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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Spokane city pools open later during heat wave

From Staff Reports

As a heat wave descends on the area, the Spokane parks department has announced extended swimming pool hours this weekend and next weekend.

Comstock, Hillyard, Cannon , Liberty and Shadle pools will be open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. today as well as Friday through next Sunday. Those pools usually close at 4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for seniors and children ages 4-17. Call the aquatic hotline at (509) 625-6960 for more information.

Lake Spokane fire nearly extinguished

Fire crews are mopping up the last bit of the Lake Spokane fire in Stevens County and expect to be able to go home on Monday.

“Things are going great,” said Chuck Turley of the Department of Natural Resources. “It has not grown in two days.”

The 1,016-acre fire was contained in a triangle bordered by state Highway 231, state Highway 291 and Corkscrew Canyon Road. Less than half the area within that triangle burned, Turley said. All evacuation orders were lifted Friday night.

The blaze south of Ford started Wednesday afternoon and grew rapidly, prompting a mobilization of state and local resources to fight the fire. One hundred firefighters battled the blaze.

A Department of Natural Resources strike team will remain in the area after Monday to monitor the burned area and watch for flare-ups, Turley said. No homes were lost, and there were no significant injuries during the fire.

Two arrested in pizza store holdup

Two men were arrested early Friday on suspicion they held up a Division Street pizza shop while armed with guns.

Spokane police received a call of the robbery around 11 p.m. Thursday, according to court documents. An employee said two men entered Rosa’s Pizza at 3422 N. Division St., showed guns and ran with cash. Witnesses told police they saw the two men running toward a Chevrolet Blazer with a snowplow mount and elevated headlights, court documents say.

Officers found the Blazer just before 1 a.m. at the Cenex Zip Trip at the intersection of Cataldo Avenue and Division Street.

Officers arrested Gregory A. Binkley, 46, and Richard L. Baird, 37, who were in the Blazer. A woman and two young children were also in the vehicle. The Rosa’s Pizza employee was able to identify them as the suspects.

A search of Baird’s apartment turned up a realistic-looking pellet gun, court documents say.

The men face first-degree armed robbery charges and were ordered held on $25,000 bond during a court appearance Friday.

Man sought after coffee shop robbed

A man who claimed he was armed with a gun robbed the Jitterz coffee shop at 2880 N. Government Way in Coeur d’Alene just before 6 p.m. Friday.

A witness who pulled up during the robbery unsuccessfully tried to detain the robber, the Coeur d’Alene Police Department said in a news release.

The man ordered two female employees to the ground and claimed he had a gun but never displayed one. He held a black shirt over his right hand and pointed it at the workers, police said. He was unable to open the cash register but took money from the tip jar on the counter.

He is described as a white male in his early 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall with a skinny build. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts. He was last seen running east on Anton Avenue.

Police ask anyone with information to call (208) 769-2320.

Fight leaves man with stab wounds

A brawl broke out in the area of Atlantic Street and Sinto Avenue in Spokane just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday that left one man with stab wounds that were not life-threatening and another with injuries caused by a skateboard.

The initial call came from a woman who said she was run over by a car, Spokane police Officer Ben Green said. That doesn’t appear to be true, police said, but they determined there was an altercation that began between two men in a car and a man and a woman on foot, Green said.

The men in the car got out and hit the pedestrian several times with a skateboard, Green said. In the melee, one of the men from the car was stabbed. Police are not sure who had the knife.

“There were several people there,” Green said. “It was a big brawl.”

Both the men in the car, Abraham H. Simon and Jacob S. Ulland, are facing assault charges.

CdA woman wins NIC-raffled house

Jean Mayberry, of Coeur d’Alene, won a $288,000 house Wednesday night in the North Idaho College Foundation’s Really BIG Raffle drawing.

The home, built by students in NIC’s carpentry program, will go to Mayberry’s son, Bill Novelli, who lives in California. Novelli and his wife plan to move to be close to family and live in their new home, NIC said in a news release.

The 21st annual foundation fundraiser awarded a total of $325,000 in cash and prizes. Other winners were:

• First place, $20,000 car: David Yearout, of Coeur d’Alene.

• Second place, $10,000 boat: Rachelle Williams, of Coeur d’Alene.

• Third place, $3,500 vacation package: Dusty Rhoads, of Coeur d’Alene.

• Fourth place, $2,000 shopping spree: Kory Lazelle, of Post Falls.

Proceeds benefit students through scholarships and state-of-the-art technology and equipment college-wide.

New Spokane Riverkeeper hired

The Center for Justice has hired Jerry White as its new Spokane Riverkeeper.

White will replace Bart Mihailovich, who recently left to take another job.

White is a former staff member of Save Our Wild Salmon, where he worked on restoration of native Snake River salmon and steelhead.

White plans to focus some of his attention on addressing pollution in Latah Creek.

The Spokane Riverkeeper is a program of the Center for Justice, with the mission of protecting the Spokane River watershed.

County fair will bring 150 temp jobs

More than 150 temporary jobs are available for the Spokane County Interstate Fair from Sept. 5 through 14.

Two job fairs are being held this month for prospective applicants. People interested in applying must attend one of the two events at the Fair and Expo Center, Bay 3, 404 N. Havana St.

The job fairs are Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. and July 19 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Two pieces of government-issued identification will be required for applicants.

For more information, contact the fair office at (509) 477-1766 or the county human resources office at (509) 477-5750.