Accountant jailed on theft charges
Kellogg
A Silver Valley accountant is in jail on grand theft charges and is being held on a $150,000 bond, according to law enforcement authorities.
Scott Beggs, 47, of Silverton, Idaho, was arrested Saturday after a joint investigation of the Kellogg Police Department and the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office, according to a police department news release.
Beggs is believed to have stolen $300,000 in cash and up to $750,000 in stocks and bonds from a trust fund he was managing, according to Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds. His clients discovered the money missing when they tried to make a withdrawal from the trust fund, he said.
Beggs, who owns and operates Scott Beggs & Co. in St. Maries and Kellogg, admitted to the victims that he took the money and spent it, according to police.
Reynalds said that anyone with concerns regarding their business dealings with Beggs should call the Kellogg Police Department at (208) 786-9131 or the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Department at (208) 556-1114.
Alcohol involved in drowning, official says
Sandpoint The Bonner County Sheriff’s Department has determined that alcohol was involved in the drowning death of a Blanchard man on Memorial Day.
Orville Scott Shreve, 51, drowned at about 5:30 p.m. Monday while trying to swim across the Blanchard Lake Reservoir, according to Lt. John Valdez.
Valdez said witnesses told officers that Shreve had been drinking beer before he tried to swim across the small reservoir. An angler and people on shore tried to rescue Shreve, he said. One person pulled him out of the lake and performed CPR, Valdez said, but was unable to revive him.
An air ambulance was dispatched, but Shreve was pronounced dead at the scene, Valdez said. Sherman & Knapp Funeral Home in Priest River is handling the funeral arrangements.
New strangling law leads to three more arrests
A new law in Idaho making attempted strangulation a felony continues to result in arrests that could lead to harsher penalties than under the prior misdemeanor statute.
The Coeur d’Alene Police made three arrests over the Memorial Day weekend under the new law, bringing the total number to 11 attempted strangulation arrests for the department, according to police Sgt. Christie Wood.
Wood said two of the incidents over the weekend were particularly violent, and all three were domestic in nature. In two of the cases, the violence was witnessed by the victims’ young children.
The governor signed the new law April 6, putting it immediately into effect under an emergency clause. Advocates say strangulation often comes later in an increasingly violent relationship and can result in death.
Under the new law, the maximum penalty for attempted strangulation is 15 years in prison.
Man dies after game had him dangling over I-5
Seattle
A man apparently playing some kind of game involving dangling from a freeway overpass was killed early Tuesday when he fell onto Interstate 5 and was hit by two vehicles, including a tractor-trailer rig.
The man and another man, age 31, had been drinking and were trying to see who could hang the longest from the overpass at Olive Way in downtown Seattle, Seattle police spokeswoman Debra Brown said.
The victim apparently could not pull himself back up and he fell despite the other man’s efforts to help him, Brown said.
The victim’s identity was withheld Tuesday evening pending notification of relatives.
Illegal tap may have tainted E. Wenatchee water
East Wenatchee, Wash.
Customers of an East Wenatchee water district were exposed to potentially tainted drinking water for nearly a month after a customer illegally connected to an irrigation system.
No one was sickened, and the East Wenatchee Water District said it found no bacteria in its drinking water system after the problem was discovered May 20.
But water lines were flushed and chlorine was added to kill any bacteria.
A customer connected to the water system without a back-flow device that prevents irrigation water from contaminating drinking water, said Marc Marquis, environmental health coordinator for the Chelan-Douglas Health District.
The illegal connection was made April 23 and discovered last month by a meter reader, district officials said.
The water district encouraged parents with infants, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems to be checked by a doctor. Untreated water can contain disease-causing organisms like bacteria, viruses and parasites.
BSU breaks ground on new sports facility
Boise
Boise State University officials broke ground Tuesday on a $9.5 million indoor sports training facility that should be completed by February.
The project was sought by Bronco football coach Dan Hawkins, who said heavy demands by varsity, intramural and club sports for limited practice field space required construction of the new indoor field.
“When that thing gets going, I would not be surprised if the lights are on over there at 6 o’clock in the morning and the lights go off at midnight,” Hawkins said.
The building will include a full-size football field, as well as practice, storage and office space for the university band and cheerleaders.
University officials say $7 million of the price tag has been raised through private donations and pledges of future contributions. The balance will be covered through additional fund raising, $1 to $5 surcharges on tickets and revenue from reserved parking permits.