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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Meghann M. Cuniff

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

All Stories

News >  Spokane

Arson suspect to get mental health care

A former pro football player arrested on suspicion of arson in June has been moved from jail to Eastern State Hospital to undergo mental health treatment. Kevin Marcus Ellison, 25, was transported Tuesday after U.S. District Judge Lonny Suko approved a request from his lawyer, Kim Deater, on Friday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not oppose the request.
News >  Marijuana

South Hill seizure nets pot, alligator, piranhas

Piranhas offered for trade on Craigslist led state fish and game agents to seize several of the exotic, human-eating fish from an apartment on Spokane’s lower South Hill. The rare find took another surprising twist when agents also found a small alligator in Christopher Ryan Harper’s apartment at 1206 W. 6th Ave. on Friday, as well as a suspected marijuana-selling operation, police say.
News >  Spokane

Convent evacuated for Spokane brush fire

A brush fire Monday forced the evacuation of a northwest Spokane convent that serves retired nuns in need of assisted living services. About 60 people were evacuated from the Convent of the Holy Names as the brush fire advanced within 100 yards of the structure at 2911 W. Fort George Wright Drive.
News >  Marijuana

Man sentenced for aiding marijuana traffickers

A 78-year-old man who allowed drug traffickers to use his property just south of the Canadian border in Ferry County will spend 2  1/2 years in federal prison, a judge ruled Thursday. Alvin Oliver Shields had 700 pounds of marijuana on his property when federal agents searched it in 2009. His lawyer said he retired from drug trafficking two years before a grand jury indicted him in September.
News >  Spokane

Family: Ex-Shock player needs mental illness check

A former pro football player arrested for arson in June remains in solitary confinement at the Spokane County Jail, and his mother says his mental health issues will worsen without treatment. Kevin Marcus Ellison, 25, who was a starting linebacker and defensive back for the Spokane Shock arena football team, has twice been denied release from jail for mental health treatment. His lawyer appealed U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno’s last decision, but U.S. District Court Judge Lonny Suko rejected the appeal Aug. 1, citing in part an altercation Ellison had with jailers last month.
News >  Spokane

Affidavit: Suspect Arteaga formerly dated victim

A former scuba diving instructor accused of murder dated the victim for years and was described by her friends as violent and controlling, according to information released Wednesday. Daniel R. Arteaga, 40, remains in the Spokane County Jail on $1 million bond after appearing before Superior Court Judge Annette Plese on Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge.
News >  Spokane

Dump truck joy ride left Colville residents in dark

Police say a man stole a dump truck and took it on a drunken joy ride that destroyed light poles and power lines in the city of Colville. Robert Gene Bankston Hartman, 28, told officers he didn’t mean to down the lines when he stole the dump truck from a construction site and drove it through town. He said he’d had about 14 beers when police confronted him about 9:45 p.m. on July 23, but police said he later told them he’d actually been drinking vodka.
News >  Spokane

Suspect arrested in New Year’s killing

A Spokane scuba-diving instructor romantically linked to a woman who was found shot to death on New Year’s Day has been arrested as a suspect in her killing. Daniel R. Arteaga, 40, was arrested at the Public Safety Building on Tuesday after voluntarily reporting there for an interview. He is expected to appear in Spokane County Superior Court this afternoon via video from the jail, where he is booked on a first-degree murder charge.
News >  Spokane

Authorities: Fatal police shooting justified

Two Post Falls police officers and an Idaho State Police corporal were justified when they shot a fugitive to death in March during a chase that ended in a cul-de-sac in Hayden, authorities concluded this week. Video from a police cruiser’s dashboard camera released Friday shows Justin Earl Nicholas Todd, 33, strike ISP Cpl. Michael Thomas Keys with a car before Keys and Post Falls police Officers Aaron Ogle and Bradley Johnson opened fire.
News >  Spokane

Reclaiming an old hobby along with an old bike

When Don Arndt’s motorcycle was stolen from the backyard of his old Spokane Valley home in 1975, he quickly lost hope of ever seeing it, but he never gave up his driver’s license endorsement to ride. He hasn’t been on a bike since, but he’d recently been thinking about buying a new one and rekindling an old hobby.
News >  Idaho

Police justified in Idaho shooting; video released

UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 3, 2012

Two Post Falls police officers and and Idaho State Police corporal were justified when they shot a fugitive to death in March during a chase that ended in a cul-de-sac in Hayden, authorities concluded this week.
News >  Spokane

Stolen motorcycle returned after 37 years

UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 3, 2012

When Don Arndt’s motorcycle was stolen from the backyard of his old Spokane Valley home in 1975, he quickly lost hope of ever seeing it, but he never gave up his endorsement to ride.
News >  Spokane

Edwards arrestee appeals sentence

A Spokane methamphetamine dealer ordered to spend 15 years in federal prison is trying to get his sentence overturned, in part because it was investigated by a now-fired Spokane police officer. David Brian Hill’s request is the latest twist in an investigation into potentially questionable partnerships between Spokane County law enforcement officers and local bail bondsmen and bounty hunters.
News >  Spokane

Man accused of trying to send devices to China

A Canadian man suspected of trying to send United States defense materials to China is in jail in Spokane. Kevin Zhang, alias Zhao Wei Zhang, 41, was arrested trying to cross the border at Metaline Falls on Monday. He’d been wanted since January 2011 on a sealed warrant in federal court in San Diego that accuses him of conspiring to send devices used in tactical missiles and drones to the Chinese.
News >  Spokane

Panel urges restarting chief search; mayor declines

Mayor David Condon said Wednesday that he is “very confident” one of two remaining finalists will be the next Spokane police chief, despite a law enforcement panel’s recommendation that he restart the search. Either Daniel Mahoney, the commanding officer of the Ingleside Police Station within the San Francisco Police Department, or Frank Straub, director of public safety in Indianapolis, will be the city’s next top cop.
News >  Spokane

Woman who smuggled monkey in 2007 dies after rollover

A woman who smuggled a monkey from Thailand to Spokane in 2007 died when her truck went off the road four miles south of Northport on Tuesday night, authorities said. Gypsy R. Lawson, 31, of Northport, Wash., was driving south on state Route 25 around midnight, when her 1986 Nissan pickup went off the road to the right in a left-hand curve, the Washington State Patrol reported. The pickup rolled over and struck trees. The crash was not discovered until morning.