Briefly

Victim in fatal stabbing started fight

A 17-year-old apparently started the fight in which he was stabbed to death, Spokane Police said Monday.

Police identified Justin Scott Snyder, 17, as the youth who was stabbed to death at 3:30 a.m. Sunday as several people were leaving a party in the 3700 block of West Rockwell.

Another youth was slashed in the face, Sgt. Joe Peterson said.

“We don’t know who brought the knife to the party,” Peterson said. “But at this time, there are indications that it was self-defense. It appears the stabbed people instigated the fight.”

The case remains under investigation. An autopsy Monday showed that Snyder died from a stab wound to the chest.

The person who stabbed Snyder hasn’t been named. “We don’t know what the fight started over. There does not seem to be a precipitating event,” Peterson said.

Investigators have interviewed more than a dozen people and continue to look for more, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

After the fight, Snyder ran to the back yard of neighbor Christina Hoffeld. She was letting her dog out at about 3:30 a.m. when she saw Snyder. She administered CPR until paramedics arrived.

Snyder was pronounced dead at the emergency room of a local hospital, Cottam said. The investigation will continue.

Teenager escapes custody twice on same day

Spokane police said a 16-year-old escaped from custody twice Monday but was back in custody by the afternoon.

The teen first ran from a juvenile probation officer after he cut a home-monitoring device from his ankle, Sgt. Anthony Giannetto said.

After a search, the youth was found and arrested about 10:20 a.m., near the Mission Avenue Bridge, Giannetto said. The arresting officer drove the suspect to Juvenile Detention near the Public Safety Building and the teen complained that he had a broken leg or ankle, Giannetto said.

The officer opened the car door and told the youth to get out. When he did, the boy took off running and outran the officer, whom Giannetto declined to name.

After an extensive search, the boy was found hiding at 2:43 p.m. in the attic of a house at 1120 N. Cannon. “He tried to hide beneath the insulation in the attic,” Giannetto said.

The teen now faces felony escape charges along with the probation violation, Giannetto said.

Another snowstorm headed this way

This time, it’s for real. Maybe.

At least according to Bob Tobin, meteorologist at the National Weather Service, who said Monday night a snowstorm is on its way.

Tobin said by noon today Spokane could get 2 to 4 inches of snow. Coeur d’Alene and surrounding areas could get 3 to 6 inches. Kellogg, Wallace and St. Maries could get 4 to 8 inches.

“We should get clipped by this storm,” Tobin said. “The big push should be during the morning drive time.”

Woman competent to stand trial in murder

Waterville, Wash. A woman charged with shooting her husband to death has been found competent to stand trial, and the trial has been set for Dec. 14.

Linda Darlene Buse, 45, who identified herself to authorities as Linda Hadley, has the capacity to understand the proceedings and can assist a lawyer in her own defense, Douglas County Superior Court Judge John J. Hotchkiss ruled last month.

She was arrested after her husband, Blair A. Buse, was shot with a .30-06 rifle May 3 in the driveway of the couple’s house near Douglas, about 30 miles northeast of Wenatchee.

She told investigators she was subjected to domestic violence in a previous marriage, had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and believed she was acting in self-defense when she shot her husband.

In September a judge directed that she undergo a mental evaluation at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake.

UI appoints interim provost

The University of Idaho has appointed an interim provost until a national search for a new provost can be completed.

Linda Morris, a UI business professor and interim associate vice provost for academic and student affairs, will fill the position until this summer when the job search is expected to be completed, according to a UI new release distributed Monday

The former provost, Brian Pitcher, announced in November that he is leaving UI to become chancellor at the Spokane campus of Washington State University. Pitcher, who doesn’t start with WSU Spokane until Jan. 17, will work the next two weeks with Morris to help with the leadership transition, according to the release.

Morris joined the UI in 1974 and served as director of the multicultural affairs office from 1994 to 1997. She holds bachelor’s and a masters degrees in business education from the University of Oklahoma at Norman, an MBA from Central State University at Edmond, Okla., and a Ph.D. in education administration from the UI.

Morris said she will not seek the job on a fulltime basis.

Appointments offered for spray flu vaccine

The Panhandle Health District in Coeur d’Alene is offering appointments for the nasal spray flu vaccine called FluMist, which is recommended only for healthy people ages 5 to 49.

The health district also has a very limited supply of conventional flu vaccine for people ages 65 and older or who are in other high-risk groups.

FluMist contains live, weakened influenza virus. The cost is $20 and is covered by Medicaid.

For an appointment for either FluMist or a flu shot, call (208) 415-5100.

The health district also has flu vaccine for healthy children ages 6 months to 23 months and children ages 2 to 18 with chronic medical conditions. Parents should call their local health district office to schedule an appointment.

Those numbers are: Benewah County, (208) 245-4556; Bonner County, (208) 263-5159; Boundary County, (208) 267-5558; Kootenai County, (208) 415-5100; and Shoshone County, (208) 786-7474.