12 Drunken Drivers Sent To Kootenai County Jail

Twelve drunken drivers were arrested and sent to the Kootenai County jail on New Year’s Eve, jail officials said.

The Idaho State Patrol arrested just one drunken driver in Benewah, Kootenai, Shoshone, Boundary and Bonner counties.

“That seems pretty low, but they were out there,” said ISP dispatcher Susan Hildebrandt.

In Spokane, drunken driving arrests were down in the city, but up in the outlying areas and in the Spokane Valley, according to police.

The Washington State Patrol reported 14 arrests for drunken driving in Spokane County. That is up from last year, according to WSP.

But Spokane Police chief Terry Mangan, who was on patrol New Year’s Eve, said the holiday was slower than normal.

Just three drivers were arrested for drunken driving in the city after midnight.

The number of drunken driving arrests before midnight was not available Monday.

Mangan thinks the drop is because of changing views of alcohol. “He said, ‘I think lifestyles are changing in the area of alcohol consumption,”’ according to police spokesman Dick Cottam.

Cottam said there was nothing out of the ordinary - just the holiday routine of complaints of shots being fired and domestic violence.

According to the Washington State Patrol, there were just four drunken driving arrests in rural Eastern Washington.

“Believe it or not, we didn’t book anybody last night,” an Adams County dispatcher said.

While some area residents were partying, Jacob Kennedy Rathbone and Camden James Felton were getting their first sleep.

Camden was Coeur d’Alene’s unofficial first baby of the new year, born at 2:56 a.m at Kootenai Medical Center to Dan and Kimberly Felton.

Jacob was Spokane’s first baby, born at 2:10 a.m. Monday at Deaconess Medical Center to Michael and Paula Rathbone.

Both babies were healthy and each weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

, DataTimes