Spokane man pleads guilty to North Side home invasion robbery

A 24-year-old Spokane man pleaded guilty Monday to an Oct. 6 North Side home invasion robbery.

Eric J. Singleton, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree robbery. He had faced seven counts of robbery and one count of first-degree burglary.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Sypolt said Singleton faces a standard range of 36 to 48 months in prison followed by 18 to 36 months in community custody.

Sentencing was scheduled for May 23.

Singleton and 28-year-old Jeremy A. Arnold were both charged with forcing their way into a home at 3124 E. Fairview Ave.

People inside the house told police that the suspects stole wallets and jewelry.

One resident told police that one of the suspects hit him with a gun. The victim did not require hospitalization.

Snowmobilers survive self-made avalanche

Lewiston Twelve snowmobilers tripped an avalanche near McCall that caught nine of them and trapped one under 5 feet of snow.

They all survived Saturday’s slide, but a 46-year-old Clarkston, Wash., woman was trapped for about five minutes.

She was wearing a tracing beacon, so members of her party were able to easily locate her and dig her out.

According to the Idaho County Sheriff’s Department, she was unconscious when first located. She was transported by helicopter to a McCall hospital.

Her name and condition were unknown.

Much of central Idaho has received up to 3 feet of snow in the past week. The underlying hardened crust of packed-down snow can create a shear plane on which fresh snow can easily slide.

Judge stops logging, restoration project

Lewiston A federal judge sided with environmental groups and has stopped the Meadow Face Stewardship Project, a logging and restoration project in the Nez Perce National Forest about 10 miles east of Grangeville.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge agreed on Thursday with the Friends of the Clearwater and three other environmental groups that U.S. Forest Service officials did not adequately analyze the cumulative effects of past and proposed logging and their impact.

It is unclear if the entire project is halted, or if restoration portion of the project can proceed.

Until the analysis is complete, the injunction stops the Yew Rock Timber Sale – born out of the Meadow Face Stewardship Project on the forest.

The Forest Service planned to use proceeds from the timber sale to offset the cost of improving the water quality. Regulus Stud Mills of St. Maries bought the timber rights for $158,247.

The 2,280 acres of land contains mostly second-growth grand fir and Douglas fir trees with an average diameter of 12 inches.

Paul Dye, bird sanctuary founder, dies at 68

Everett Paul G. Dye, a former Boeing Co. engineer who founded a wild bird sanctuary and breeding center for endangered species, is dead at 68.

Dye, who built Northwest Wildlife Farm near Lake Stevens into a destination for waterfowl breeders and conservationists from around the world, died Wednesday, friends and relatives said.

Founded in 1971, the wildlife operation includes 32 ponds, 8 acres of grain fields, four miles of trails, a salmon stream, nesting sites installed for wood ducks, flying squirrels, bats, chickadees and flickers, and forestry improvements for grouse and other woodland species.

Dye was born in Marietta, Ohio, but grew up mostly in New Jersey, where he began raising waterfowl by age 12.

He left a small flock of ducks in the care of his mother and sisters while serving in the Marine Corps in 1956-58.

After moving to the Pacific Northwest, Dye bought part of a wetland area from the estate of a friend who owned extensive property in and around Lake Stevens and willed most of it to the state for a wildlife preserve.