Resident reports shooting at home

Detectives are investigating a shooting at a northwest Spokane home Thursday night, Spokane police said.

Officers were called to 1307 W. Jackson Ave. about 11:20 p.m. A resident told police that two men showed up in his front yard and fired two shots at him, police spokesman Dick Cottam said in a press release.

The resident was not hit. He told police that he earlier had kicked two women out of his house after they demanded money from him. The women had been partying, and when told to leave, one threatened to have “her boys” collect cash for them, Cottam said.

The resident did not recognize the men.

Sex offender has moved into Valley

A sex offender convicted of raping a 78-year-old woman at knifepoint in 1995 has moved to Spokane Valley, Valley police reported.

Justin J. Stevens, 28, was released from prison in 2003 after serving 114 months for his first-degree rape conviction, Spokane Valley police spokesman Dave Reagan said in a press release. He recently moved to an address in the 13000 block of East Nixon Avenue.

Stevens is considered a Level 3 sex offender, the category considered most likely to commit more sex crimes. He is not wanted by police, and Reagan warned residents against harassing him.

Stevens is 6 feet 1 inch tall and 200 pounds with green eyes, brown hair and tattoos on his left fingers.

Tribes asked to go smoke-free in casinos

Olympia

Gov. Christine Gregoire has asked the state’s Indian tribes to go smoke-free at their casinos, encouraging them to follow the state’s lead in enacting a statewide indoor smoking ban.

The request was made at a dinner with the tribes in Olympia last month, shortly after voters overwhelmingly passed the strictest smoking ban in the country. The ban took effect Thursday.

The tribal leaders told Gregoire they would review the request with their respective councils and boards, said W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and president of the Washington Indian Gaming Association.

“The tribes were very receptive” to talking about the issue, Allen said Friday.

Initiative 901 prohibits smoking in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and minicasinos.

But tribal casinos are exempt from the ban, because the tribes are not subject to state law – a major issue for opponents of the ban, who have argued that small bars and taverns will go out of business because their smoking customers will just go to nearby casinos.