In brief: Moses Lake shooting suspect arrested
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect Sunday night in Friday’s fatal shooting of a Spokane man in Moses Lake.
Margarito Leyva, 26, of Moses Lake, was taken into custody about 9 p.m. at the Knights Inn in Pasco, the Sheriff’s Office said. The Sheriff’s Office earlier had offered a $500 reward for information leading to Leyva’s arrest.
He is suspected of shooting Juan Michael “Johnny” Gonzalez Jr., who died early Saturday at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Gonzalez was shot in the chest Friday at the College Apartments on Grape Drive in Moses Lake.
Fin whale viewed in Puget Sound
SEATTLE – For the first time in many years, the second-largest animal in the world – the fin whale – was spotted near Minor Island in north Puget Sound.
KING-TV reported that whale watchers saw the animal Thursday.
Michael Harris of Puget Sound Express Whale Watching said fin whales used to be common in the area, but commercial hunting off Vancouver Island decimated the local population.
Marine biology professor Jonathan Stern said fin whales have a distinctive exhalation. That’s how they knew it wasn’t a minke or humpback whale.
The whale appeared to be a juvenile. Adults can reach 85 feet and 75 tons, and live as long as 90 years. They are listed as an endangered species.
Drivers help woman who fled attacker
VANCOUVER, Wash. – Vancouver police said drivers on Interstate 205 stopped to help a woman who jumped out of her car to escape an attacker.
KATU-TV in Portland reported that the woman was driving north Saturday when she stopped her car and ran into traffic. Police said Darrel Classen chased after her.
Witnesses told police that they saw Classen punching the woman as her car passed them on the freeway. When she pulled over and ran, drivers created a wall to shield her from oncoming cars. Witnesses detained Classen by using a makeshift pair of handcuffs until police arrived.
Police said Classen hit one of the drivers who tried to help.
Classen faces assault and reckless endangerment charges. The woman was treated at a hospital and is expected to survive.
BLM done gathering wild horses after fire
BOISE – The Bureau of Land Management said it completed its effort to relocate wild horses from southwestern Idaho following a massive wildfire.
The BLM said Saturday that 279 horses were gathered.
The Soda fire burned nearly 280,000 acres in Oregon and Idaho, including two BLM herd management areas and part of a third.
The BLM said many of the 173 horses gathered from the Hardtrigger Herd Management Area were treated for mild to moderate burns.
Horses were taken to the BLM’s Boise Wild Horse Corrals, where some will eventually be put up for adoption.
Man gets 30 months for fatal boat crash
SEATTLE – A Renton man who was drunk when his speedboat slammed into a sailboat on Lake Washington last summer, killing one person and injuring two others, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
The Seattle Times reported that Richard Hicks was sentenced Friday for the July 2014 crash.
During his trial, Hicks admitted that he had been boating under the influence of alcohol that night. His blood alcohol content was nearly twice the legal limit.
The jury convicted Hicks in July of one count of homicide by watercraft and two counts of assault by watercraft.
Local schoolteacher Melissa Protz was killed in the crash. The sailboat operator received 17 broken ribs, and another passenger suffered shoulder and head injuries.
Protesters march against police, Nazis
OLYMPIA – Demonstrators marching through downtown Olympia chanted anti-police slogans, broke windows and took a bat to a truck before dispersing Saturday.
The Olympian reported that the demonstrators walked the streets on Saturday night chanting “Nazis out of Oly” and other slogans.
Many in the crowd wore black and covered their faces with bandanas. A few carried bats.
They passed out fliers saying they were there to counter a Nazi gathering that had been called for Saturday night in Olympia.
They carried an anti-police banner. Some lit fireworks; others knocked over trash cans.
When a white truck drove through the crowd, one of the demonstrators hit it with a bat. Demonstrators also smashed the glass door at City Hall.
Grant makes more car seats available
POCATELLO – About 40 child car seats are sitting in a Pocatello Police Department storage room waiting for parents in need.
KPVI-TV reported that thanks to a $9,000 grant from the Idaho Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the state transportation agency, the police department will add 120 more car seats to its offerings.
Police car seat specialist Mindi Anderson said the program is designed to get children in the correct seat.