Guilty plea entered in bicyclist’s death

A Spokane man pleaded guilty Monday to vehicular homicide for an alcohol-related collision that killed a Spokane Valley bicyclist on May 9.

Daniel Ray O’Leary, 25, veered into the bicycle lane on Appleway Boulevard, just east of Park Road, and rear-ended cyclist Stuart D. Doney.

Doney, 48, was not wearing a helmet and died two days later of head injuries.

Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque sentenced O’Leary to 16 months in prison and ordered him to pay Doney’s medical bills.

Driver identified in toddler’s death

Police have released the name of the man who was arrested Saturday after he struck an 18-month old boy with a pickup in the parking lot of his north Spokane business.

The toddler, who was from the Coulee Dam area, died at Sacred Heart Medical Center shortly after the incident.

The driver, Richard Hagelstein, 32, faces a count of vehicular homicide, said Spokane police Lt. Dean Sprague.

The toddler, who has not been identified, was with his mom in the business office of Custom Auto Tint, 3721 N. Division. The boy darted from the building and was struck by the pickup, officers said at the scene.

A Washington State Patrol officer determined that Hagelstein may have been impaired, Sprague said. Police have not said what may have led to his alleged impairment.

Valley man charged in oven explosion

A Spokane Valley man was arrested Friday for allegedly causing an explosion in his home.

Spokane Valley firefighters responded Sept. 23 to 15007 E. Rich Ave. When crews arrived, however, they found that the home’s resident, Michael E. Kendrick, 35, had slit his wrists.

After loading him into an ambulance, three firefighters were in the home collecting gear when a can of carburetor cleaner exploded in the oven, court records say. Fire officials have said that if the vapor from the cleaner had ignited, the explosion would have caused serious injuries or death.

Kendrick told an investigator that he heard voices instructing him “to cut his wrists to ease his pain,” court records say. Later he told another investigator that he did not remember placing the can in the oven.

Attempts to reach Kendrick have been unsuccessful.

Kendrick was arrested Friday on one count of first-degree arson.

Dave Lobdell, assistant Spokane Valley fire chief, said more charges could follow.

Denture clinic owner sentenced

A former Spokane denture clinic owner was sentenced Wednesday to three months in jail and a $3,000 fine for making false statements to collect Medicaid payments.

Cheryl K. Edlin, 58, could have gotten as much as a year in jail when Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke III sentenced her Monday.

A jury convicted Edlin on Aug. 24 of three misdemeanor counts of making false Medicaid statements, but acquitted her of four counts of first-degree theft and two counts of second-degree theft. Her husband, Claude A. Edlin, 61, faced the same charges and was acquitted.

Authorities didn’t dispute that the Edlins did the work for which they billed Medicaid, but said the Edlins weren’t entitled to reimbursement for their work because they were unlicensed.

State law says dentures may be made only by a licensed dentist or a licensed “denturist,” but the Edlins resisted DSHS efforts to force them to obtain denturist licenses for more than a decade. Regulators eventually ordered Cheryl Edlin to close her Inland Empire Denture Clinic, and Claude Edlin to close his clinic called A New You.

Retired Seattle-area dentist Harold McLearan testified that, although employed two days a week by Cheryl Edlin, he had nothing to do with the dentures she told Medicaid officials he manufactured.

‘Coats 4 Kids’ drive extended extra days

Area schools are keeping collection bins up a few more days in hopes of gathering enough coats to help low-income kids through winter.

Mollie Dalpae, director of Spokane Valley Community Center, said she’s concerned donations may be down this year.

The gently used and new winter coats are particularly important because children in struggling families often live in underheated homes and wear their coats to bed at night.

“These children living in poverty don’t have down comforters, and they don’t have electric blankets. Expensive wool blankets are out of the question,” Dalpae said.

Donations are collected through KXLY’s annual “Coats 4 Kids.” The drive has gathered a total of 140,000 coats in its 20-year history. Coats are cleaned for free by Overall Laundry Services Inc. and Schelling’s Martinizing Dry Cleaners.

Collection bins will stay up at most Spokane Valley schools through Thursday. In Spokane, most public schools will collect coats through Friday.

SCC taking over radiology school

Spokane Community College has taken over the administration of Sacred Heart Medical Center’s School of Radiologic Technology, a program that serves about 40 students.

The change occurred Sept. 17. The 40-year-old program will continue to use Sacred Heart’s instructional lab and clinic space, and instructors will gradually shift from employment at the hospital to SCC, the hospital and SCC announced.

Students in the program will begin earning credits toward a two-year associate’s degree in radiology technology.

Spokane duplex fire under investigation

A fire in the basement of a Spokane duplex burned one person and sent up a plume of smoke that was visible from Interstate 90 about 1 p.m. Monday.

After an hour, 26 emergency workers subdued the fire at 805 W. Maxwell Ave., Battalion Chief Mike Inman said.

One person was treated and released for second-degree burns, Inman said. Heavy smoke damage on both sides of the duplex kept its residents from returning home.

The fire remains under investigation.