In brief: Man held in incident at Liberty Lake
An alleged assault at a party in Liberty Lake in April landed a man in surgery with severe facial fractures. On Wednesday, 20-year-old Cody A. Dewitt was ordered held on $10,000 bond on a charge of second-degree assault in the attack.
The victim told police that he was attending a party in the 23000 block of East Riverside Avenue the evening of April 2. Soon after he arrived with two friends, a woman announced that her cellphone had been stolen. Partiers suspected the three new arrivals and wanted to search them, according to court documents.
Several men took the victim outside and searched him. The victim said that one man, identified in court documents as Jeramiah E. Hudgeons, punched him in the face. Hudgeons is also facing criminal charges related to the assault but has not been arrested.
The victim told police that he then went back inside the house, where Dewitt also punched him in the face. The victim suffered a broken jaw and other fractures and told police that surgeons implanted three steel plates in his face, according to court documents.
Dewitt is also being held on $15,000 bond on a charge of second-degree robbery in an unrelated case.
Aid available for sewer, septic work
Spokane County property owners may be eligible for financial assistance for connecting to sewer or repairing or replacing failing septic systems.
Low-interest loans and small grants are available through a recently announced program administered by the Spokane County Conservation District in cooperation with the Washington Department of Ecology.
Amounts will vary based on household income levels and the project’s benefits to water quality. Priority will be given to systems within aquifer protection zones or those affecting surface water quality and public health. The program cannot fund the installation of new septic systems.
The Spokane Regional Health District reports that 66 on-site sewage systems are failing each year, affecting water quality and creating public health risks.
For more information, visit www.spokane septicloans.org. Or call Walt Edelen or Barry Tee at the conservation district, (509) 535-7274.
SWAT action yields arrest of 14 in Idaho
Fourteen people were arrested in Post Falls early Wednesday with help from a SWAT Team.
The Post Falls-Rathdrum Multi-Agency SWAT Team was called to 319 W. 20th Ave. after police learned that multiple people living in the house had warrants, a Post Falls police news release said.
Investigators seized a “large amount” of drugs, money and stolen property from the home, police said.
Arrested were Coeur d’Alene residents Sandra M. Waters, 29; Frederick E. Hawkaas, 34; Ryan J. Markley, 24; and Jonathan K. Locke, 22; Post Falls residents Debra L. Cooper-Anderson, 57; Annalise S. Porto, 22; Gary L. Berreth, 46; Joseph K. Gardiner, 30; Bradley A. Martell, 22; Audra R. Delahunty, 30; Mercedes B. Berrett-Wenz, 19; Christian A. Reynolds, 19; and Brian A. Milligan, 38; and Hauser Lake resident Dona N. Westlake, 20.
Post Falls police ask anyone with information on the case to call (208) 773-3517 or leave tips at www.postfallspolice.com.
Ex-Hanford worker loses layoff appeal
RICHLAND – The state Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Hanford worker Walter Tamosaitis regarding his layoff.
A Benton County Superior Court judge was correct to dismiss the case because Tamosaitis failed to show he had lost wages or other money as a result of being removed from work on the Hanford vitrification plant, the appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The Tri-City Herald reported Tamosaitis – former manager of the plant’s research and technology group – planned to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. His lawsuit is against Hanford contractor Bechtel National.
Bechtel is confident that the courts will affirm their previous rulings should Tamosaitis appeal, Bechtel spokesman Todd Nelson said.
Tamosaitis has drawn national attention for his contention that he lost his job for publicly complaining that the $12.3 billion vitrification plant contains design flaws that will make it unsafe to operate.
The plant is intended to convert up to 56 million gallons of radioactive waste left from production of nuclear weapons materials into a stable glass form for disposal.
In the Benton County case, Tamosaitis’ lawsuit claimed that Bechtel had interfered with his business relationship with URS Corp. Bechtel holds the federal contract to build the vitrification plant and URS, Tamosaitis’ former employer, is its primary subcontractor.
However, after Tamosaitis was removed from the vit plant in July 2010, he continued to be employed by URS until fall 2013, when he was laid off.
Tamosaitis contended that his removal resulted in him not being considered for some other positions at the vitrification plant, but there was no evidence those positions would have resulted in higher pay, according to the appeals court decision.