In brief: Nine arrested in two Valley homes
Spokane Valley police arrested nine people in a raid of two Spokane Valley homes Tuesday and found a 12-year-old boy who police said had been assaulted several times.
Search warrants were served at homes at 4609 N. Calvin Road and 14323 E. Longfellow Ave. as investigators looked for stolen property from multiple burglaries. The boy was found at the home on Calvin. The boy’s father reportedly took him to the home to be “disciplined,” police spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin said.
Multiple felony charges are expected to be filed against those arrested. The assault case will be handled by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office because the abuse allegedly occurred in Idaho, Chamberlin said.
Police chief’s dog finds man’s skull
The family dog of a Methow Valley police chief brought home a human skull scavenged from the remains of a man missing for two years.
Twisp police Chief Paul Budrow received the alarming call from his family around noon on April 12 and drove home with a couple of deputies to investigate. The Budrow family lives about 4 miles outside of Twisp.
The three lawmen searched along the banks of the nearby Methow River and found the rest of the remains thought to be that of 21-year-old Nicholas A. Tortora, according to a news release from Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers.
The young man had been missing since June 3, 2012, when his family reported that he was despondent and left.
The search of Tortora included tracking “pings” from his cellphone that showed he may have been in the mountainous area about 5 miles from where his remains were found.
Instead, his remains were within a half-mile of his family’s home.
Foul play is not suspected, according to Okanogan authorities.
Trust fund started for driver’s daughter
A trust fund has been created for the daughter of a man who died in a car accident late Thursday.
Alejandro (Alex) Apodaca, 34, died when the car he was driving hit a tree in Spokane Valley.
An online fund has been created to benefit his daughter, Sierra Apodaca. It can be found at www.gofundme.com/alexapodaca.
A fund has also been established at Washington Trust Bank branches under the name the Sierra Apodaca Benevolent Fund. Donations can be mailed to that fund care of Extant Realty, 12904 E. Nora Ave., Spokane Valley, WA 99216.
Apodaca was driving a Nissan Altima south on Bowdish Road near 17th Avenue and left the street, hitting the tree around 11:55 p.m. Thursday, Spokane County sheriff’s Deputy Mark Gregory said. When medics arrived, Apodaca, the lone occupant, was unresponsive and declared dead at the scene. Gregory said preliminary indications point to speed as a factor in the accident.
Estimate: Dam crack will cost $61 million
EPHRATA, Wash. – Dealing with the cracked dam on the Columbia River is going to cost about $61 million, according to an estimate given Tuesday to the Grant County Public Utility District.
The estimate includes all costs associated with fracture investigation, spillway repairs, fish passage modifications, shoreline protection and power supply costs. It could change as the utility continues to investigate the cause of the fracture.
The 65-foot-long crack on a spillway of Wanapum Dam was discovered in February. The reservoir was dropped 26 feet to relieve pressure on the crack, and the dam is generating only about 50 to 60 percent of the power it could produce.
The utility will use a combination of reserve funds, debt financing and expense reductions to cover the costs.
Meth dealer receives 10-year prison term
A meth dealer with six prior felony drug convictions was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 10 years in prison and another 10 years of supervised release.
Henry P. Bevans, 30, pleaded guilty to distributing 50 grams or more of pure meth, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Spokane.
On two occasions in July, he distributed more than 100 grams of the drug to another person in a hotel room, a news release said.
Also in July, Bevans was arrested in connection with another drug deal involving a man who allegedly threw a pound of meth he had intended to sell to Bevans out his car window on Interstate 90, police said at the time.
State parks director will retire in July
BOISE – Nancy Merrill, director of Idaho’s Department of Parks and Recreation, will retire in mid-July, and the state is launching a national search for her replacement.
Merrill, 66, who has headed the state’s park system since 2009, said, “We’ve accomplished a lot, and I feel good about it. … We had some tough years.”
State funding for parks in Idaho has dropped from $17.7 million in general funds in 2008 – the year before Merrill took over – to just $1.3 million this year, forcing the parks to tap other revenue sources, from RV licensing funds to marketing parks as venues for weddings and special events.
“We’ve worked hard over the past few years to reinvent ourselves and change the way we do business,” Merrill said.
Gov. Butch Otter said, “Nancy has been a skilled and energetic director at Parks and Recreation. She brought enthusiasm, experience and a hard-nosed business approach to managing the agency that was badly needed and will be sorely missed.”
Idaho has 30 state parks.