In brief: Rockford mayor resigns over council dispute

Rockford Mayor Steve Meyer resigned Friday, following the recent resignations of the town’s clerk-treasurer and deputy clerk.

Meyer said Saturday he was tired of the town council micromanaging him and town employees.

“I got tired of trying to do my job when they wouldn’t let me do the job,” said Meyer, who was elected to the position in 2013.

He said the most recent dispute involved a utility bill. The council, he said, disagreed with his decision to drop three $25 late fees from a utility bill for Rockford Mini Mart after the manager of the business indicated he did not know it was late because the bill was sent to the property owner.

Meyer, 69, also said the council had been violating open meeting rules by gathering after official council meetings at a local tavern, the Harvest Moon.

Rockford Councilman Robert Tollefson declined to comment on the allegation about meetings or on the utility bill dispute. He said the council met on Saturday and that Councilwoman Carrie Roecks, the mayor pro-tem, is filling in for the mayor.

“The meeting today was as smooth as any we’ve ever had,” Tollefson said. “I believe that everyone left the meeting with a good sense that everything will be handled properly.”

Meyer said he regrets not staying in office to help finish a major sewer upgrade project.

“I’m sorry I had to quit, because I enjoyed trying to work for the town and the people of the town,” he said.

Pullman man arrested, accused of killing father

PULLMAN – A 24-year-old was arrested Saturday and accused of killing his father, the Pullman Police Department reported.

Officers were called to an apartment on a report of a domestic dispute involving a father and son.

Virgil C. Luden, 58, of Sammamish, Washington, was found unresponsive shortly before 5 p.m. on the floor of the apartment. He apparently suffered head wounds, police said in a news release. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is pending.

The son, Erik C. Luden, 24, who lived in the apartment, was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital and treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. He was then arrested on a first-degree murder charge. A news release indicated he will be booked into the Whitman County Jail. Police do not have a motive at this time.

The apartment at 960 NE C St. is in the middle of the College Hill neighborhood beside Washington State University. Luden is not listed as a WSU student in the university’s online directory.  

Spokane hikers accidentally trigger search and rescue

BEND, Ore. – A sheriff’s officer said that when three Pacific Crest Trail hikers from Spokane left a phone message with the trail association saying they had lost the trail in central Oregon and needed a return call, they had no idea their message would trigger a two-day search.

On Friday, Deschutes County sheriff’s search and rescue volunteers on horseback located the hikers, who were fine.

KTVZ-TV reported Deputy Jeff Winters said searchers from Deschutes and Lane counties also spent Thursday looking for the hikers.

Winters said efforts to return the call were unsuccessful, likely due to poor cellphone coverage.

Search coordinators decided after Thursday’s search that the hikers probably had been able to find the trail but two searchers headed out again Friday just in case.

Winters said Sarah Morris, Mary Zakheim and Angela Zakheim were OK and were “unaware their phone message had triggered any response from search and rescue.”