Truck passenger killed in rollover
A passenger in a semitruck was killed Monday when the driver lost control on a curve on U.S. Highway 95 six miles south of Plummer, Idaho.
Donna Zeiler, 55, Roswell N.M., died when the truck, driven by Donald Zeiler, 61, rolled onto its passenger side and crashed into sign posts and a utility pole, according the Idaho State Police. State troopers reported the cargo in Zeiler’s trailer apparently shifted while in a curve in the road, causing him to lose control. Both Zeilers wore seat belts.
Donald Zeiler was treated at Kootenai Medical Center and released.
Sex offender admits assaulting girlfriend
Registered sex offender Robert Lee Greenamyer, 22, pleaded guilty Monday to a violent assault on his pregnant girlfriend.
Greenamyer pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment in the Nov. 2, 2004, attack in which he grabbed the victim’s groin, twisting and tearing her skin. The injury required corrective surgery.
According to court documents, Greenamyer screamed, cried and cut his own arm when he saw the extent of the injury he caused. Then he fled.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque sentenced Greenamyer to the maximum one-year jail term allowed by the plea bargain. Leveque also ordered Greenamyer to pay $129 in restitution and to have no contact with the victim.
Greenamyer had been charged with second-degree assault, interfering with reporting domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment.
He attacked the victim after they argued about buying things for their unborn child. She tried to leave their apartment, but he blocked her path and prevented her from using the telephone.
WSU’s Grimes wins presidential award
A Washington State University official with a record of improving access to education for minorities and women was honored by the White House on Monday.
Charlena Grimes, academic coordinator for WSU’s College of Engineering and Architecture, was one of 14 recipients of the 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The award recognizes work to increase the participation of minorities, women and disabled students in science, math and engineering, and includes a $10,000 grant.
Grimes has been with the College of Engineering and Architecture since 1982. She has directed programs for minorities and women in engineering, and developed the BRIDGE workshop for incoming women and minority students, according to a news release from WSU.
She earned bachelor’s degrees at WSU in 1984 and 1997, and has received several university awards.
High school renovation topic of public forum
The community is invited to a forum to discuss what a renovated Rogers High School will look like.
The design open house is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the cafeteria at Rogers, 1622 E. Wellesley Ave.
Architects and Spokane Public Schools officials are taking public comment to help complete the design phase. Construction should begin December 2006 and be finished by the summer of 2008.
The Spokane Public Schools board voted in April to increase the original $42 million Rogers redesign budget to $54.8 million to meet the unexpected rise in construction costs.
Architects from Northwest Architecture Company and the contractor from Garco Construction will answer questions, along with school officials. The renovation was funded by the $165 million Capital Projects Bond passed in March 2003.
Northwest Architectural Company worked on the Lewis and Clark High School remodel from 2000 to 2002.
Farewell reception set for EWU president
The Eastern Washington Board of Trustees is holding a farewell reception for EWU President Stephen Jordan and his wife, Ruthie, on Thursday.
Jordan, Eastern’s president for seven years, will leave this summer to become the president of Metropolitan State College of Denver. The farewell reception will be Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m., in the second-floor rotunda of Showalter Hall on the Cheney campus.
The public is invited.
Sex offender moves to Edgecliff area
Spokane Valley police announced Monday that a sex offender has moved into the Edgecliff neighborhood.
David W. Casey, 42, has moved into the 500 block of South Carnahan. He is a level-three sex offender, the classification given to those most likely to reoffend based on their criminal history. Casey is not currently wanted by police.
Casey was convicted of four counts of third-degree child rape in Spokane County in 2001. All the counts involved the same 14-year-old girl. Casey reportedly befriended the girl’s family and bought her gifts, said police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan in a press release.
Casey was released from prison in 2004 and previously lived in Spokane. He is currently under the supervision of the Department of Corrections and is not to be around anyone under the age of 18.
Casey is 5 feet 7, 160 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes. He has a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his upper left arm.
New Mexico woman dies in cycle crash
A 61-year-old woman from New Mexico was killed last weekend in a motorcycle accident on State Highway 97 by Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Turner Bay, according to the Idaho State Police.
Jane E. Barber, of Albuquerque, was either riding or driving on a Harley-Davidson three-wheeled motorcycle with her husband, Dan O. Barber, 63, when they failed to negotiate a curve just after midnight Saturday, according to theISP.
The motorcycle left the roadway and hit an embankment, throwing both riders, according to the ISP. Jane Barber died at the scene and Dan Barber was transported to Kootenai Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman said he was listed as in stable condition and was discharged Monday.
The accident is under investigation, according to the ISP.
Reservation-bound fireworks seized
Tacoma State Patrol fire marshals seized 14 tons of fireworks Monday at the Port of Tacoma.
The $200,000 shipment from China was intended for professional displays but headed for an Indian reservation where the powerful explosives and rockets could have been sold to children, marshals said.
Customs agents became suspicious last month because the shipment lacked the proper paperwork.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission will test the fireworks.
The Tacoma Fire Department, state Department of Labor and Industries, county and state prosecutors plus the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in Monday’s seizure.
Woman taking walk mauled by two dogs
Grand Mound, Wash. A woman out for a Monday morning walk was mauled by two dogs in south Thurston County.
Janet McCarthy, 79, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, where she was in stable condition with bite wounds to her hands, head and chest, sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Dan Kimball said.
The dogs had reportedly been running loose and growling at people.
The dogs’ owner called 911 while a neighbor struck the dogs with a board to stop the attack.
The two dogs, a Rottweiler and Rottweiler-pit bull mix, were in custody, Kimball said.
10-story jump survivor arrested for murder
Seattle A man who survived a jump from a 10-story building has been charged with first-degree murder-domestic violence in the death of his girlfriend.
Tinh Trinh Lam, 66, of Seattle, is accused of strangling and beating Nguyet Minh Nguyen, 52, on April 22, in her Seattle apartment, police said. The two ran a small Vietnamese restaurant together.
After being questioned by police, Lam jumped from the apartment building on April 24 and landed on the entry awning.
Lam, who police said is recovering from broken bones and internal injuries, is scheduled for an arraignment next Monday in King County Superior Court.