Hannelore Sudermann

COLFAX – For the first time since the September slaying of University of Idaho football player Eric McMillan, the two men suspected in his death will be in Idaho. Matthew and James Wells, who are being held in Washington for a trial on felony eluding charges, will be transported across the state line next week for a grand jury investigation.

COLFAX – A former Washington State University student was charged with second-degree manslaughter Tuesday in the accidental shooting death of his roommate last February. Ashley Allen Gilmore, 21, acted in a way that qualifies as criminally negligent, resulting in the death of fellow student Joseph Tibbs, prosecutors say.

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho got a first glimpse at its own report card Wednesday as a regional accreditation team gave it a list of things the school needs to improve. A team from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities has spent the past two days on the UI campus meeting with faculty, staff and students, part of a 10-year institutional reaccreditation visit.

Claiming that university management interfered, the Washington Federation of State Employees has thrown out this week's vote on a labor contract with Washington State University. The union is also filing an unfair labor practice complaint against the university with the State Public Employment Relations Commission.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Police have a number of witnesses who saw men matching descriptions of suspects James and Matthew Wells fleeing the scene of the shooting that killed UI student Eric McMillan, but they still don't have a murder weapon or motive. McMillan, a football player for the University of Idaho Vandals, was shot in the chest at his apartment Sunday about 5:30 p.m. After several hours of surgery, he was pronounced dead at 4 the next morning. Following witness descriptions, deputies across the state line spotted the suspects and followed them in 150-mile high-speed chase across Eastern Washington before finally managing to stop them on a bridge crossing the Columbia River.

PULLMAN – A biologist and her students plan to dig up a bear that was buried this summer after it was found dumped on a far corner of Washington State University's Pullman property. Bethany Marshall, who specializes in forensic entomology and trains future detectives and forensic specialists who handle human cases, plans to spend today with 14 students unearthing the shallow grave at a secret location where the bear was placed by groundskeepers.

COLFAX – A former Whitman County sheriff's deputy pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of second-degree child rape for encounters he had with a 13-year-old Malden girl. Howard Banks, who worked for seven years as a guard in the very jail where he is now an inmate, may face a standard sentence of about 10 years in prison. But because his crimes are a class A felony, he could face a maximum sentence of life.

COLFAX – Randy Colby, a Pullman Transit Dial-A-Ride driver, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in jail for assaulting disabled van passengers. Colby pleaded guilty in July to indecent liberties and three counts of third-degree rape.

Former Spokane television news reporter Eric R. Cannavaro pleaded guilty in Latah County District Court on Monday to the felony charge of sexual abuse of a child. Cannavaro, 37, last worked as a news reporter for KIRO-TV in Seattle, but was removed from his job in January 2004 when the criminal charges came to light.

SEATTLE – Washington's two top dogs in higher education are banding together to garner more state money for students and programs. The idea came from the presidents of Washington State University and the University of Washington, who have met several times since President Mark Emmert moved into his UW office this summer.

SEATTLE – By selling and buying land, Washington State University has managed to circumvent the state funding process to procure $5.2 million in property in downtown Spokane. In its meeting Friday, WSU's Board of Regents unanimously approved using a pool of money in campus coffers to purchase three parcels at the edges of the university's Riverpoint Campus next to the Spokane River.

PULLMAN – Washington State University has found a buyer for the 40-acre lakeside summer camp it has owned and managed since the 1950s. At a meeting Friday, the WSU Board of Regents is expected to approve the sale of Camp Roger Larson to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe for $1.4 million in cash and another $1 million pledged toward Native American studies at WSU.