In brief: Dog dies in Spokane Valley house fire
Spokane Valley Fire Department firefighters performed CPR on a dog rescued from the flames of a house fire Monday afternoon, but the dog died despite their efforts.
The fire at 11524 E. Broadway Ave. was called in just after noon. When firefighters arrived, smoke was pouring from the house and flames were coming out of several basement windows, Capt. Jeff Bordwell said.
Three people and three pets made it out of the house unharmed, but firefighters were told that one dog remained inside. “It wasn’t where they told us it was, but we found it,” Bordwell said.
Firefighters were unable to revive the animal.
The basement of the home was heavily damaged and Bordwell said the floor of the main level was heavily charred. The Red Cross is assisting the family. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Activist ends protest on ship
BELLINGHAM – The woman who had been hanging off the anchor chain of a support ship that is part of Royal Dutch Shell’s plans to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean ended her dayslong protest north of Seattle on Monday morning.
Student activist Chiara D’Angelo requested assistance getting down from her perch on the Arctic Challenger in the Bellingham harbor around 9:30 a.m. Monday, the Coast Guard said.
D’Angelo was checked for hypothermia and then released, Petty Officer 3rd Class Katelyn Shearer said.
She spent the weekend attached to the ship in an environmental protest against Shell’s plans to drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska. The oil company’s proposal also has drawn large protests in Seattle, where a massive, floating drill rig is being prepared for the excursion.
Spotty storms will continue today
Hit-and-miss thunderstorms swept through Eastern Washington and North Idaho on Monday, leaving some areas awash in more than an inch of rain and others with hardly a drop in the rain gauge.
A low-pressure system is hovering over the area, causing the storms, National Weather Service forecaster Bob Tobin said. “It’s not moving. It’s staying over us for several days.”
Weather spotters reported just over an inch of rain near Ruby in north-central Washington on Monday, and Cheney recorded 0.61 inches of rain in just two hours Monday afternoon, Tobin said.
Flood advisories were issued in Spokane County on Monday evening for areas that received heavy rain. “It was not widespread, although it may seem like it,” Tobin said.
The spotty thunderstorms should continue today. “Some places are going to get quite a bit of rain again, but it looks like it’s north of us and in the Idaho Panhandle,” he said.
Idaho woman jailed in hatchet killing
LAS VEGAS – A man died in a hatchet attack that was planned and carried out by his wife and her brother on a Memorial Day visit to Las Vegas, police said.
Maria Hernandez, 33, of Idaho, and Hector Gutierrez, 22, of California, face charges of murder with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder, authorities said.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office has not released the name of the man who died.
Las Vegas police initially received a report of a carjacking at about 2:30 a.m. Monday, then found Hernandez with her husband, who was dead from multiple injuries believed to come from a hatchet.
Police initially said the couple had pulled over on the side of the road to check on their van when the man was attacked by someone who fled with their vehicle. The van was found about 10 miles away around 7:30 a.m.
Police later said they determined Hernandez had asked Gutierrez to kill her husband and she assisted in the attack. The couple was visiting Las Vegas and met Gutierrez there.
Gutierrez was found with a stab wound and was treated at a hospital.