Man who murdered girlfriend freed

A Spokane man who became a model prisoner after murdering his girlfriend in 1997, when he was 16, pleaded guilty a second time Wednesday and was set free.

Joseph Duane Brooks, now 24, was among two dozen felons from Spokane County whose second-degree felony murder convictions were overturned because of a Washington Supreme Court ruling in November. The court ruled that the state’s felony murder rule – which turns lesser felonies into murder if a victim dies – didn’t apply to assaults committed between 1975 and 2003.

Brooks admitted in 1997 that he put the muzzle of a 12-gauge shotgun inches from Dianna Meyer’s face and pulled the trigger in her Chattaroy home. He was sentenced to 11 2/3 years in prison, and served eight.

He claimed at the time that he was joking with Meyer, and thought he had activated the weapon’s safety lock. However, a witness said Brooks had stated he wanted to scare Meyer because she told his friends he was a drug user.

Brooks pleaded guilty Wednesday to regular second-degree murder. Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen accepted the recommendation of defense and prosecuting attorneys for a below-standard sentence matching the time Brooks had already served.

Brooks earned his general equivalency diploma in prison, took college courses and was never cited for an infraction of prison rules.

Driver flees police, crashes into truck

A Spokane man led police on a chase and crashed into a truck after taking OxyContin and other pills Wednesday evening, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The incident began about 7:35 p.m. when the 49-year-old man’s wife called 911, said sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan in a press release. The man, who lives in the 4000 block of N. Oak Street, drove away while his wife was on the phone.

Spokane Police officers chased the man until their supervisors called off the chase at state Highway 291 and Francis Avenue. Soon after, the man was involved in a collision with a state parks truck on Nine Mile Road, Reagan reported.

An off-duty Stevens County Sheriff’s detective, who had stopped at the scene to assist, fired six shots at the man’s tires when the man attempted to back the truck from the scene, Reagan said. The detective and others on the scene broke out the driver’s window and removed, handcuffed and restrained the man until Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies and Washington State Patrol troopers arrived.

No injuries from the crash were reported.

A trooper took the man to a downtown hospital for treatment regarding the pills he had taken, Reagan said.

Construction worker trapped when boulder falls

A rock the size of an ambulance fell onto a piece of construction machinery Wednesday afternoon near Sagle, Idaho, injuring a worker and trapping him for about two hours as firefighters struggled to lift the boulder.

Crews were called about 2:45 p.m. to a construction site about a mile west of U.S. Highway 95 off Dufort Road, said Sagle Fire District Lt. Jason Cordle.

An excavation company was building a road on the side of a hill when a 25-foot-long boulder fell about 20 feet, crushing the cab of a Hitachi excavator, Cordle said. The rock broke in two. Inside, a North Idaho man was trapped from about his pelvis down.

Crews first used two high-pressure airbags with the capability of lifting 44,000 pounds each in an attempt to free the man. However, the bags barely moved the boulder, Cordle said.

Later, firefighters attached two bulldozers and a wheel loader to the excavator and were able to pull it back about 8 inches – enough for crews to use four of the high-pressure airbags to move one piece of the rock. Crews then used the “jaws of life” to free the man, who was airlifted to Kootenai Medical Center, Cordle said.

The man’s level of consciousness had diminished by the time he was freed, Cordle. His condition was uncertain Wednesday evening.

Seat belt enforcement kicks off Monday

You can lick it. That bad habit. You know the one, not clicking it.

If you don’t, well, it’s a big fat ticket. $101.

It’s that time of year again, when police and traffic safety officials work together to encourage motorists to wear their seat belts. Click-it or Ticket.

Since 2002, when the Click-it or Ticket program was launched, the number of people killed in motor vehicle collisions each year in Washington has fallen by 19 percent. Traffic safety professionals attribute the decline to a statewide rise in seat belt use.

This year’s emphasis event starts Monday and lasts until June 5. The Washington State Patrol will be focusing on Highway 27 (Pines Road) at 16th Avenue and Highway 290 (Trent) at Boeing. Spokane Police will be patrolling the downtown area and Division Street.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Department is focusing on Division Street north of Francis and Highway 2 near Airway Heights. Sprague and University and Broadway and Sullivan will be the key spots for Spokane Valley Police.

In Liberty Lake, police will be at Harvard Road and Interstate 90 and at Liberty Lake Road and Appleway. Medical Lake Police will patrol Highway 90 at Lefevre and Stanley, and the intersection of Lake and Lefevre.

“This really isn’t about writing tickets and quotas,” said Spokane County Sheriff’s Cpl. Dave Reagan. “It’s about saving lives and preventing injuries.”

Sister City signposts to be unveiled Friday

The city is planning to unveil four new signs acknowledging Spokane’s four international Sister Cities: each of the signs will show the direction and distance to the four “sisters.”

The unveiling will take place at 11 a.m. Friday near the red wagon in Riverfront Park, and the signs will be installed at four locations across the city, including 400 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., 2000 S. Bernard, 500 N. Maple, and 7900 N. Division.

The signs are part of the buildup to Spokane’s role as host to the 2005 Sister Cities International Annual Conference from July 27 through 31.

Spokane’s Sister Cities include Nishinomiya, Japan, since 1961; Jilin, China, 1987; Limerick, Ireland, 1990; and Jecheon, South Korea, 1999.

STA routes to be detoured for parade Saturday

The Junior Lilac Parade in downtown Spokane Saturday will necessitate detouring several Spokane Transit Authority bus routes.

The affected routes include the No. 21 West Broadway, No. 25 Division, No. 26 Hamilton, No. 27 Crestline and No. 91 Mission.

Though the parade runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the bus detours will be in place from 7:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

For information about the detour for each route, call 328-RIDE.

‘Educating Spokane’ call-in show airs tonight

Spokane Public Schools call-in show, “Educating Spokane,” airs at 7 p.m. tonight on KSPS, channel 7. The hour-long program features members of the Spokane Public Schools Board of Directors taking questions by phone.

School board president Barb Richardson will appear along with board members Rocky Treppiedi, Christie Querna and Superintendent Brian Benzel. The show is broadcast three times a year.

The question hotline is (509) 354-7711.