Power problems spark Sunset Hill fires

Power problems appear to be the cause of two small fires that threatened a home and created a brief haze over Sunset Hill Wednesday afternoon.

Mary Anne Brown lost some landscaping and a giant pine that towers close to her home in the first blaze.

“I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” Brown said. “I was so fortunate.”

The fire in Mary Anne and Bob Brown’s yard, 2111 S. Rustle Road, started about 3 p.m. on an electrical pole. It quickly spread in the afternoon breeze.

As Brown was evacuating her dog from her yard, two passers-by doused the blaze before it reached her home, Mary Anne Brown said. The fire was mostly out by the time Spokane County Fire District 10 crews arrived.

About an hour later, Spokane firefighters were called to a brush fire near power lines about 1/3 mile east of the first blaze.

Smoke poured over Interstate 90, but the second fire never threatened a structure, said Spokane Fire Battalion Chief Steve Sabo. Firefighters knocked down the flames within an hour.

Sabo said crews likely would remain on scene monitoring the site through the night.

The second fire, which blackened about 1 2/3 acres, appears to have been caused by a short circuit that occurred as a result of the first blaze, Sabo said.

About 35 Avista customers lost power during the incidents, said Avista spokeswoman Catherine Markson. By about 8 p.m., electricity had been restored to more than half.

Broken sewer pipe cuts off prison water supply

A broken sewer pipe caused the Airway Heights Corrections Center to restrict some water usage on Wednesday.

The bad pipe was near the prison’s sewer lift station, which takes the center’s effluent to Spokane’s sewer system, said Maggie Miller-Stout, prison superintendent. The problem was discovered Wednesday morning.

A truck was brought in to collect waste as the pipe was replaced, Miller-Stout said. The plumbing was expected to be fixed sometime Wednesday evening.

To decrease water usage, inmates ate on paper plates so fewer dishes would have to be washed. Showers were restricted, and the prison’s laundry was shut down. Otherwise, Miller-Stout said, the center functioned as usual.

Owl turns out lights for 1,075 customers

A power outage that cut electricity on Tuesday to 1,075 customers in southeast Spokane County was caused by an owl that got into some equipment at Avista’s Rockford substation, said Avista spokeswoman Catherine Markson.

Electricity was lost around 10 p.m. and restored about two hours later.

Man facing retrial won’t get death penalty

Tacoma Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty in the retrial of a man convicted in the 1998 execution-style slaying of his boss.

The state Supreme Court threw out the death penalty in the case last year, citing vague jury instructions. Now Pierce County Prosecutor Gerry Horne has decided not to try again for the death penalty, in part because of a possible paperwork problem. But he’s proceeding with the retrial.

Covell Thomas, 28, was convicted in 2000 of killing his boss, Richard Geist, 26, during a robbery. Geist sustained four gunshot wounds to the head.

The death penalty was thrown out because jurors did not determine whether Thomas was the principal assailant or merely an accomplice. Under state law, only primary participants in an aggravated first-degree murder case can receive the death penalty.

Under the high court ruling, prosecutors had the choice of retrying Thomas for aggravated first-degree murder, the only crime that carries the death penalty in Washington, or sentencing him to prison for the lesser charge of first-degree murder.

Recently, defense attorneys complained that prosecutors did not file a formal notice that they intended to seek the death penalty a second time at the retrial, scheduled to begin in October. So Horne has taken the death penalty off the table. But he says he will still seek conviction on a charge of aggravated first-degree murder to ensure Thomas spends the rest of his life in prison. Life imprisonment without hope of parole is the only alternative penalty for aggravated murder.

Ferry service cuts afternoon trip for lack of riders

BremertonA private operator that provides passenger-only ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle has eliminated an early-afternoon run because of a lack of riders.

“Being a private service, we need to look at the bottom line,” said Kjartan Gilje, general manager of the Kitsap Ferry Co. “When a certain sailing doesn’t carry any weight at all, then we have to re-evaluate it and see where we should put our services.”

The company will continue to offer two morning sailings and a 5:20 p.m. departure from Seattle. Each sailing can hold 200 riders.