Amy Cannata

Three teenagers accused of impersonating police have been arrested after Spokane County sheriff's deputies tracked them down after a fake traffic stop. According to the Sheriff's Office, a woman told deputies that she was driving on the Newport Highway about 1:15 a.m. Monday with her husband asleep in the passenger seat when a car with high beams and flashing red and blue lights pulled her over.

When customers began crying, Mosaic SalonSpa owner Tahleigha Aitchison knew she had to do something. "Starting out your spa treatment in tears is not a good way to begin," said Aitchison.

A string of fires along Interstate 90 in Idaho, including several off the Veterans Memorial Bridge, was set Wednesday by a person throwing lit fireworks out the window of a vehicle. While those fires kept Idaho firefighters busy, Spokane County firefighters reported fewer fireworks-related calls than on past Independence Days. Dozens of firefighters and a helicopter battled the blazes along the Veterans Memorial Bridge east of Coeur d'Alene. The fire closed multiple lanes of I-90 traffic.

Latah County prosecutors are charging a 17-year-old with murder in connection with the June 30 shooting death of an Idaho man after an argument at a late-night party. Zachary A. Fredrickson, of Troy, was charged Thursday with the first-degree murder of 23-year-old Jeremiah Johnson, also of Troy.

Spokane Valley soon will suffer its own version of the Interstate 90 viaduct project in downtown Spokane. Work on the Sullivan Road concrete paving next week at I-90 will clamp down on a vital Valley transportation artery for three weeks.

Basketball players know that traveling isn't allowed, but Hoopfest players, fans and just about anyone in Spokane will also run into problems if they try to get around downtown this weekend. Most downtown streets will be closed for the 3-on-3 basketball tournament, with Lincoln, Monroe, Browne and Division streets remaining open for crosstown traffic.

An early morning fire destroyed a couple's north Spokane mobile home Tuesday, injuring both and killing their cat. Fire crews contained the blaze to the one trailer, saving others in the mobile home park at Lyons Avenue and Nevada Street.

What do you expect from a guy who rides in the pope mobile? It's easy to be charitable and speak of compassion on the road when other people drive you around and you don't deal with the sometimes inconsiderate, careless and just plain idiotic people on the road.

A gang member who escaped from the Sunnyside, Wash., city jail in November has been added to the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 Most Wanted list. Aaron Lopez Garcia escaped from jail on Nov. 30, 2006, with three other inmates.

Climbing gas prices are raising the hackles of Americans, but most commuters still drive to work alone. Nearly eight in 10 commuters made the trip solo, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey.

A visiting Superior Court judge has ruled that the Spokane County Civil Service Commission was within its rights to reduce the punishment given to a Spokane County sheriff's deputy who flashed an Airway Heights barista. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich fired Detective Joseph Mastel for the 2006 off-duty incident but the commission changed that to a year's suspension until Mastel was eligible to retire on July 3.

A 15-year-old boy who died in an alcohol-related crash Saturday is the latest in a surge of teen traffic fatality victims in Spokane County. Law enforcement officers said Monday they are alarmed by the number of young people dying and getting injured in crashes caused by inexperienced, reckless or drunken driving.

Wayne Jones was determined Sunday that his son's life and untimely death make a difference. Through tears, anger and occasionally laughter, Jones urged teens gathered at the site of a fatal Saturday morning car crash to not make the same mistake that killed his son, Braydon Jones.

Two major Spokane Valley road construction projects are delayed because of complications purchasing necessary rights of way. Construction crews may get started too late to finish widening and repaving Appleway Avenue near Barker Road, and it's unlikely work will begin this year on a project to reconfigure freeway ramps and Mansfield Avenue at Pines Road.

The Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service shelter has received so many unwanted pets this week that it has already had to euthanize dogs and cats on two days, double the number of euthanasia days in a typical week. The shelter started the week with space for animals, but quickly filled up as people brought in dogs and entire litters of kittens.

Get it through your thick skulls: Skulls really aren't that thick. In fact, they're very fragile things. You and your children need to wear bicycle helmets.