Susan Drumheller

In a Shoshone County jail cell surrounded by black iron bars and filled with bunks, Gary Crider lounges on a mattress with a novel. One bunk in the cell is a makeshift library; in place of a mattress are rows of dog-eared paperbacks.

The mother of 15-month-old Brandon McAdoo, who died from suspected child abuse in January, explained in court Wednesday why she initially lied to police about how her baby was injured. Angela Cowles told emergency workers and sheriff's deputies on Jan. 14 that she slipped on the ice and fell on top of Brandon. Later, she changed her story, saying that two days earlier the baby's father, Barry Lane McAdoo, 30, told her he had injured the child when trying to revive him after he choked on a piece of plastic bag.

The mother of 15-month-old Brandon McAdoo, who died of suspected child abuse in January, explained in court Wednesday why she initially lied to police about how her baby was injured. Angela Cowles told emergency workers and sheriff's deputies on Jan. 14 that she slipped on the ice and fell on top of Brandon. Later, she changed her story, saying that two days earlier the baby's father, Barry Lane McAdoo, 30, told her he had injured the child when trying to revive him after he choked on a piece of plastic bag.

A "showcase" home in southeast Spokane burned down in a dramatic fire Sunday afternoon that drew several agencies to fight it and dozens of onlookers. No one was injured, although the homeowners may have lost two cats in the fire that destroyed the two-story brick and frame-built home on South Ashton Circle.

Orin "Pete" Peterson gave up riding his bicycle about the time he turned 98. "It wasn't that I wasn't able to do it," he said. "It was getting too hard to see what I was doing."

Barry L. McAdoo, accused of killing his 15-month-old son, will not face the death penalty, Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas has decided. McAdoo, 30, is being held at the Kootenai County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his son, Brandon L. McAdoo, who died Jan. 16 from a blunt injury to his head, according to court records.

SANDPOINT – Heeding the plea to "go slowly," the Sandpoint Planning Commission decided Tuesday to table a proposal to increase the height limit on downtown buildings in order to better define where tall buildings could be allowed. But Panhandle State Bank CEO Curt Hecker hopes the city isn't too slow for his plans to build a multi-story headquarters for his rapidly growing community bank.

Parked on the Coeur d'Alene Airport tarmac, police cruisers and a Coeur d'Alene Fire Department ambulance activated their lights in silent tribute Monday morning as Coeur d'Alene Police Officer Michael Kralicek departed for a Colorado rehabilitation hospital. It is unknown how long Kralicek will need to stay at the Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., as he recovers from a gunshot wound to the neck, said Don Jiran, a retired Coeur d'Alene Police lieutenant and family friend.

SANDPOINT – Every alternative should be pursued before dumping treated sewage into the Pend Oreille River, the state-appointed commission for Priest and Pend Oreille waterways told the Southside Water and Sewer District board Monday. "The (Pend Oreille) river, it's already at a critical point," said Brent Baker, a commission member and a local building contractor. "It's already suffering from nutrient loading. It seems like we should move water quality in the other direction."