Briefly
10-year term ordered for pelting police
Coeur d’Alene A Coeur d’Alene Tribal member who held police at bay last winter by launching a blizzard of household items at them — as well as setting some on fire — after his girlfriend fled from him, was sentenced Monday evening to 10 years in prison on a felony charge of kidnap and two of aggravated assault against police officers.
Samuel Michael Sr., 40, must serve 31/2 years before he is eligible for parole, 1st District Court Judge John Luster ruled Monday.
Michael’s nephew, Eagle Michael, was shot and killed by a Spokane police officer in September. The boy, who was said to be hearing impaired, waved a gun at an officer and said he was going to shoot hercq and was shot after he ignored warnings to put the gun down, according to police. The gun Eagle Michael carried turned out to be a BB-gun with a body style resembling a semi-automatic handgun.
On the night of Dec. 10 in Coeur d’Alene, Sam Michael demanded police kill him, too. Officers arrived at a rented house in the 1600 block of East Birch to find Michael holding his girlfriend at knifepoint. She broke free but Michael began shouting, waving kitchen knives and a claw hammer at police before pelting them with everything from microwaves to a bronze crucifix. He was barricaded in the kitchen and began setting items on fire on the stovetop. The standoff ended when a half-dozen officers and a police dog stormed inside and knocked him down with a fire hose.
Teen hurt in pileup on U.S. Highway 95
Coeur d’Alene A 17-year-old Spokane driver attempting to pass two vehicles, including a lumber truck, in a no-passing zone was injured in a pileup that involved four rigs on U.S. Highway 95 south of here Monday morning, Idaho State Police said.
According to the ISP, Evin Recek was headed north on Highway 95 near Sun-up Bay Road, about 15 miles south of Coeur d’Alene, when he came up behind a pickup truck and a semi-truck loaded with lumber. Recek whipped into the southbound lanes and attempted to pass both vehicles, ISP said. Before he could pass the semi, Recek was in a no-passing zone, headed north in the southbound lanes and cresting a hill, ISP said.
On the other side of the hill, Recek’s pickup encountered a pickup driven by Teresa Stack, 58, of Hayden. Stack swerved off the road but was sideswiped by Recek, the ISP said. Recek’s rig caromed off the Stack vehicle and hit the tractor-trailer, then spun into a southbound Toyota pickup, injuring Richard Campbell, 63, and his passenger Goldeen Z. Campbell. Recek was air-lifted to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene where he was listed in fair condition after surgery Monday evening, a hospital supervisor said.
The Campbells suffered cuts and bruises, ISP said, and were taken by ambulance to KMC. The Campbells were treated and released, a hospital staffer said.
Missing 11-year-old found at father’s house
Coeur d’Alene
Acting on an anonymous tip, detectives found an 11-year-old Coeur d’Alene girl, reported missing Tuesday, at a home in Rathdrum on Friday morning, police said. The girl’s father and his girlfriend are facing charges ranging from kidnap to custodial interference, Sgt. Christie Wood, information officer for the Coeur d’Alene police, said in a news release.
The girl had been living with her mother in Coeur d’Alene. She did not show up at school Tuesday, and her mother filed a missing person’s report when her daughter failed to return home that evening, Wood said. Wood said she did not know if the mother had sole custody.
Police said the girl, identified as Christen DeMars, had dyed her hair and had been given the name Brandy Joanne Harris by her father. A woman identified as the father’s girlfriend, Kathleen Lynn Alexander-Harris, was arrested at the Rathdrum house Friday morning on felony charges of child custodial interference and second-degree kidnapping. The father, who police have not identified, was not at the home Friday morning.
State survives weekend loss of computer server
Boise The state of Idaho’s official Internet site was offline last weekend, but the state’s top information systems manager said there were no complaints about the outage.
The server that hosts much of the state’s Web presence failed Friday night, but was restored early Monday morning, said Joe Roche, of the Idaho Division of Information Technology.
Roche said he did not know how many people were affected. Some of the areas out of service included the governor’s office and the state’s home page.
Roche said computers that store data files were not affected.
The Wed site is: www.state.id.us
Governor declares drought in two counties
Boise Two more Idaho counties have been declared drought emergencies areas by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, bringing the statewide total to nine.
Added to the list on Monday were Blaine and Gooding counties.
In Blaine County, recent measurements showed a 38-inch deficit in snowpack conditions. The stream flow for the Big Wood River is 39 percent of normal and Magic Reservoir has less than half the water needed for irrigation.
In Gooding County, the Milner Gooding Canal and the Northside Canal have less than normal supplies for irrigators, and the Snake River water supply is estimated to be the third lowest in more than 30 years.
Commissioners in the counties requested the declarations, which allow irrigators to work with the Department of Water Resources to secure temporary water rights and make modifications to existing water rights.
Drought declarations were previously announced in Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Lemhi, and Lincoln counties. Last year, drought declarations were issued in 19 Idaho counties.