Briefly
Couple robbed, assaulted by women
A couple told Spokane police that they were robbed and assaulted by several women on West Sprague Avenue about 1 a.m. Monday.
The victims told officers they were crossing the West 400 block of Sprague when a car drove up and three or four women got out and began attacking the female victim, police spokesman Dick Cottam said in a press release.
The woman said her attackers kicked and punched her. When the man tried to stop the assault, two women jumped him and stole his wristwatch, Cottam said.
A patron at the Satellite Diner across the street saw the attack and ran to help the victims. At that point, the suspects drove away in a car described as a gray, late 1990s Chevrolet Malibu or Toyota, Cottam said.
A cab driver recorded the license plate number.
The woman victim suffered facial injuries but refused medical treatment, Cottam said.
One suspect was described as either white or Hispanic with shoulder-length hair. A second suspect had an athletic build, stood about 5 feet 8, and appeared to be 22 to 25 years old, Cottam said.
A third suspect was a white female with brown hair worn in a bun, he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.
State agency holds hearing on college funding
The state agency that oversees Washington’s public colleges and universities is in Spokane today to gather comments on a number of proposed changes, including the funding of colleges based on how many students graduated. Currently, the system funds institutions by the number of students enrolled.
The public hearing is the third – and last – planned by the state. In a hearing last month in Vancouver, a Central Washington University professor criticized the proposed system and likened it to an auto factory worker paid for each car cranked out. Some public colleges warned the proposed system would work against older and working college students. Supporters say graduate-based funding would give schools incentive to avoid registration bottlenecks and improve advising and counseling. So far, private schools have kept out of the public discussion.
The hearing runs from 1-4 p.m. at Spokane’s Riverpoint Higher Education campus, 668 North Riverpoint Blvd., in the phase 1 Building auditorium. For more details, visit the HEC Web site at www.hecb.wa.gov.
Driver has blood-sugar reaction, hits two cars
A Spokane man had a low-blood-sugar reaction and hit two cars in Spokane Valley Tuesday morning.
Russell Ross, 33, told Washington State Patrol troopers that he is diabetic. Ross said he started to feel ill as he drove along Trent Avenue from Spokane Community College, according to WSP spokesman Trooper Brad Hudson. Ross apparently lost consciousness and hit two cars around 8:50 a.m., before coming to a stop near Evergreen Road, Hudson said.
No one was injured, but the vehicles involved were extensively damaged, Hudson said.
Ross will likely be cited for second degree negligent driving because it appears he realized he was about to have a reaction, but didn’t stop driving, Hudson said.
Cause of fatal accident remains mystery
Washington State Patrol investigators remain just as stumped now as they were March 22 when they started investigating why a 71-year-old Greenacres man drove his pickup the wrong way on Interstate 90, causing an accident that killed him and two other people.
Toxicology reports on Don D. Plumb, 71, were negative for alcohol and showed a small amount of anti-depressant that had been prescribed, Trooper Brad Hudson said.
“We still don’t know why he was on the freeway going the wrong way or how he got on,” Hudson said.
Witnesses reported seeing Plumb driving the wrong way in the eastbound lanes of I-90 at about 1:20 a.m. on March 22.
Plumb’s Dodge 2004 pickup collided with a 1990 Mercury Sable driven by 26-year-old Jeremiah D. Scott. The Dodge rotated, rolled and was struck by a 1996 Nissan 200SX. That collision killed 24-year-old Julio C. Perez-Arriaga, who was a passenger in the Nissan.
Witnesses said they saw a Dodge pickup driving the wrong way on I-90 from at least the Evergreen Road interchange. Investigators also learned that Plumb had been in a convenience store near the Barker Road interchange about 30 minutes prior to the collision.
Hudson said detectives spoke to several people who knew Plumb or had contact with him the day prior to the accident.
“It was common for Plumb to display erratic behavior but most, if not all, of the people contacted stated that Plumb’s actions were ‘different’ and ‘out of character’ from even his usual behavior,” Hudson said in a press release.
UI’s new president released after surgery
The University of Idaho’s new president, Timothy White, was released from the hospital Tuesday after a heart attack and open heart surgery Thursday in Corvallis, Ore.
White’s doctors predicted White would have a full recovery over a six- to eight-week period of therapy, according to a University of Idaho press release.
He was expected to start work at the UI in July, but due to his condition he will start Aug. 1. Interim UI president Gary Michael has agreed to extend his service until then.
White, 54, is currently the provost at Oregon State University. He admitted himself to the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis early Thursday morning with chest pains. Doctors diagnosed several blocked arteries and did a coronary artery bypass.
White’s wife, Karen, announced Friday that her husband’s heart problems came as “a complete surprise.”
White said in a prepared statement that Karen inspired him to go to the emergency room. “So I took an aspirin and came in. I am fortunate to have done so,” White said.
Spokane Valley land-use plan topic of meeting
The city of Spokane Valley will hold a community meeting tonight to hear public input as it begins to develop a comprehensive land-use plan.
Once written, the plan will outline how the city expects to look 20 years from now. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with an open house. At 7 p.m., city staff will present the state’s requirements regarding comprehensive plans, and then participants will discuss ideas for the city’s future.
The meeting is at Greenacres Elementary School, 17915 E. Fourth Ave. For more information, call 688-0023.