Briefly
Police suspect arson in house fire
Police are investigating a fire that destroyed a home late Wednesday evening as a possible arson.
Coeur d’Alene Police responded to 1801 N. Fifth St. around 11:15 p.m. and found the house fully engulfed in flames, according to a press release. Several people were reportedly standing in the street.
A police officer was told by bystanders that a woman who lived in the home was “out of control.” When the officer approached the woman to ask if anyone was still in the burning home, she reportedly ran up to the officer and slapped him in the face.
“The female continued to be violent and struck a paramedic who attempted to check her medical status,” the press release said.
Police reported the woman was “yelling incoherently and attempting to hit every bystander who walked past. She said her name was Jesus and this was her fire.”
The woman, identified only as being in her early 50s, was taken to the hospital for a mental hold. Police said it’s possible that she may have started the fire.
Comments sought on No Child Left Behind
A trio of Idahoans will represent the state on a regional committee the U.S. Department of Education created to address No Child Left Behind.
The three Idaho representatives are accepting input to share at the next regional meeting, planned for Wednesday morning. Karen McGee, a member of Idaho’s Board of Education, was selected for the committee, along with Taft Elementary (Boise) Principal Susan Williamson and Wendy Horman, a trustee from the Bonneville School District.
According to a press release from the state Board of Education, the public can attend the meeting, which will be held online. Participants can register at http://registration.intercall.com/go/cnacnw. The meeting begins at 10 a.m.
Comments can be submitted by e-mailing rac@cna.org, with the subject heading “Northwest Comments,” or by mail to: Northwest Region RAC Support, Attn. Dr. Arthur Sheekey, The CNA Corporation, 4825 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311-1850.
Season’s snowfall far below average
The light dusting of snow that fell Wednesday night and Thursday morning wasn’t enough to cover the fact that it’s been a nearly powder-free season.
The Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area has seen only 8.4 inches of snow so far since July 1. The average over the past 30 years is 21 inches, with 21.8 inches last year. This year’s July through December snowfall rate is the lowest since 1997, when 6.4 inches fell.
Fund started to help Northport family
Friends have established a fund to help a Northport, Wash., family that lost all their possessions, including their car, when a Christmas Eve fire destroyed their uninsured home.
The four members of the Hassman family, who were featured in The Spokesman-Review on Tuesday, escaped with their lives, but little else. Mary Hassman, 73, was hospitalized with burns and smoke-filled lungs.
Donations may be sent to the Jerry Hassman Family Fund, Horizon Credit Union, 1474 N. Hwy. 395, Colville, WA 99114.
Former deputy arrested for second time
Priest River, Idaho
A former sheriff’s deputy was arrested for a second time in a week, this time on suspicion of battery on a Bonner County Sheriff’s deputy.
Joel Raymond Saccomanno was picked up Tuesday after allegedly taking a swing at a sheriff he’d once worked for.
Last week, he was arrested on charges that he kidnapped the mother of his two children and threatened her new boyfriend.
A preliminary hearing was held in Sandpoint on the new charges. Saccomanno has yet to make a court appearance on last week’s kidnapping charges.
Port Townsend wants relocated bridge work
Port Townsend, Wash. Port officials in this Olympic Peninsula town and executives at Port Townsend Paper Corp. have about a week to suggest possible sites where the state might relocate its huge onshore drydock for manufacturing Hood Canal Bridge replacement parts.
Port of Port Townsend commissioners have called for a public-private partnership to relocate the construction site to Port Townsend Bay.
The state Department of Transportation originally picked Port Angeles as the site for the drydock to build pontoons for a new section of the Hood Canal Bridge, but the work was halted after centuries-old Indian remains and artifacts were discovered on the waterfront.