In brief: Cheney restricts outdoor watering
The city of Cheney on Monday ordered its residents to stop using water for outdoor irrigation of lawns through noon Wednesday.
A power outage Sunday caused pumps in two of the city’s water wells to stop working. That led to a depletion of water reservoirs.
Power has been restored, but it will take at least one more day to rebuild reservoir levels, city officials said in a news release Monday.
Eastern Washington University, which has its own water system, is not affected by the restrictions.
City officials said it’s still OK to water gardens. The city is encouraging residents to draw irrigation water every other day based on address numbers. Even-numbered homes would water on even-numbered days while odd-numbered homes would water on odd-numbered days.
Watering during the heat of the day is discouraged since a large amount of the water is lost to evaporation when the temperature is high.
For updates go to the city’s website at cityofcheney.org.
Man accused of pointing gun in jest
A 55-year-old Spokane Valley father was jailed this weekend after allegedly pointing a revolver at his daughter’s boyfriend as a joke, according to court documents.
Clay M. Schelin was booked into Spokane County Jail early Monday facing charges of felony unlawful possession of a firearm and illegally pointing a gun at another person, a misdemeanor. Witnesses, including one of Schelin’s daughters, said he approached a young man in a truck carrying a .357 revolver after he’d been drinking. He told one of his daughters to “watch this, this is going to be (expletive) funny,” according to court documents.
Spokane County sheriff’s deputies responded after neighbors called to report a man armed with a gun. Schelin has a 31-year-old felony conviction for burglary, precluding him from owning a firearm, according to court documents.
There were no injuries reported in the incident.
New trial date set in WWII vet’s death
Teenagers Kenan Adams-Kinard and Demetruis Glenn are now scheduled to go before a jury in November for their alleged roles in the August 2013 slaying of 88-year-old World War II veteran Delbert Belton.
Judge Annette Plese delayed the court date in a ruling handed down last month. The teens, now both 17, face murder and robbery charges after their fingerprints were discovered on Belton’s car, where he was found severely beaten and dying Aug. 21.
Adams-Kinard and Glenn have been in custody since their separate arrests a few days after Belton’s death. Glenn turned himself in to authorities after surveillance video surfaced of the two teens entering nearby businesses around the time of the alleged beating. Adams-Kinard was apprehended in a basement apartment a few days later, where authorities found a letter they tied to the teen that alleged the beating took place after Belton stiffed Adams-Kinard on a drug deal.
Friends and family of Belton have vehemently denied he dealt drugs.
Passenger hurt after vehicle goes off road
An auto accident possibly caused by drunken driving sent a Spokane Valley man to the hospital Monday, authorities said.
David Latham, 43, was a passenger in a 1993 Ford Windstar minivan that careened off Mt. Spokane Park Drive about 1:50 p.m., continued through a fence and crashed into the side of an outbuilding about 11 miles north of Spokane, according to the Washington State Patrol. Latham suffered undisclosed injuries and reportedly was taken to Holy Family Hospital.
Troopers said the westbound minivan was driven by 52-year-old John M. Adams of Newport, who is suspected of driving impaired. Adams was wearing a seat belt and was uninjured.
NatGeo series coming to Spokane
Spokane has been selected to be one of 15 U.S. cities to host the National Geographic Live series.
The series, which brings scientists, photographers, filmmakers and explorers to town to show their work and discuss it, will begin Oct. 7. The series is being produced locally by West Coast Entertainment, with support from STCU, and all events will be held at the INB Performing Arts Center.
The lineup features:
• Oct. 7, “Coral Kingdoms and Empires of Ice,” with underwater photographers David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes.
• Nov. 4, “Exploring Mars: The Next Generation,” with Kobie Boykins, an engineer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab who worked on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
• Feb. 24, “Grizzlies, Piranhas and Man-Eating Pigs,” with wildlife photographer Joel Sartore.
• April 24, “Untamed Antarctica,” with extreme climbers and explorers Cory Richards and Mike Libecki. The program covers their expedition climbing Bertha’s Tower, a 2,000-foot spire in Antarctica.
Tickets are now on sale through all TicketsWest locations, online at www.ticketswest.com or by phone at (800) 325-SEAT. Each event is $41.50. A series ticket is $150.
State schools chief: Wait on sanctions
OLYMPIA – Lawmakers should be given until the 2015 legislative session to make progress in fixing how the state pays for public education, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said in a brief to the state Supreme Court.
If lawmakers don’t do enough by next year, plaintiffs should then be allowed to petition the high court for sanctions, including asking that state spending not related to the 2012 McCleary decision be barred, Dorn proposed in a brief his office said was filed Monday.
In June, the Supreme Court ordered the state to appear before it on Sept. 3 and show how it has followed court orders in the McCleary decision or be held in contempt. The McCleary decision said lawmakers are not meeting their constitutional duty to fully pay for basic education.
Dorn argued that sanctions aren’t the proper course of action at this time.
Last month, lawyers representing the state also argued against sanctions or a contempt finding when they filed the state’s brief with the high court.