Briefly
Suspect in hit-and-run arrested
WashingtonState Patrol troopers and detectives have arrested a suspect in connection with a hit-and-run injury collision in Spokane Valley.
At about 2 p.m. on Halloween, WSP troopers responded to the call of a pedestrian who had been hit by a car that fled the scene near 8200 E. Trent. The victim, who was treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center and released, provided a description of the suspect’s car and a partial license plate, Trooper Jim Hays said in a press release.
On Monday, the victim saw the suspect’s vehicle at a residence several blocks from the collision, Hays said. A trooper responded and took a statement from the vehicle’s owner, Allen W. Abdill, and impounded the vehicle.
On Tuesday, troopers arrested Abdill on an outstanding warrant for drunken driving. At the time of his arrest, Abdill was driving a gold 1994 Dodge Caravan that investigators say was stolen, Hays said.
Abdill now faces possible charges related to the stolen vehicle and the hit-and-run collision, Hays said.
7-Eleven robbery investigated
Spokane police are investigating the reported robbery of a 7-Eleven food store.
The clerk at the store, located at 323 W. Indiana St., told police that two girls entered the store at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. One was wearing a hood and the employee told the girl to pull the hood down to comply with company policy, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.
The other woman began yelling at the clerk. At that time, a male walked into the store, grabbed three 18-packs of Budweiser and tried to leave. The clerk told him to stop but all three teenagers left the store, Cottam said.
All three got into a black Honda Civic and drove away.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.
Annexation arguments scheduled
The Boundary Review Board will listen to arguments for and against allowing Liberty Lake to annex 650 acres just west of the city at a meeting on Monday.
If the land is annexed, Liberty Lake would provide services and have some taxing authority. Spokane County currently serves the area.
Citizens and agencies affected by the potential annexation are welcome to comment.
The meeting begins at 3:15 p.m. at Spokane County Public Works Building, lower level hearing room, 1026 W. Broadway.
Cabildo named to college board
Ben Cabildo, one of the founding members of the 1996 task force on race relations and a business coach, has been appointed to the Community Colleges of Spokane board of trustees.
The news came as a surprise to Cabildo, partly because he already serves on a state-appointed board, the Washington Human Rights Commission.
Cabildo will fill the vacancy left by Tom McKern, who completed his term recently.
Cabildo is the founder and executive director of AHANA Business and Professional Association, which supports businesses owned by women and minorities.
“I’m a community activist,” Cabildo said. “I don’t have an MBA or a Ph.D. I have more than 30 years of organizing in the community. That’s my credentials.”
Cabildo is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Army. He attended the University of Washington and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Lyceum University, Manila. Cabildo also graduated from the Leadership Spokane program in 1997.
Cabildo is married to Joyce Cabildo, a registered nurse and manager at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute. They have three grown children.
CCS trustees oversee policies that govern Community Colleges of Spokane. Cabildo’s term begins immediately and, following confirmation by the Washington state Senate, runs five years.
Community Colleges of Spokane employ 2,200 instructors and staff. More than 40,000 students use the classes and services offered by Spokane Community College, Spokane Falls Community College and the Institute for Extended Learning.
Suit against newspaper dismissed
An Idaho judge has dismissed a libel lawsuit against The Spokesman-Review brought by the former chairman of the Idaho Republican Party.
In the suit, Trent Clark said that the Spokesman misquoted him in a 2001 article in which he came to the defense of a Kootenai County Republican party official.
In the article, reporter Thomas Clouse quoted Clark as saying, “You probably cannot find an African American male on the street in Washington, D.C., that hasn’t been arrested or convicted of a crime.”
After the story ran, Clark said that he actually had told Clouse, “You probably cannot find an African American male on the street in Washington, D.C., who doesn’t have friends who have been arrested or convicted of a crime.”
The newspaper stood behind the report.
In the decision to dismiss the case, Idaho 1st District Court Magistrate Eugene A. Marano said that even if Clark was correct about what he told the reporter, he failed to prove that the paper knew the quotation was false at the time of publication or that it acted with a “reckless disregard for the truth.”
Patty Duke Pearce’s condition fair
Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke Pearce was in fair condition after undergoing single bypass surgery Wednesday, Kootenai Medical Center spokeswoman Teri Farr said.
Pearce, 57, was taken to the North Idaho Heart Center’s intensive care unit after the surgery by Dr. Robert Burnett.
“Her husband said everything went well,” Farr said.
It was not immediately known how long Pearce would be hospitalized, but typically, it is about five days, Farr said.
Pearce was expected to recover in time for the Nov. 26-29 Festival of Trees, of which she is chairman. Festival proceeds benefit the heart center.
In the early 1990s, Pearce moved to the Coeur d’Alene area, where she lives with her husband, Mike.