Briefly

Hearing delayed in custody case of four children

A hearing was postponed Wednesday in Spokane County Juvenile Court that would have determined whether four children would become wards of the state.

The hearing, rescheduled for next week, is a step in an expected year-long process to determine custody of the four children of Richard Atkinson, 32, who is charged with first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.

Atkinson is charged in connection with the April 12 death of his estranged wife, 29-year-old Andrea Atkinson. Witnesses said she pushed her three youngest children out of the way just before she was crushed under a van. Spokane Police have said Richard Atkinson was driving the van at the time.

Atkinson retains his parental rights and will have a say in the custody of the same children he’s charged with assaulting, said Monte Huntsman, who works as a liaison between the juvenile court and the Washington state Department of Health and Social Services.

The four children include a 9-year-old girl who is Richard Atkinson’s daughter from a previous relationship. Andrea Atkinson is the mother of the three youngest children, ages 6, 5 and 3.

Andrea Atkinson’s brother, Dan Novick, a high school football coach and teacher in Port Angeles, pursued custody of the four children but he and his wife, RandaLyn, reluctantly agreed with state caseworkers to allow Richard Atkinson’s sister to obtain custody. Dan Novick said they made the agreement to avoid a protracted legal battle.

Atkinson’s sister is Rachel Enriquez, a single mother of two who lives in California, Novick said last week.

Man held in e-mail threats to Darrington schools

Darrington, Wash. An 18-year-old Darrington man has been detained in connection with e-mail threats that shut down schools here for two days this week, the Snohomish County sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgenson said the man was not a student at the school. She said he was detained late Tuesday as the result of an FBI investigation, then was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation and questioning.

Classes in this small town northeast of Everett were held as usual Wednesday, said Darrington School District spokeswoman Trudy LaDouceur. The district has 525 students in three buildings on one campus.

Schools were closed Tuesday after five teachers received e-mails that threatened harm to students and staff, LaDouceur said. She would not elaborate on the content of the messages.

The day before, students were sent home after 25 teachers and administrators were e-mailed bomb threats, LaDouceur said. A police dog searched the schools twice Monday but didn’t find a bomb.

Agents of the Northwest Cyber Crimes Task Force in the Seattle office of the FBI worked to trace the messages.

Man killed when outbuilding falls off trailer in Idaho

Bonners Ferry, IdahoA small outbuilding fell off of a trailer and killed an Eastport man who had suffered the loss of his father and a brother just six months ago, Boundary County sheriff’s officials reported Wednesday.

Duff Wilson was killed shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday when the structure fell on him, according to a sheriff’s office press release. The trailer was not secured, the sheriff’s release said. Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene, on County Rd. 34 east of Bonners Ferry.

On Nov. 15 Wilson’s father Pete, a longtime attorney and civic leader in Boundary County, and a brother, Kip Wilson, died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the elder Wilson’s home. His mother, Rhoda Wilson, and another brother, Neal Wilson, were found unconscious.

Duff Wilson had gone to his father’s house that morning with his wife, Kay, his brother Tim and a cousin, John Hunt. Police and fire officials say quick action by the four to vent the house and search for occupants may have helped save Rhoda and Neal Wilson.

Train derails in Valley; tank car with chemicals tips over

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train derailed Wednesday night in the Spokane Valley, tipping over one tank car with a possible environmentally hazardous chemical.

About seven cars derailed near Park Road just east of the BNSF rail yard at Fancher Way, said Spokane Valley Fire Department Battalion Chief Stan Cooke.

Spokane Valley fire crews, Spokane Fire Department and BNSF hazmat crews were still working to upright the cars late Wednesday, Cooke said.

The tank car containing the diluted chemical substance was not leaking, but Cooke said there was some concern that the tank, though not completely full, could be damaged, and start leaking when brought upright.

“If it does start to leak it could become an environmental hazard,” Cooke said. The area near the derailment sits over the aquifer.

The cause of the derailment is still unknown, Cooke said. An investigation will continue.