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

In brief: Dozens march for inmates’ protection

From Wire Reports

SAN JOSE, Calif. – About 50 people marched Friday in protest at Santa Clara County Main Jail to demand inmates be protected from abuse after an inmate was beaten to death last week under the watch of three deputies now facing possible murder charges.

Three jail guards were arrested Thursday, a week after an inmate, later identified as 31-year-old Michael James Pipkin Tyree, was found dead in his cell of multiple blunt trauma, internal bleeding and lacerations, authorities said.

Santa Clara County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. James Jensen has identified the deputies as Rafael Rodriguez, 27, Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Matthew Farris, 27.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen has until Tuesday to file charges or the three could be released.

Immigrant ordered to trial in killing

SAN FRANCISCO – A judge ruled Friday that a man at the center of the national immigration debate must stand trial on a murder charge in the shooting of a young San Francisco woman.

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, 45, is charged with second-degree murder in the July 1 killing of 32-year-old Kate Steinle as she walked with her father and a family friend along the San Francisco waterfront. He could face life in prison if convicted.

Lopez-Sanchez acknowledged shooting Steinle but said the gun he found under a bench had fired accidentally.

The shooting triggered a national debate over immigration after it was revealed that the Sheriff’s Department had released Lopez-Sanchez despite a federal request to detain him for possible deportation.

Lopez-Sanchez was previously deported five times to his native Mexico.

Wildfire will burn through holiday

FRESNO, Calif. – California’s largest wildfire so far this year was expected to rage through the Labor Day weekend in the Sierra Nevada, spewing smoke that has forced campgrounds near a popular lake to close and prompted health warnings, officials said Friday.

The fire has burned 130 square miles east of Fresno.

The fire began July 31 during a lightning strike. It has closed roads and about 10 campgrounds around Hume Lake and Kings Canyon. It was 25 percent contained.

Huge piece of rock could fall near dam

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A massive piece of rock is at risk of crashing down from a canyon wall to the base of an Arizona dam, prompting the government to send in a crew of rappelers to keep the slab in place.

The 500,000-pound slab – weighing more than many jumbo jets – began to break away from the canyon wall last week in what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation attributes to erosion that is typical for that type of rock. The area below the slab includes a passageway to a boat ramp, a machine shop and water and power facilities for the Glen Canyon Dam, located in Page near the Arizona-Utah border.

A three-person crew has been scaling the towering walls to drill bolts that range from 6 feet to 8 feet into the sandstone. Six bolts were placed in the canyon wall a week ago before a small chunk broke loose and crashed to the ground.

The slab measures 30 feet at its widest point and is 50 feet tall. Its thickness ranges from 6 inches to 4 feet, he said.