Kip Hill

A sobbing Doris Nelson apologized Monday to hundreds of people who lost money to an investment scheme she ran for years to support her Little Loan Shoppe online lending business in Spokane. U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley then sentenced her to nine years in prison. “I don’t quite buy that you began evil,” Whaley told her.

A 28-year-old woman faces a federal criminal charge after authorities say she broke into a Spokane Valley post office early Sunday and swiped uniforms and mail from the locked facility.

Candidates for Spokane County prosecutor in a debate this week gave current prosecutor Steve Tucker a mixed report card on his charging decisions and professional conduct in several recent, high-profile cases. Throughout their campaigns and in the debate, both have criticized Tucker for his low public profile and failing to fully explain his decisions, some of which they questioned. On at least one case, however, the two agreed the 16-year officeholder got it right.

In his final attempt to fire barbs before Election Day, 5th Congressional District hopeful Joe Pakootas went on the offensive against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in Spokane on Thursday, calling her tenure in Congress a “decade of disaster.”

Craig Morgenstern, who faces federal charges of sexually abusing a child and production of child pornography, will remain in jail after waiving his right to a bail hearing Thursday afternoon.

A Spokane jury on Tuesday acquitted a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy of insurance fraud. Deputy Jeremy B. Jeske, a 15-year veteran of the department, remains on paid administrative leave.

Jurors threw out two counts of criminal insurance fraud against Spokane County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Jeske this afternoon.

A 25-year contract between the city and county for disposal of solid waste will end next month, and Spokane County will take the reins operating two disposal sites in Spokane Valley and Colbert. County officials have written a new ordinance to govern the transition and will be accepting the public’s comment on the draft law next month. The biggest changes will be in operating times at the two locations, slightly lower fees for disposal and greater fines for dumping violations.

Spokane County’s law protecting shorelines has been changed substantially for the first time in nearly four decades. The state Department of Ecology approved the new shoreline master plan this week.

Craig Morgenstern, 45, now faces federal criminal charges for his alleged involvement in an ongoing plot to drug and molest children, according to court records.

Clint Didier has dropped his lawsuit alleging misuse of state funds by a volunteer for his opponent's campaign.

Spokane County commissioners are accepting applications for vacant positions on the Library District board of trustees, the Spokane County Shooting Advisory Committee and other boards. The Library Board is looking for one applicant who lives in Spokane Valley or North Spokane County. Meetings are on the third Tuesday of each month, and applicants should have a desire to advocate for the county’s public libraries. Board members serve five-year terms. Interested applicants should apply by 5 p.m. Nov. 5.

The plumber’s apprentice who admitted to setting a fire that razed portions of a massive student apartment complex at Washington State University in Pullman will spend more than four years and four months in federal prison, a judge ruled Tuesday. Bryan Lee Kitchen, 33, was arrested by Pullman police about a week after the blaze burned 88 units at The Grove apartment complex on July 14, 2013, causing more than $4 million in damage. An officer ran the plates of Kitchen’s 2003 Saturn sedan as it sat unattended near the construction site around 2:15 a.m. The fire was reported a little more than an hour later.

Workers from a Spokane Valley company will renovate four elevators at the aging Spokane County Jail during the next several months at a cost of $1.1 million. “We want to make sure that we’ve brought the elevators up to current code,” said Ron Oscarson, facilities director for the county. “We want them to last 25, 30 years.”

Clint Didier has dropped his claims against the campaign of his opponent, Dan Newhouse, for Washington's 4th District Congressional seat alleging election violations by volunteer Chris Voigt. Voigt is the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission.

The clock is ticking on a federal lawsuit filed in Spokane by congressional hopeful Clint Didier against an opponent’s volunteer in Grant County, who leads the Washington State Potato Commission. Didier’s lawsuit says Chris Voigt, executive director of the potato group headquartered in Moses Lake, used state-supported resources to push the candidacy of Dan Newhouse, a former director of the state’s Agriculture Department. Didier cites internal emails from the commission in his lawsuit alleging violation of federal and state election laws by Voigt, who also allegedly used a car tied to the commission to pick up and deliver yard signs for Newhouse’s campaign.

Depending on whom you ask, the timing of Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich’s request for the Spokane police ombudsman to assume a similar role for the county may be perfect, or politically motivated. Discussions between Knezovich and Tim Burns, the man who’s conducted internal reviews of police cases since 2008, have ramped up in recent weeks to formalize a long-standing relationship between the two agencies, the two men said. Knezovich said his pitch to county commissioners Tuesday morning is the culmination of months of discussions he’s had with Burns and the Center for Justice to develop an oversight structure of the department similar to the one in place at the city.

A Spokane man availed himself of new technology in June allowing cellphone owners to recycle their old devices for cash at NorthTown Mall. The problem? The phone wasn’t his to sell.