In brief: Stab wounds from fight send two men to hospital

Two men were hospitalized with stab wounds after a fight that sent police and paramedics to the Centennial Trail on Monday morning.

Police received reports of a stabbing near the intersection of North Division Street and East Spokane Falls Boulevard around 10:15 a.m., according to a news release. There they found a man who said he had been stabbed by another man who had fled.

About 15 minutes after the first call, dispatchers reported another man with stab wounds near the Centennial Trail and Gonzaga University soccer fields. Scanner traffic reported that the man was near the banks of the river, where he was reportedly attempting to wash blood off himself.

Investigators believe the second man was the other person involved in the fight at Spokane Falls and Division. There are no other suspects in the case at this time, investigators said.

Kip Hill

Senate majority leader won’t seek re-election

OLYMPIA – Rodney Tom, a Republican-turned-Democrat who joined with GOP senators to form a ruling coalition for the last two years, will not run for re-election this fall.  Currently the Senate majority leader, Tom announced Monday he concluded over the weekend “the decision not to run is the right one for me and my family.”

He called his service as majority leader of the coalition caucus “an opportunity of a lifetime.”

First elected to the House in 2002 as a Republican, Tom won a 2006 Senate race and his 2010 re-election as a Democrat. He and conservative Democrat Tim Sheldon joined the Senate’s 23 Republicans in 2013 to form a coalition that controlled the chamber even though Democrats at the time held 26 seats. Republicans picked up one seat in a special election last fall but still needed the coalition to control the Senate.

Democrats were targeting Tom in the upcoming election and recruited Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride to challenge him.

Jim Camden

Flags will be lowered today in honor of slide victims

OLYMPIA – State agencies will lower flags on or outside their buildings to half-staff today to honor victims of the Oso mudslide, and keep them lowered through April 22.

Gov. Jay Inslee ordered the flag-lowering Monday afternoon for all state agencies and asked other governments, businesses and citizens to join the state. A formal ceremony on the Capitol campus is scheduled for noon today.

The March 22 slide that brought mud and debris crashing down on state Route 530 near the town of Oso left 36 confirmed dead, and another seven remain listed as missing.

Jim Camden