John Craig

1. Workers rush to protect the dike, right, that separates the Calispell River from the Pend Oreille River. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. "This is the calm before the storm," says Tom Milliken, who chases floating debris through his flooded back yard near Newport, Wash. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Randy Thomas, alias "the BLT," was sentenced Friday to a year in jail for his role in what authorities say was an attempt to kill a man with bacon. Thomas said other inmates at the Stevens County Jail dubbed him "the BLT" even though co-defendant Tracy Walter, 34, was responsible for the Feb. 1 assault on 39-year-old Jim Peterson.

Pend Oreille County's long-anticipated flood is expected to arrive this weekend. The county Emergency Services Department on Thursday warned residents along the Pend Oreille River and its tributaries to brace for "significant flooding."

Empty-pocketed Stevens County commissioners have given up on a plan to acquire some juvenile holding cells and more space for the overcrowded Sheriff's Department. County officials had hoped to save money by piggy-backing the cells and sheriff's quarters onto a new state-funded emergency dispatching center. But the state will pay only for the dispatching center, and the county lacks money for the proposed additions.

Ruth Hertzler at Dutch Country Creations in Chewelah, Wash. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

Police have shut down an even bigger marijuana-growing operation just across the road from one they raided last November in central Pend Oreille County. Sheriff Doug Malby said 560 plants were seized Wednesday at the home of Doyle D. Rucker, 53, and his wife, Sharon, 52. Their horse ranch is just north of Cusick across state Highway 20 from the home of Jack and Margaret Clayburn, where officers found about 300 pot plants last November. Officers lacked sufficient evidence at the time to raid both indoor growing operations, Malby said.

A Stevens County human rights coalition will be honored Saturday as one of the best among 200 bigot-battling organizations in six states. The Upper Columbia Human Rights Coalition will receive the Tarfon Human Rights Award for Community Leadership during the party the coalition throws every year to show that tolerance is more fun than bigotry.

Donald W. Sax is expected to return to the area this week to face a charge that he assaulted the younger brother of 12-year-old homicide victim Julie Harris. Meanwhile, a memorial service for Harris is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Kettle Falls Assembly of God Church, which she attended. Sax is the live-in boyfriend of Julie's mother, Colville resident Sherri Harris.

Volunteers and 50 convicts are sandbagging today around homes that face flooding next month when snow that is still falling in Montana swells the Pend Oreille River. The effort to protect a dozen rural riverfront homes is being spearheaded by about 30 volunteers from Fire District 4, which serves the most flood-prone portion of the river, from Newport to Cusick. Cusick residents also are busy reinforcing the dike that protects them from the river. Mayor Paul Haas said the dike has a weak section as well as some low spots that need to be raised. Haas and his constituents will depend on the dike this year more than any time since 1948, when much of Cusick was flooded. The dike has an elevation of 2,052 feet, and officials say a near-record snow runoff could bring the river within 2 feet of the top of the dike. If the river gets that high and the dike fails, the city of 244 will be flooded. Haas said Cusick streets are 3 to 5 feet below the top of the dike. "If it gets to that point, there won't be anybody there because we'll have them all evacuated," said JoAnn Boggs, Pend Oreille County emergency services director. If the river gets to an elevation of 2,054 feet - which is considered unlikely but possible - the water system that serves Cusick and the nearby Ponderay Newsprint plant could be knocked out, forcing the mill to close. In case water gets through the weak spot in the Cusick dike, Haas said city officials hope to hold it on three baseball fields by erecting a secondary wall of sandbags along a road that skirts the city. "Our Plan B is to actually construct a dike right on the north side of Monumental Road there," Haas said. That would require an estimated 3,000 cubic yards of fill, but there is no money in the city budget to pay for it, Haas said. He said the city may qualify for construction assistance when the river flow through Albeni Falls Dam, near Newport, rises to 106,000 cubic feet per second from the current 70,000. That could happen in time to get the work done before the flood hits, but Haas said he is negotiating for a lower threshold. Although the Pend Oreille floodwaters are still in Montana, the Cusick area already is awash in local runoff. The same dike that keeps the Pend Oreille River out of Cusick traps water from the Calispel River, which used to flow into the Pend Oreille at the north edge of Cusick. Six big pumps usually are able to lift the Calispel's spring runoff over the top of the dike, but not this year. A spillgate in the dike couldn't be opened until Wednesday because the Pend Oreille would have flowed back into the Calispel and made matters worse. On Monday, the Pend Oreille County Public Utility District opened the gates on its Box Canyon Dam between Ione and Metaline. That allowed the Pend Oreille River level to drop enough to open the dike gate. The gate may have to be closed again because of heavier-than-expected flows in the Pend Oreille. But the temporary reduction is helping efforts to shore up the dike, Haas said.

Policeman Ernest "Marty" Martin takes his duty seriously. Just ask his son. The Newport officer arrested his son early Sunday morning after the boy, who had just turned 17, allegedly stole his mother's 1975 Corvette. Police Chief Gary Markwardt said Cindy Martin heard her sports car leave, then found a note in which the boy said he was going to Connecticut with his girlfriend.

Stevens County Commissioner J.D. Anderson paid his property taxes as usual Monday, even though he recently filed documents that some people have used in an effort to avoid taxes. "You come back in October and I'll pay 'em again," Anderson said Monday, dismissing public speculation that he intended to quit paying property taxes.

Harris

Offices on the Colville Indian Reservation will be closed Friday in memory of longtime tribal councilman Dale Kohler. "He was an inspiration to his fellow council members and a devoted servant to the members of the Colville Tribes," said Council Chairman Joe Pakootas.

