John Craig

An 18-year-old Spokane Valley man was arrested Friday on suspicion of first-degree murder after a body was found in his basement. Kevin David Stevens was detained and later arrested when he drove up to his home at 7721 E. Trent Ave. on Thursday night, with his mother, while sheriff's deputies were examining the tarp-wrapped body.

Four teenage boys who attempted to burn a cross on a racially mixed family's lawn two years ago are being sued, along with their parents, in U.S. District Court. All four boys pleaded guilty in 2004 to malicious harassment in Spokane County Juvenile Court. Nathaniel E. Coston, Casey E. Stoner and Joshua W. Brink were 17 at the time; Brent W. Culp was 15.

Four teenage boys who attempted to burn a cross on a racially mixed family's lawn two years ago are being sued, along with their parents, in U.S. District Court. All four boys pleaded guilty in 2004 to malicious harassment in Spokane County Juvenile Court. Nathaniel E. Coston, Casey E. Stoner and Joshua W. Brink were 17 at the time; Brent W. Culp was 15.

A Spokane Valley man charged with vehicular homicide last month enjoyed less than a month of freedom on bail before his past caught up with him. Craig Alan Schiering, 42, of 3904 N. Lockwood Road, posted bail after his arrest March 24 for allegedly running over an acquaintance following a loud discussion at a North Division gasoline station. But he had other charges pending at the time, and was charged later the same day in an unrelated drug-possession case.

Spokane author Jess Walter was the surprised winner of an Edgar award Thursday night in New York for his third novel, "Citizen Vince." "One of the judges asked me what I thought my odds were, and I said, 'I don't think they go that low,' " Walter said in an interview from his hotel room.

Police seized a laptop computer and other items Tuesday in a search of evidence that two Spokane men in military-style clothing documented what one of them called their "mission" to kill a man last month. Court documents filed Tuesday to obtain a search warrant for items in homicide suspect Robert A. Entel's car revealed that a witness claims to have heard Entel and two co-defendants plotting the killing of 45-year-old Bud Robert Johnson.

Police seized a laptop computer and other items Tuesday in a search of evidence that two Spokane men in military-style clothing documented what one of them called their "mission" to kill a man last month. Court documents filed Tuesday to obtain a search warrant for items in homicide suspect Robert A. Entel's car revealed that a witness claims to have heard Entel and two co-defendants plotting the killing of 45-year-old Bud Robert Johnson.

What do you get if you put 12,000 women in the Spokane Arena? Potty parity with a vengeance. Every men's restroom except one in the cavernous building had its gender bent for the sold-out Women of Faith conference that began Friday evening and continues through today.

A con man pleaded guilty Friday to duping a Republic, Wash., title company owner into stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients to pursue a get-rich-quick scam known as the Nigerian letter. Terry O. Ayeni, 42, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and agreed to provide information about "at least three other individuals" involved in the scheme. The U.S. attorney's office states in the plea agreement that Ayeni was a "minor participant" in the fraud.

Spokane attorney Carlos Valero has been disbarred for continuing to practice law badly while his license was suspended for misconduct. Valero was admitted to the Washington bar in July 1999 and was in trouble just a year later. He filed an adversary proceeding in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in July 2000, naming three defendants without any factual basis, according to Washington State Bar Association records.

Spokane attorney Carlos Valero has been disbarred for continuing to practice law badly while his license was suspended for misconduct. Valero was admitted to the Washington bar in July 1999 and was in trouble just a year later. He filed an adversary proceeding in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in July 2000, naming three defendants without any factual basis, according to Washington State Bar Association records.

A Ferry County sheriff's deputy remains on paid leave, a month after Sheriff Pete Warner bowed to public pressure for an investigation into Detective Carroll Sharp Jr.'s associations with teenage boys. Warner asked the Washington State Patrol to conduct a new investigation because a WSP investigation in early 2003 failed to satisfy some people's concerns that Sharp may have acted improperly with two boys who lived in his Republic-area home, as well as others he befriended.

Two 22-year-old Coeur d'Alene women died early Saturday morning in a vehicle that plunged into 12 feet of frigid water at the Honeysuckle boat ramp on Hayden Lake. A Coeur d'Alene man, also 22, escaped.

A former Geiger Corrections Center guard has been arrested on a charge that he forced a female inmate to have sex in January. Bernard R. Baumgardner, 60, of 2004 W. Kiernan Ave., was booked into jail Thursday evening on a charge of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct. He quickly posted a $10,000 bond and was released. No court date had been set Friday.

A Newman Lake man says he was stunned recently when he was arrested on a bench warrant for failing to appear on a charge of dumping sand in the lake. Court records show the District Court warrant was issued last July because a secretary in the county prosecutor's office mistakenly sent summonses to an address where 48-year-old Tom K. Burgess hasn't lived for more than 25 years.

Sheriff's detectives have arrested a suspect in a series of drive-by shootings this month in the Newman Lake area. Detective Tim Hines said 20-year-old Kenneth E. Brandt, 5802 N. Idaho Road, is suspected in three drive-by shootings March 12 near Trent Avenue northeast of Spokane Valley.

A lockdown at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, the longest since 1979, entered its fourth week today. Prisoners are being kept mostly in their cells because of concerns about attacks on corrections officers by inmates who are unhappy with a new dining hall policy.