Jonathan Brunt

A man and woman were arrested last Thursday after detectives seized marijuana and a small amount of methamphetamine from a north Spokane home, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said. Child Protective Services was called to take custody of the woman's 7-year-old daughter.

Friday's presidential debate may have been entertaining, but it didn't change many minds – at least for a group of seniors who gathered to watch the debate at Spokane Falls Community College. After an hour and a half of ideas, barbs and banter, only one of more than 60 people assembled by the AARP said the contest had made her decide how to cast her ballot.

Two men were charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in a case that's gone unsolved for 17 years. Tina E. Phillips was found dead on Sept. 11, 1987, near Ninth Avenue and Ivory Street in Grant Park. An autopsy determined that she died from stab wounds to her chest and also suffered injuries to her neck and head.

Members of the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors said Wednesday that money raised from a sales tax increase approved in May will not be used to build a light rail system. Although the board did not vote on light rail funding, the six board members attending an STA meeting Wednesday said that new taxes will be focused on STA's existing services, not light rail. They also said that if light rail is ever constructed in Spokane, it will require a vote.

A Vietnam veteran who served with John Kerry told area veterans and other Democratic faithful not to worry much about some polls that show President Bush in the lead. Wade Sanders, who like Kerry skippered a river boat in Vietnam, was the headlining speaker for a Kerry campaign organizing meeting Saturday at the Carpenters Local 98 hall in North Spokane.

A 16-year-old boy who lives at a Spokane Valley home for children with mental disabilities was arrested this week on a charge of raping another boy at the residence. The victim, who was 11 years old at the time of the incident, told a Spokane County Sheriff's deputy that in mid-August the teen promised to give him a trading card if the younger boy would agree to anal sex and also perform oral sex on the teen, according to court documents. The victim also told the deputy that he asked the 16-year-old to stop having anal sex with him because it hurt, but the teen continued.

An 18-year-old woman allegedly tried to kill her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend by trying to run them over with her car Wednesday afternoon near Sullivan Park. The man was not hit, but his 16-year-old girlfriend suffered bruises on her ankle.

A transient accused of killing a Spokane man last summer under the Monroe Street Bridge pleaded guilty this week to manslaughter. Richard Humphreys, 36, was sentenced Tuesday to 78 months in prison for the July 2003 death of Larry D. Pritchett. Humphreys was given credit for 14 months already served.

People often donate cans of metal to the Habitat-Spokane Builders Surplus Store. It's not often, however, that the metal is precious. On Sept. 2, a woman donated two boxes of building material to the store, 850 E. Trent Ave. Her gift included a lime-green Tang can filled with nails that covered a cloth bag stuffed with 13 pounds of coins, mostly silver.

Spokane Valley fire investigators believe a man set fire to his home after assaulting his girlfriend Wednesday evening. William C. Szabrowicz, 33, was arrested at the fire scene on suspicion of choking his girlfriend. A charge of first-degree arson was added Thursday afternoon.