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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Odd behavior prompts school lockdown

Compiled from staff reports The Spokesman-Review

A Spokane Valley school was locked down briefly Friday morning when a suspicious man wandered onto campus.

Staff at University Center, 10212 E. Ninth Ave., called police after a parent reported a man walking around near the school behaving strangely about 11 a.m., said Melanie Rose, Central Valley School District spokeswoman.

University Center is currently home to students from South Pines Elementary, which is undergoing a remodel.

“He didn’t have a shirt on; he had his hand down his pants,” Rose said. “Then he actually wandered onto the campus … staff locked down the school and called police.”

He did not threaten anyone, Rose said.

Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and confronted the man, later identified as 38-year-old Brian S. Madson.

Madson became confrontational when approached by police, threatening to hit a deputy with a baseball bat he was holding, said Undersheriff Dave Wiyrick, sheriff’s spokesman.

The deputy first used pepper spray in an attempt to control Madson. The pepper spray had no effect, and the deputy had to use a Taser to take Madson into custody, Wiyrick said.

Madson was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of obstructing and disturbing school activities.

Rose said the arrest occurred in a football field away from the school building.

Firefighters handle North Spokane business fire

Spokane fire crews quickly knocked down a small blaze Friday at a business that refinishes wood floors in North Spokane.

Firefighters responded at 11:39 a.m. to 3915 E. Francis Ave., where smoke was seen coming from a metal building next door to Dave’s Muffler Shop.

No one was at the business at the time of the fire, Deputy Chief Bob Waldron said.

It took five firefighters to lift the business’s metal door 3 feet, Waldron said. “They quickly knocked down the fire.”

The fire did not spread to adjoining businesses. The cause of the fire had not been determined, Waldron said.

The business suffered mostly heat and smoke damage, he said.

Town hall tackles meth abuse, identity theft

The problems of methamphetamine abuse and identity theft will be the subjects of a town hall meeting Wednesday at the Spokane Community College Lair from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

The event in the Big Foot Room is being jointly sponsored by the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council, Educational Service District 101 and Affiliated Information Resources. Abuse prevention specialists, law officers, business people and treatment providers will be on hand.

A victim of identity theft is expected to tell her story of what happened when her personal information was taken in a vehicle break-in. For more information, contact the substance abuse council at 922-8383.

South Side planning for community growth

Three South Side neighborhood groups are holding an open house Wednesday to review three proposed land-use plans for the commercial area around Manito Shopping Center. The event will be at Sacajawea Middle School at 7 p.m.

The plans offer differing views of how the commercial area, and its adjacent residential areas, should develop in coming years. Some residents favor commercial development north of 29th Avenue and along Grand Boulevard north of 29th Avenue while others are opposed to allowing encroachment by business to the north.

Residents of the Comstock, Manito/Cannon Hill and Rockwood neighborhoods participated in drawing up the competing proposals that would guide future growth at the area, which is being called the Grand District Center. All of the plans are expected to call for making the area friendly to pedestrians, reducing parking areas and allowing a mix of business and residences.

The city Plan Commission is planning a workshop on the plans on May 11. The plans eventually will go to the City Council for adoption.

NIC trustees considering tuition bump

North Idaho College trustees on Wednesday will consider a proposal to increase tuition by $28 a semester.

Tuition would increase 5.5 percent if the board approves the proposal, but because no fee increases are proposed, the overall cost of attending the community college would only increase by 3 percent. Last year, trustees approved an 8 percent increase in tuition and fees.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Associated Students of NIC will report the results of an advisory vote on a proposed student recreation center. Students are being polled by ASNIC this week to see if they would be willing to pay an extra $250 a year to fund construction of a possible $7.7 million facility.

The board meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Driftwood Bay Room of NIC’s Student Union Building.

UI events review Al-Hussayen prosecution

Moscow, Idaho

The prosecution of former University of Idaho student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi Arabian acquitted of charges that he supported terrorist activities, will be the subject of two public events at the UI Monday.

Attorneys David Nevin and Scott McKay will discuss the litigation challenges they faced while defending Al-Hussayen, who was acquitted following last year’s lengthy trial in Boise, during a lunch program from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the SUB’s Silver and Gold Room.

A community discussion about the case will follow at 7 p.m. in the Idaho College of Law Courtroom. On the panel will be Al-Hussayen’s defense attorneys, Nevin and McKay; College of Law Associate Professor Monica Schurtman, who defended Sami’s wife, Maha, in deportation proceedings; Charles Kovis, a Moscow attorney who advised Muslim students during their interrogations; and Professor Elizabeth Brandt, a legal expert on the Patriot Act.

The events are sponsored by the UI College of Law, the Washington State University Center for Human Rights, and the UI chapter of Amnesty International. The lunch program includes free pizza.