In brief: Deer Park votes to join Spokane County waste system
The Deer Park City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to join Spokane County’s reorganized solid waste system.
By doing so, Deer Park avoided the state requirement to write its own solid waste management plan, which includes recycling, hazardous waste disposal and public education requirements.
Spokane County is developing a countywide plan to start in November. The reorganization of the solid waste system was triggered by expiration later this year of contracts that allowed the city of Spokane to operate a countywide disposal system for the past 23 years.
The decision by Deer Park comes after the Spokane Valley City Council rebuffed the county system in favor of sending its garbage to Sunshine Disposal & Recycling of Spokane Valley. Cheney also has decided to break away from the county system. Airway Heights is negotiating with Sunshine and may break away, too. Other cities that have yet to decide if they will join the county system are Liberty Lake, Medical Lake and Millwood.
Besides Deer Park, the county-led system is expected to include Spokane, Fairchild Air Force Base, Rockford, Fairfield, Latah, Waverly and Spangle.
Avista substation work will result in outage
About 1,500 Avista Utilities customers on the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene will experience a power outage on Sunday while Avista Utilities crews work on a substation in that area.
The outage will affect customers from Beauty Bay to Carlin Bay, and east to Blue Creek Bay, Wolf Lodge Bay and the Alder Creek area. It’s expected to last from 4:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
Avista is spending about $2.1 million to upgrade the substation built in 1973. The upgrade will help provide reliable service and meet increasing energy demand from growth on the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene, company officials said.
Restaurant employer accused of attack
A Spokane man is accused of assaulting one of his employees inside her home until the attack was broken up by her roommate.
Manjinder S. Rai, 30, was ordered held on $10,000 bond on a charge of second-degree assault during a brief court appearance Tuesday.
The victim told police that Rai, who owns the Taco Del Mar where she works, appeared at her door late Monday night. According to court documents, she told police that Rai threw her against the wall twice, slapped her and choked her as he pushed her down on a futon and tried to pull her shirt up.
The roommate told police that Rai pushed him down as he fled after the assault was interrupted. He also told police that Rai had made a threatening phone call on a phone that the victim and her roommate shared, court documents say.
Police say cyclist was armed with knives
A Spokane Valley police officer stopped a man riding his bike down the middle of Third Avenue near Thierman Road just before midnight Tuesday and discovered he was armed with five knives of various sizes and types.
Zachary Christenson, 20, reportedly had two small folding knives in one pants pocket, a dagger in another pants pocket and a backpack containing a machete, throwing dagger and another fixed-blade knife. The officer also found a dozen metal shims typically used to break into cars, gloves, binoculars, zip-tie handcuffs and heroin, police said.
Christenson was wanted on two felony arrest warrants, police said. He is now facing new charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of burglary tools and three counts of possession of dangerous weapons with intent to conceal.
Christenson was released on his own recognizance after a brief court appearance Wednesday.
New squadron leader hails from Spokane
A Spokane native has been named the commanding officer of Coastal Riverine Squadron 11 on Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in California.
Capt. Chuck Lund, a graduate of the University of Washington Naval ROTC and the Naval Aviation Schools Command, took charge Sunday.
Lund became a pilot in 1990 after several deployments in the Middle East and Bosnia. He has served as a search and rescue pilot and commanding officer in warfare, maritime and naval tours. He served as the executive officer of the squadron for the last year.
Lund will command the Navy’s Coastal Riverine Force consisting of units trained for harbor security and surveillance, extraction and commanding control of supporting units. The headquarters of Coastal Riverine Squadron 11 consist of three subordinate commands based in Seal Beach and detachments in Spokane; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Sacramento, California.