John Craig

Two incumbent Stevens County commissioners face challengers in next month's Republican primaries in the county's northern and southern districts. The district winners will meet Democrats Jeff Johnston and M. Grant McMullen in the countywide November general election. Johnston and McMullen have no primary opposition. One of the biggest questions in the primary races is the commissioner who's not up for election: J.D. Anderson, a far-right constitutionalist who represents the county's middle district.

Police say one or more teenagers may have been responsible for the apparent arson that destroyed the Springdale Town Hall July 1. Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer said an investigation is focusing on "a person of interest who is a juvenile." He and town Marshal Bob Lind declined to identify the suspect.

1. Howe 2. Lila Howe's Deer Lake home. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

Hill

Pend Oreille County officials broke no law when they granted a shoreline permit for a controversial 65-mile-long high-voltage power line along the Pend Oreille River, a judge ruled Friday. Visiting Superior Court Judge Richard Schroeder of Spokane dismissed Newport-area physician Peter Wier's petition for a court order overturning the shoreline permit.

A dozen people picketed the Boise Cascade sawmill here Thursday in a last-ditch effort to convince the company to halt plans to spray herbicide on its timberland in central Stevens County. Protesters from the Waitts Lake area seven miles southwest of Chewelah brandished signs accusing Boise Cascade of hypocrisy in advertisements touting the company's environmental sensitivity.

Alice Ignace, the oldest tribe member, with her 2-year-old great-grandson William Bowman on the reservation. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

Appeals were rejected Tuesday in a murder case that attorneys say may have been the first in the state to use the battered-spouse defense in a homosexual relationship. The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the tougher-than-usual sentence of Spokane resident Ronald A. Hall, 26, who solicited the February 1994 death of his homosexual partner. The three-judge panel in Spokane also upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Hall's cousin, Patrick N. Lowden, 25, of Addy, Wash. Lowden shot 33-year-old William Fisher to death at a cabin in northern Stevens County while Hall watched.

Republic's tavern-operating mayor, William "Skeeter" Burnett, faces a drunken driving charge and the wrath of at least one constituent who says he is unfit for office. Former councilwoman Kymbra Blank says she'll lead a recall drive against Burnett if he doesn't resign. Burnett thinks she should wait for a conviction.

There's a gloomy postscript to the story of a Spokane woman whose life-support machine was nearly turned off two weeks ago because she didn't pay her electricity bill. Marilyn Franck's son and daughter face criminal charges in Pend Oreille County stemming from a fight they got into concerning her plight.

Diane Bastin photographs a historic power plant from the tour boat. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

A road project to be discussed in a public meeting here today would join Stevens and Pend Oreille counties at the waist. Responding to years of lobbying by officials from both counties, the Federal Highway Administration is proposing to pave Flowery Trail Road between Chewelah and Usk. It would be only the second paved road between the back-to-back counties, which are divided by the Selkirk Mountains.

A Keller, Wash., man accused of torturing a neighbor with a hot poker before strangling him is to be arraigned today on a first-degree murder charge. Another suspect, who may have played a supporting role in the slaying, is being held by federal authorities in Spokane.

Six months after a major fire gutted the county courthouse, Lincoln County will celebrate restoration of the building's historic exterior on Wednesday. A crane will hoist a new cupola - a small structure resembling a school bell tower - onto the roof in a "topping off" ceremony at 1 p.m. The ceremony is open to the public.

Frustrated Stevens County Prosecutor Jerry Wetle plans to retry a man whose 1990 manslaughter conviction was recently overturned because of grammar. It wasn't even bad grammar, Wetle complained.

A Colville man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing a grizzly bear about a dozen miles northeast of Colville, in an area where grizzly sightings are rare. Ed Smith Jr., 18, was sentenced to two days in jail and ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and civil penalties. Stevens County District Court Commissioner Andy Braff also banned Smith from hunting for a year.

The Colville Confederated Tribes will elect at least two new members to the tribal council in a general election Saturday. Eddie Palmanteer Jr., a past chairman of the council, and Councilwoman Frances Charette aren't seeking reelection.

Scott Pierce, 21, will join Anthony Sammons, 25, in prison for the rest of his life for a double murder last September that may have been racially motivated. A jury of seven men and five women took just three hours Monday to convict Pierce of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of two Mexican orchard workers at Omak, Wash.

State transportation worker Brian Rice directs traffic through a flooded section of state Highway 20. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

The Pend Oreille River, now two feet above flood stage, has washed into a half-dozen basements and threatens to flood up to 75 houses before cresting this weekend. "We've got people that are inches from being flooded and we've got people who have water in their basements already," said JoAnn Boggs, Pend Oreille County emergency services director.

The Stevens County Planning Commission will consider a proposal today to eliminate the county's comprehensive land-use plan and zoning for Loon Lake. County officials and lake residents spent years developing the regulations, but county commissioners say they discovered conflicts in the documents during a controversial zone change.

This vacant, dilapidated trailer house was previously inhabited by a family with three children who neighbors said used a shed and nearby bushes as toilets because the rental was not connected to the community's sewer system. Photo by John Craig/The Spokesman-Review

A charge accusing Pend Oreille County Clerk Winnie Sundseth of hiding a fugitive in her office was dismissed Thursday. After hearing the prosecution's case, visiting Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine ruled there was insufficient evidence showing Sundseth rendered criminal assistance, since she didn't know what crime the man supposedly committed.

Republic's Prospector Days celebration today through Sunday will mark the Ferry County centennial and the 40th anniversary of the community festival. Activities get started tonight at 7 with a rodeo. Then, about 8 p.m., the highway through downtown will be closed for a community dance. On Saturday there's a logging show, but the festival primarily commemorates Republic's century-old mining heritage. Even the foot race at 9 a.m. Saturday is called the Gold Rush Run. Runners will have their choice: 2.3 miles or 10 kilometers. Those who choose the 2.3-mile course might be back in time to do some drilling, mucking, steeling or spike driving in the mining competition at 9:30.