Thomas Clouse

Spokane police want help identifying a woman found shot to death early Monday at apartments near Spokane Falls Community College. Officers responded about 4:30 a.m. to reports of a gunshot and a woman screaming. They arrived at 4150 W. Fort George Wright Drive and found a young woman dead on the apartment complex’s lawn, Lt. Mark Griffiths said.

Kim Blackmore stood shivering in the cold Thursday, describing how her estranged boyfriend – the father of her unborn child – had forced his way through a dog door into her home Wednesday night armed with a knife, only to be stopped by a man who ended the threat with a gunshot. The shot killed 28-year-old Marshall Balduff, who had been quarreling with Blackmore – his girlfriend of four years – since his birthday on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors announced today a deal to have the world’s largest engineering firm, CH2M Hill, pay $18.5 million to resolve criminal and civil violations caused by years of defrauding the public by having contractors overbill the public through time-card fraud at the Hanford Nuclear Site.

After being called out last summer by Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich for freeing the suspected heroin trafficker who later shot two deputies, the same federal judge is now under fire for being too tough. U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno was asked this week by federal defender Matt Campbell to recuse herself from a case he’s handling because of what he believes is a pattern of refusing to approve pretrial release requests for crime suspects ever since she became the subject of widespread community criticism surrounding the May 25 release of Charles R. Wallace.

A jury found convicted killer Michael L. West Jr. guilty Tuesday of gouging out the eyes of a fellow prison inmate, ensuring that West will remain in prison for the rest of his life. The jury deliberated just a few hours Tuesday before finding the 36-year-old, who remained shackled to the floor during the trial, guilty of first- and second-degree assault for attacking two inmates on Oct. 10, 2010, inside a cell at Airway Heights Corrections Center.

A jury found convicted killer Michael L. West Jr. guilty today of gouging out the eyes of a fellow prison inmate, ensuring that West will remain in prison for the rest of his life.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner today identified the man who died during booking Sunday at the Spokane County Jail, but listed both the cause and manner of death as pending further investigation. Christopher J. Parker, 33, died after he called 911 early Sunday, saying he was diabetic and he had ingested methamphetamine. Spokane Police responded, had Parker checked out by medical technicians, and then booked him into jail on an outstanding arrest warrant.

Dressed in tuxedos and sequined dresses, crowds milled among artwork Sunday at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino and listened to the pre-show of the Oscars as they celebrated the 15th year of the Spokane AIDS Network’s Oscar Night Gala. The nonprofit agency uses the gala every year to raise as much as $40,000 to pay for needs sometimes left unmet by the grants that make up the bulk of their funding sources, Executive Director Gaye Weiss said. Along with an office in Wenatchee, the agency serves about 130 HIV and AIDS patients through a variety of programs.