms. Similar storms and slides closed it from Aug. 10 to Aug. 19.

The North Cascades Highway also is closed each year by winter snow and opened in April.