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

In brief: Marijuana found in truck of South Hill shooting victim

Police recovered a substantial amount of marijuana from a pickup belonging to a man shot on the South Hill last week.

Court records say several small baggies, a gallon-size bag and two garbage bags of marijuana were found in the truck. One of the garbage bags was in a cooler on the back seat, according to court documents.

The shooting victim, 23-year-old Julien T. Sather, told police that he had stopped in a parking lot at 13th Avenue and Cowley Street to smoke a cigarette. He said he was approached by two men, one of whom shot him in the back of his shoulder through the open driver’s side window, according to court documents.

A cigarette butt and a shell casing were recovered from the scene. Sather drove to the nearby 7-Eleven on Grand Boulevard to ask for help.

Police have arrested two 18-year-old suspects. Diandre R. Johnson and Keantray D. Bryant-Muellner are both being held in the Spokane County Jail.

Trial date set for ex-NIC employee

The former financial aid director at North Idaho College will go on trial Sept. 8 on charges related to his alleged scheme to entice students to have sex in exchange for college aid.

Joseph M. Bekken is charged with five felonies, including attempting to misuse public money and bribery using scholarship money from NIC’s private nonprofit foundation.

Bekken, who was fired by NIC on Feb. 2, pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday.

He is accused of using a Craigslist notice to contact students with an offer of scholarship money in exchange for sexual relations.

Crash injures one, blocks highway

A crash involving a logging truck and two cars blocked state Highway 41 at Mullan Avenue on Tuesday afternoon in Post Falls.

Idaho State Police reported that Nicole G. Earling, 18, of Hauser, was trying to make a left turn from the gas station parking lot on the corner when she pulled out in front of a northbound logging truck. The driver of the truck, 41-year-old Brian R. Remillard of Spirit Lake, tried to swerve to avoid the collision but instead hit Earling’s car and a third car driven by 68-year-old Phyllis Wellington of Liberty Lake.

Wellington and Remillard were uninjured. Earling was taken to Kootenai Heath for treatment of her injuries. All three drivers were wearing their seat belts.

Lumber mills will close following sale

SHELTON, Wash. – After nearly a century of operations, Simpson Lumber is closing its mills in Shelton, on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and cutting most of its 270 jobs in the area.

The two Shelton-area mills – along with one in Dayton, northeast of Walla Walla – are being sold to Sierra Pacific Industries, based in Anderson, California, KMAS-AM radio in Shelton reported. Sierra Pacific said in a statement that it doesn’t intend to operate them but instead will build a state-of-the-art mill and lumber-planing operation in Shelton, to open in 2017.

Simpson Lumber sent its workers 60-day termination letters. In addition to severance pay, the company said it’s trying to secure government economic aid or job retraining for them.