John Craig

A marriage not yet 3 months old ended tragically when William A. Lawrence took a shot at his wife and a Pend Oreille County sheriff's deputy shot him dead. The shooting occurred about midnight Thursday at a mobile home near Diamond Lake. Lawrence, 39, had taken his wife, Brandi, and two young children hostage with a sawed-off shotgun.

A new women's hardball team will conduct its first practice Sunday and play its first game next month against a Newport men's team. The team will play a catch-as-catch-can schedule this summer, "but next year we'll be looking at a full program," said sponsor Willy Hutchinson, owner of Land Title Co. in Newport.

1. While last-minute filming of "The Postman" continues at a futuristic cliff dwelling on the face of Boundary Dam. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review 2. Above, a movie crew member removes splotchy goop that was sprayed on a Metaline Falls house to make it appear weathered.

President Clinton authorized federal assistance Monday for property owners who suffered uninsured damage from this summer's Pend Oreille River flooding. "I'm glad to see that the president of the United States can recognize one of the smallest-population, poorest counties with assistance to those that don't have insurance," said Pend Oreille County Commission Chairman Joel Jacobsen. The assistance so far is limited to individuals and businesses, but Jacobsen said he hopes the county and other local governments also will be offered help. He said the county spent about $300,000 to help flood victims.

Dave Taylor, left, and Richard Corcoran help driver Don Super hitch a team to a stagecoach they are taking from Chesaw to Republic. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

Convicted Friday of animal cruelty, kennel owners Swen and Jeanette Bergman lost custody of dogs seized in January. Photo by Associated Press

Defense attorneys on Thursday quoted everything from romantic poetry to the Bible in closing arguments designed to convince a judge that Jeanette and Swen Bergman aren't guilty of animal cruelty. The Bergmans each are accused of 21 misdemeanor counts of second-degree animal cruelty in connection with 240 dogs authorities found when they raided the couple's Mountain Top Kennel near Newport on Jan. 4.

1. Peterson 2. Thomas

A judicial compromise may keep Joyce Tasker out of jail while she waits to find out whether she will be allowed to use the costly new dog shelter she has built in a residential area. Tasker is taking a giant gamble that Stevens County Superior Court Judge Larry Kristianson eventually will agree that her new amphitheater-style dog kennel is "the Faberge Egg of animal shelters."

Surrendering to authorities. Cheyne Kehoe is read his rights by Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer. Behind Kehoe are his wife, Tanna, holding their son Christopher, and Tanna's parents, Ronda and Bob Wilburn. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review

Native Americans from Inchelium have scheduled a Monday night public meeting to dispute their tribal council's request for the Colville School District to quit using Indian mascots. "The tribe made a move without consulting the people," said meeting co-organizer Matt Boyd Jr., an environmental health specialist for Colville Confederated Tribes. "Everybody is pretty much against what they did."

The city of Newport and Pend Oreille County are being sued in federal court by a man who claims he was assaulted by a Newport policeman and a county jailer. James M. Durham, 20, and his father, James A. Durham, seek unspecified damages for the way the younger Durham was treated when he was booked as a juvenile on suspicion of drunken driving in the early morning hours of June 17, 1994.

With the Pend Oreille River slowly receding, county officials want flood victims to start reporting their losses so the county can build a case for federal assistance. Gov. Gary Locke declared a state of emergency on May 22, but assistance so far has been directed toward government agencies. A federal declaration could bring financial assistance to individual property owners and businesses.

Irene Schell inspects the damage to her mobile home in Riverbend Estates along the Pend Oreille River. "I'm just devastated," she said. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

The Colville School Board was rebuffed in its request to meet with the Colville Confederated Tribes' governing council to discuss a tribal request that the district change its Indian mascots. Rick Cole, Colville school superintendent, said the school board wanted to attend Thursday's tribal council meeting as a first step in honoring the tribes' request to rename various landmarks and school mascots.

Motorists overwhelmingly want relief from congestion on U.S. Highway 395 through Colville, a new survey shows. But they prefer a truck route through the industrial area on the west side of town over a bypass that would remove all highway traffic from the city.

1. Jeanette Bergman 2. Swen Bergman

People who live along the Pend Oreille River can expect floodwaters to rise 12 to 18 inches by Friday, authorities are warning. If the prediction holds true, this year's flood will exceed those in 1972 and 1974 but will still be less than the 1948 flood that inundated Cusick.

Despite protests that they were infringing on property rights, Pend Oreille County commissioners slapped tough new restrictions on billboards Monday. The ordinance effectively eliminates new commercial billboards in the county, according to Casey Gray, vice president of Pridemark Outdoor Advertising.

Costner

Nespelem Elementary/Middle School, in the heart of the Colville Indian Reservation, is one of several schools whose mascots the tribal council wants changed. The school, whose students are almost all Native Americans, uses an Indian likeness for its logo and calls itself the Savages.

Pend Oreille spirits buoyant 1. Gary Brathovde, manager of the Outpost Resort, paddles through Pend Oreille River floodwaters near Cusick, Wash. The resort cafe, in background, is protected by sandbags and is open. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. The Pend Oreille River backs up over and access road to Sunvale Acres near Tiger, Wash. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

Pend Oreille County officials today will ask visiting state officials to provide guards for flooded, evacuated residential areas. Volunteers from the sheriff's reserves, mounted posse and search-and-rescue squads are weary from guarding two subdivisions continuously for two days, County Commissioner Joel Jacobsen said.

The original Colville Indians want the Colville High School Indians to find another name. A delegation from the tribal government asked the Colville School Board on Tuesday to change school mascot names they say are stereotypical or derogatory to Indians.