Schools lock down as cops seek driver

Coeur d’Alene High and Dalton Elementary schools locked students inside for 90 minutes Tuesday while Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies searched the surrounding area for a driver who crashed a car and ran from the scene.

The trouble began when a deputy signaled a speeding car to stop on Fourth Street south of Hanley Avenue. The driver jumped from the car as it was moving and then fled, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Andy Boyle. The car crashed into a yard. The sheriff’s K-9 team eventually found a juvenile hiding under the floor of a shed whom they suspect was the driver.

Deputies said the car was stolen from Spokane. They took the suspect to the Kootenai County Juvenile Detention Center. Boyle said the youth faces charges of possession of stolen property and obstructing. Spokane police also have a warrant out for juvenile’s arrest.

Man pleads guilty in series of wildfires

Ellensburg An Ellensburg man has pleaded guilty to nearly a dozen arson-related charges connected to a string of wildfires that caused more than $1 million in property damage in Kittitas County.

Wade K. Kirkwood, 36, pleaded guilty Monday in Kittitas County Superior Court to two counts of first-degree arson for two fires that destroyed buildings west of Thorp on the east slope of the Cascades.

Kirkwood also pleaded guilty to seven counts of second-degree arson for damage to rangeland, crops, timber and property, and two counts of second-degree reckless burning.

Kirkwood’s trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 31.

“This will bring closure to a long, costly, labor-intensive investigation,” county Sheriff Gene Dana said in a statement.

Kirkwood, a construction worker, was arrested last September after weeks of investigation by the county Arson Task Force. He became the prime suspect last August after reports that his vehicle had been seen in the area of a fire that was started Aug. 12.

The arrest was a breakthrough for authorities who had been scrambling to find the person responsible for setting dozens of fires in the past two years.

Some 20 intentionally set blazes burned more than 14,000 acres in Kittitas County last year alone.

The string of fires prompted the sheriff to push for an arson registry as a tool to deter future crimes. According to the state Fire Marshal’s Office, 35 percent to 64 percent of arsonists are repeat offenders.

Former mayor dies after heart surgery

Twin Falls, Idaho Former Twin Falls Mayor Howard Allen has died of complications from heart surgery, family members said. He was 79.

Allen served on the City Council for 12 years before retiring in January 2004. He was the city’s only mayor to be elected to the position during his first term on the council. The mayor is elected by fellow council members.

Allen suffered a heart attack this month and underwent a quintuple heart bypass in Boise. He was transported back to Twin Falls but never regained his strength. He died early Monday, niece Sonia Alexander said.

He graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1943 and served in World War II. He also owned Sterling Jewelry in downtown Twin Falls with his brother, Charles Allen.

A Mass in memory of Allen is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church. He is survived by his wife, Joan Allen, and three children.

Groups trying to halt logging in burned areas

Wenatchee Three environmental groups are appealing in an effort to stop plans to log areas burned in last summer’s Fischer fire.

The Northwest Eco-system Alliance, Cascadia Wildlands Project and Leavenworth Audubon Adopt-A-Forest have filed appeals calling for more environmental study before the Forest Service moves forward with its plans to log 20 million board feet.

The Eco-system Alliance and Cascadia Wildlands Project are specifically concerned about plans to log old-growth stands and have asked Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests Supervisor Jim Boynton to revoke approval of the project.

Two of the four timber sales in the project have been sold, with a third out to bid.

Pat Rasmussen, president of the Leavenworth group, said if the Forest Service doesn’t agree to stop the planned logging, she will sue. The groups are scheduled to meet with forest officials next Wednesday.

The Fischer fire burned 16,400 acres last August between Cashmere and Eagle Creek north of Leavenworth.