The federal government plans to spend $500,000 to $750,000 this year to improve security at Grand Coulee Dam. Dam manager Steve Clark said the plans are a continuation of efforts that began last year after a survey identified significant security weaknesses.

Rural counties throughout Eastern Washington are waging a last-minute battle to get the state Senate to extend a tax for new emergency dispatching centers before the Legislature adjourns this month. So far, they're losing. A bill that passed the House 98-0 is bottled up in the Senate Ways and Means Committee and has little chance of reaching the floor - where county officials believe there is enough support for passage. The eastern district of the Washington State Association of Counties is appealing for the full Senate to override the Ways and Means Committee. Association leaders believe the primary obstacle is Boeing and other companies with numerous telephones. County officials say the tax extension is necessary to provide dispatchers costly new "enhanced 911" dispatching centers. Under state law, they must be in place by Dec. 31, 1998. That's not a big problem for urban counties that have long had regular 911 service, lacking only the ability to pinpoint the location of callers. But many small rural counties must make a giant leap. Modern 911 dispatching centers require specially trained employees who do nothing else. The centers typically are isolated from other county offices because large, specialized equipment requires construction of new buildings or annexes. That means one person can no longer be a jailer, receptionist and dispatcher at the same time. The problem is most acute in cash-strapped Ferry County, where nine full-time employees had to be added to the payroll when a new 911 dispatching center opened last fall. Not only were more dispatchers needed, but additional jailers had to be hired to replace the people who were transferred to the new 911 building. A 20-cent-per-month statewide tax on telephone bills is paying for 4 of the new positions, but the assistance will be reduced by one-third on June 30. When that happens, Ferry County will have to start paying for another of the new positions. The county doesn't have enough money for that, let alone the additional positions it will have to cover when the state assistance is reduced again in June 1998, then eliminated a year after that, according to 911 Director Rose Parr. She and other county officials hope the state 911 office will not phase out the assistance so quickly if the Senate approves the proposed two-year extension of the 20-cent telephone tax. Without the extension, the tax will drop to 10 cents at the end of 1998. The tax was established when voters approved a statewide referendum in 1991. It was to supplement a 50-cent-a-month local phone tax that raises enough money only in urban areas. State 911 administrator Bob Oenning agreed with county officials that a "primary selling point" for the referendum was that it would benefit travelers by helping make 911 service available throughout the state. As a rule of thumb, he said, the standard 50-cent tax doesn't generate enough money in counties with fewer than 40,000 residents. With only one city and a countywide population of just 7,200, Ferry County "is probably the best example in the state" of the need for outside assistance, Oenning said. The 50-cent tax generates only about $18,000 a year, but dispatching salaries total $195,542 before fringe benefits are added. Ways and Means Chairman Jim West, R-Spokane, said the issue is "much ado about nothing" because the 20-cent tax won't drop to 10 cents until long after the Legislature meets again next January. "The world is not going to stop spinning, and the Legislature is not going to stop meeting, so what's the rush?" West said.

1. Two drown in Pend Oreille River. "They say it's the hardest when you lose a child," says Geraldine Dana, who with her husband, Chuck, lost her son and grandson in a fishing accident. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. Donny Dana with his parents, Geraldine and Chuck, in family wedding photo.

Some of the 1,200 Pend Oreille River property owners may need hip waders in their living rooms when a near-record runoff passes through the river in late May or early June. They've all been invited to a "Flood '97 Preparedness" meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Cusick High School. Local and federal officials will be on hand to answer questions and give advice. "We don't want to panic anybody, but we want to make them aware," said JoAnn Boggs, Pend Oreille County emergency services director. "The good thing is that we have time to prepare."

Members of the Colville Confederated Tribes are being called to Nespelem, much as Joseph and Mary were summoned to Bethlehem. Instead of being taxed, though, the Colvilles will get to vote on how to spend $10 million in accumulated revenue from tribal casinos. Voting by secret ballot will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday during a general membership meeting at Nespelem Community Center. Only those who come will be allowed to vote.

The welfare reform working its way through the state Legislature lacks a key ingredient: jobs. No matter which bill passes, most welfare recipients will be expected to find work within a certain time - no more than five years, under federal law. That will be tough in rural northeastern Washington, where even burger-flipping jobs are scarce.

A pair of dog breeders accused of numerous counts of animal cruelty will have separate juries at their June 9 trial in Pend Oreille County District Court. Judge Chuck Baechler granted a defense motion Thursday to separate the cases against Mountain Top Kennel operator Jeanette Bergman, 45, and her husband, Swen, 48. Because of the difficulty of finding an impartial jury after one case is decided, Baechler decided to try both at the same time.

A plan to build a new $4.5 million airport here has collapsed because of a breakdown in communications among local proponents. The project's apparent demise came just as proponents seemed to have the upper hand after more than two decades of struggle with state and federal regulators. City officials took it for granted over the years that acquisition of the airport site from Vaagen Bros. Lumber was the least of their worries. But frustrating negotiation with Vaagen Bros. prompted the City Council to vote 5-0 on March 18 to abandon the project.

Bridge over spilled waters. The Fort Spokane boat launch shows how low water on the Columbia and Spokane rivers has exposed many feet of riverbank. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Robert "Bubba" Hedricks and his Harley. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

City Councilman Cliff Jones says he has heard nothing but compliments since he placed official-looking "Patriot Country" and "Idaho Militia" signs near the south edge of town. Mayor Brian Orr says the complaints have come to him. "A lot of people in town are unhappy that it's there, but it's on private property and there's nothing we can do about it," Orr said.