Briefly

Inmate returned to jail after IV meal

A Spokane County Jail inmate who is trying to starve himself to death was taken back to the jail Friday morning after he was transported Thursday to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Charles Robert McNabb, 50, has told jail officials that he is trying to starve himself to death out of remorse for the serious burns his stepdaughter suffered in a May 23, 2003, fire in Spokane. McNabb is charged with starting that fire with Coleman fuel. He’s also charged with six counts of first-degree assault in connection with the incident.

Spokane County officials obtained a court order that allows them to force-feed McNabb to keep him alive until his July trial. But McNabb’s civil attorney, David Blair-Loy, has appealed that court order to the State Court of Appeals, saying McNabb has a civil right not to eat.

Karen Lindholdt was appointed by a judge to serve as McNabb’s guardian ad litem, or someone who can legally speak for him. Lindholdt said hospital staff gave McNabb an IV Thursday night before he was transported Friday morning back to the jail.

Funds to help re-route rail spur, skip base

Federal funding has been secured to help relocate a West Plains rail spur away from Fairchild Air Force Base and closer to businesses, Rep. George Nethercutt told members of Spokane’s Economic Development Council Friday.

During the conference call from Washington, D.C., Nethercutt told the group that $500,000 in a defense spending bill for fiscal year 2005 has been earmarked for the construction project.

Burlington Northern Sante Fe donated the five-mile Geiger spur to Spokane County after a decision to abandon the route. The project will reroute the line to another nearby short-line railroad.

The spur currently runs from the BNSF main line near Fairchild Air Force Base, through the base along U.S. Highway 2, south along Rambo Road and then east on McFarlane Road to Hayford Road.

Relocating the spur will help West Plains businesses, which depend on the rail line, and improve security at the base, Nethercutt said. Currently, military police must open the base gates as the trains pass through and inspect each one.

The project will eliminate the portion of the spur crossing the base, and a 3.5-mile section will be added to connect it to the Palouse River and Coulee City rail line to the south.

The federal funds will be used to accelerate the planning and the design for the project, which may take a couple of years to complete.

More screeners should ease Sea-Tac lines

Seattle Security lines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport could soon get shorter.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday it has approved the immediate hiring of 81 new part-time baggage and passenger screeners.

TSA administrator David M. Stone said the hires would be the equivalent of 50 full-time positions. The agency has not decided how many screeners will work with baggage as opposed to working with passengers, said agency spokeswoman Jennifer Marty.

Congressman Norm Dicks made the request for additional screeners after higher-than-expected passenger volumes at Sea-Tac have led to recent screening delays.

Climber’s body recovered from Mount Rainier

Longmire, Wash. Rangers held out little hope Friday they would find a missing Mount Rainier climber alive, after the body of his fallen companion was recovered from a glacier.

The two climbers had been attempting the difficult Liberty Ridge route along the north side of the 14,411 foot peak, where two others have died in recent weeks.

Michael Gauthier, supervisory climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park, identified the dead climber as Luke Casady, 29, of Stevensville, Mont.

Missing was Ansel Vizcaya, 29, from the Missoula area. Vizcaya is an employee of North Cascades National Park in northern Washington but was climbing on his own time, Gauthier said.

Gauthier said Casady’s body was recovered early Friday at the 9,000-foot elevation on Carbon Glacier below Liberty Ridge.

Rangers planned to continue aerial searches for Vizcaya, but Gauthier said it is unlikely he is still alive.

Although avalanche danger was extreme at the mountain, the Liberty Ridge route was “in wonderful climbing shape” this week, he said.