I-90 speed limit going up in Valley

Sometime today, Washington State Department of Transportation crews will be taking down the 50 mph speed limit signs on Interstate 90 between Argonne and Sullivan.

Now that the $37 million project to widen the freeway there from two to three lanes is almost complete and traffic is on the new lanes, the speed limit is returning to 60 mph.

Workers will be finishing up some last-minute items, though, so drivers are advised to be on the lookout for crews.

Reward offered for suspect in assault

Secret Witness is offering a cash reward for information that leads to the arrest of a Spokane Valley suspect who allegedly assaulted another man with a crowbar in October, said Cpl. Dave Reagan, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Robert J. Broderius, a 22-year-old white male, 6-feet and 230 pounds, is wanted on first-degree burglary charges, Reagan said. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Broderius was inside the house of an acquaintance without permission when the acquaintance returned and ordered Broderius out, Reagan said. A fight broke out, and Broderius picked up a crowbar and struck the man in the head and body, injuring him severely, Reagan said. The victim escaped by breaking out a bathroom window.

Anyone with information about Broderius’ whereabouts should call Secret Witness at (509) 327-5111. Callers do not have to give their name to collect the cash reward, and are encouraged to use a code name or number. Secret Witness is a civilian organization that is not affiliated with law enforcement.

Railroad crews will work near SCC

Railroad work near Spokane Community College today could slow traffic on Mission Avenue.

Union Pacific Railroad crews will be working at the intersection of Rebecca and Mission from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on concrete pads near the railroad tracks.

Traffic at the intersection will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

CdA may regulate pseudoephedrine

The Coeur d’Alene City Council will decide tonight whether to require stores to keep products containing pseudoephedrine, a common cold medicine ingredient, behind the counter.

The ingredient is used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine. The new law would require retail stores within the city limits to keep nonprescription products that contain pseudoephedrine behind the counter. The law also would prevent anyone from buying more than three packages of the product at one time.

The cities of Meridian and Eagle have passed similar laws because the state Legislature hasn’t taken any action.

Coeur d’Alene officials said regulating the sale of pseudoephedrine will help with the area’s meth problem, which harms children and families and increases crime and property damage.

The 6 p.m. meeting is at City Hall, 710 E. Mullan Ave. For more information, call (208) 769-2300.

Security heightened at Lakeside High

Students attended school at Lakeside High in Plummer, Idaho, on Monday under heightened security following a threat against students and teachers there last week that resulted in the arrests of two students.

Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police officials are handling the investigation, though it occurred at a public school, because the two suspects in custody are enrolled tribal members.

Tribal Police Chief Keith Hutcheson declined to discuss the nature of the threats, saying only that a threat was made against students and teachers at the small high school. The school was briefly locked down on Thursday morning because one of the suspects couldn’t be found, Hutcheson said.

He said the lockdown lasted about an hour.

As a precaution, school was closed on Friday and extra security measures were taken Monday, including searches of backpacks and the use of handheld metal detectors. Cell phones were prohibited from school grounds.

George Olsen, superintendent of the Plummer-Worley School District, said Monday that the heightened security hadn’t been much of an issue for students.

“If the kids understand and if they know why, they’re pretty receptive to it,” he said.

Explosive device found in car after traffic stop

The Spokane City/County Explosives Disposal Unit was called to Interstate 90 near Sprague on Monday afternoon, after a Washington State Patrol trooper discovered an explosive device during a routine traffic stop.

According to Cpl. Dave Reagan, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, a driver was stopped about 2:40 p.m. by Trooper Carman Herrington for doing 80 mph in a 70 mph zone, in the westbound lanes of I-90.

Reagan said Herrington arrested the man behind the wheel for driving with a revoked license. A second trooper arrived to assist after the driver told Herrington that there were firearms in the vehicle, Reagan said.

The second trooper frisked the passenger and found a drug pipe, methamphetamine and an improvised explosive device, Reagan reported. The device, about the size of a light bulb, was wrapped in electrical tape and had a six-inch fuse, Reagan said.

The disposal unit destroyed the device.

Two rifles also were removed from the vehicle.

The driver is believed to be a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms and the passenger has domestic violence convictions making it unlawful for him to possess guns, as well, Reagan said.

WSP investigators were still trying to determine on Monday night which suspect possessed the firearms. They also were trying to confirm that one of the suspects had an outstanding warrant. Authorities did not release the names of the two men.

Navy electrician escapes from brig

Seattle A Navy electrician court-martialed for trying to smuggle explosives after a recent deployment has escaped from a brig at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor.

James Tait Praefke, 37, was helping a guard retrieve lunches for other brig inmates on Sunday afternoon when the guard somehow lost track of him, said Lt. Cmdr. John Daniels, spokesman for Navy Region Northwest.

A wanted poster released by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service warned that Praefke should be considered armed, dangerous and likely to resist arrest.

The poster also says he has a history of weapons use, domestic violence and driving under the influence; that he espouses pro-militia, anti-government views; and that he has experience making bombs.

Praefke was described as 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, with green eyes and red hair. He was last seen wearing desert camouflage.

Bridge-jumping cat moving to Maine

Wenatchee Bridget the cat, who plunged 70 feet off a bridge into the Columbia River before swimming to shore, may have found a new home in Maine.

The longhair calico cat, who wore no collar or identification, reportedly jumped from a pickup truck onto the bridge, then ran from swerving vehicles before jumping into the river. Rescuers captured the cat after she swam 600 feet to shore.

The cat, named Bridget after her Nov. 6 plunge, was put up for adoption by the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society.

April Newman, who lives in Thorndike, Maine, a small town 38 miles northeast of Augusta, said she hasn’t seen the cat but heard its story last week on a public radio show and became convinced the cat belongs in her home.

“Anyone who’s 8 to 10 years old, who’s gone through as much as she has deserves to have a wonderful, quiet life,” Newman said.

No one has claimed the cat, said Karen Headlee, director of operations for the humane society. The group has received more than a dozen nationwide inquiries about the cat, but only three serious adoption offers.

Headlee said Newman, a certified public accountant for the office of the state controller in Augusta, was selected to adopt Bridget because of her history rescuing cats.