The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
45°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

John Craig

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

All Stories

News >  Spokane

Child Rape Charges Dropped Against Woman Case That Was Hoped Would Test Polygraph Admissibility Thrown Out For Lack Of Evidence

The second of two first-degree child rape charges against a 51-year-old Wilbur, Wash., grandmother disintegrated in court Thursday and was dismissed. The voluntary dismissal undercut a potentially precedent-setting ruling that lie detector tests could be presented as scientific evidence. The dismissal prevents an appellate court test that could overturn the traditional exclusion of lie detector results in court.
News >  Spokane

Retarded Teen Rapist Warned To Stay Away From Families

A mentally retarded teenager who admitted raping a 4-year-old neighbor boy two years ago was warned Thursday that any future problems could get him banished from his Camden Gap home. Pend Oreille County Superior Court Judge Larry Kristianson made the blunt warning while renewing a protection order for the victim's family and granting a new one to another family that feels threatened by Shawn McIntyre.
News >  Spokane

County Seeks Respect For Land Policies

Okanogan County commissioners will hear opinions Monday on a much-diluted version of a proposal for the county to assert control over state and federal land decisions. The commissioners will conduct a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. at Okanogan High School on a 43-page resolution that asks state and federal agencies to consider the county's "custom, culture, economic stability and environmental harmony."
News >  Spokane

Tribal Councilwoman A Suspect In Stabbing Charette Suspected Of Injuring Her Off-And-On Boyfriend

Colville Confederated Tribes Councilwoman Frances Charette is under investigation in a stabbing incident on the Inchelium-Gifford ferry. Tribal Police Chief Jay Goss confirmed Thursday that Charette, who represents the Inchelium District of the Colville Indian Reservation, is suspected of stabbing her off-and-on boyfriend Eugene Michel twice in his lower back June 2.
News >  Spokane

Group’s Persistent Attacks Annoy Omak Rodeo Backers Paws Continues Its Battle To Stop Downhill Horse Race

Organizers of Omak's "World Famous Suicide Race" say a Seattle-area group is spreading misinformation in its perennial battle to stop the downhill horse race. The Progressive Animal Welfare Society announced this week that Wrangler, Cellular One, Sears, Pizza Hut, U.S. Bank and Wal-Mart "have withdrawn their support from the notorious race." The Lynnwood, Wash., group released a letter from a Cellular One Group manager who condemned the Suicide Race, which has killed three horses in the last three years.
News >  Spokane

Two Charged In Brutal Murder Pair Accused Of Seeking Vengeance After Victim Failed To Pay Off Debt

Spokane residents Alan G. Rochek and Jacqueline Bence were charged Friday with aggravated first-degree murder in the clumsy and brutal execution of another Spokane resident at Eloika Lake in early April. Pend Oreille County Prosecutor Tom Metzger said no decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty. The alternative, if Rochek and Bence are convicted as charged, would be life in prison without parole.
News >  Spokane

Residents Shout Down Noise Rules

About 100 people, mostly from the northern end of Stevens County, shouted down a noise-control ordinance requested by suburban residents of the county's southern end. County commissioners scrapped the proposed ordinance after it received overwhelming opposition in a public hearing Wednesday. They directed county officials to write a new proposal from scratch.
News >  Idaho

Town’s Tavern Has License Suspended Inchelium Watering Hole Cited After Incident Left Man Dead

The only tavern serving Inchelium has had its license suspended until July 1 for two incidents last fall that left one man dead and three police officers fearing for their safety. The Washington Liquor Control Board staff had recommended cancellation of Twin Lakes tavern operator James R. Finley's license for joining an angry mob that threatened three Colville Tribal Police officers on Sept. 24.
News >  Spokane

Computer Virus Infects Land Debate

A computer virus incident seems likely to fuel Ferry County's increasingly uncivil land-use debate. Sheriff Pete Warner promises to call in the FBI if there is another incident like one in which Curlew environmentalist Gary Woodmansee is believed to have presented a virus-infected diskette for use in a county computer.
News >  Spokane

U.S. 395 North To Canada Border Won’t Be Rerouted

The state Transportation Department has abandoned the idea of rerouting U.S. Highway 395 to Trail instead of Grand Forks, British Columbia. That's good news for residents of Williams Lake Road, near Colville. Dozens of them protested vigorously when the state announced last year it was considering rerouting the federal highway through their rural valley.
News >  Spokane

Lesson On Water Students Turn Houseboats Into Floating Labs

1. Inchelium High School students Debi Lemmon and Justin Lawrence look for tiny plants and animals in water samples as they cruise Lake Roosevelt. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review 2. Brad Frye of the National Park Service shows Inchelium High School students how to draw a water sample as part of a floating class on Lake Roosevelt. Students, from left, are: Zack Trudell, Justin Lawrence, Emmy Kohler, Clint Desautel, Chastity Watt, Melanie Seymour, and Kristi Tonasket. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review
News >  Spokane

Van Stedum Convicted In Traffic Death

Former Pend Oreille County sheriff's dispatcher Cathy Van Stedum was convicted Tuesday of vehicular homicide in the Halloween evening death of a trick-ortreater. A jury of six women and six men took about two hours to find Van Stedum guilty, and to conclude that she was drunk when she ran over Krissy Jones, 5. The determination that Van Stedum was intoxicated means she faces the sternest of three penalty ranges for vehicular homicide.