John Craig

A 50-year-old woman is accused of raping and sexually molesting two preschool girls in a day-care center she operated. Peggy Jannot pleaded innocent this week in Lincoln County Superior Court to charges that she raped a 4-year-old girl and sexually molested a 5-year-old girl in September. Her trial is scheduled to begin March 1.

Tobias Stackhouse, left, and Jason Kukrall in court Thursday. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

The Pend Oreille County Public Utility District faces an $18,000 fine for what the state Ecology Department says were repeated water quality violations during reconstruction last year of the dam at Sullivan Lake. Ecology Department officials say a contractor for the utility district ignored several provisions of a work permit intended to prevent soil erosion and keep sediment from entering Outlet Creek, which flows into Sullivan Creek.

Radioactive contamination has been found at the abandoned L-Bar Products magnesium recycling plant near Chewelah. Public officials are still analyzing the month-old discovery, but believe the naturally occurring radiation is less of a threat than the high concentrations of ammonia and salts in surface and ground water at the site.

A Kettle Falls High School senior faces numerous criminal charges after allegedly resorting to violence when the 15-year-old girl he is accused of stalking for months refused to date him. Aaron W. King, 18, was in the Stevens County Jail on Thursday on $100,000 bail. He is accused of planning to blow up a car carrying a girl he blamed for convincing her 15-year-old friend not to date him. He also is charged with firing six shots into the car in December.

New Stevens County Commissioner J.D. "Andy" Anderson got the jump on other Stevens County elected officials Tuesday, taking his oath of office an hour before everyone else. But the sometimes controversial politician didn't carry through with his plan to take a different oath from the others. He seemed to have made a New Year's resolution to watch what he says and focus on county business.

Newport Police Chief Gary Markwardt waves at a passing pickup while making the rounds in the city. The town is considering a plan to merge the town's police force with the county sheriff's department. Photo by Anne C. Williams/The Spokesman-Review

The proposed Colville airport site is west of the Vaagen Bros. sawmill by the Colville River. Photo by Molly O'Hara/The Spokesman-Review