Thorburn resigns from state board
Dr. Kim Thorburn has resigned as head of the Washington state Board of Health, two weeks after losing her job as health officer for the Spokane Regional Health District.
Thorburn said Friday she was no longer eligible to serve on the board as a health officer representative.
Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed Thorburn to lead the board in 2005. The governor did not encourage Thorburn to resign, a spokesman said Friday.
“I appreciate Dr. Thorburn’s work on the state Board of Health and her commitment to service,” Gregoire said through a spokesman.
She has instructed the state association of local public health officials to help her fill the vacancy as quickly as possible. Nine of the 10 state health board members are appointed by the governor. The 10th member is the state secretary of health or a designee. Members include elected city and county officials who are health board members, four people experienced in matters of health and sanitation, two people representing health care consumers and a local public health officer.
Health district board members voted to terminate Thorburn’s contract, citing communication problems.
Sex offenders move to area
Spokane police warned Friday that three new level 3 sex offenders, the kind considered most likely to commit new sex crimes, are in the community.
Travis R. Keene, 26, declared his intention to live downtown, while Floyd L. Williams, 47, and James B. Artis III, 40, said they have no permanent address.
Keene was released from prison Nov. 17 after serving three years for third-degree rape of a 23-year-old woman he had just met.
Police say Keene also was convicted of lewd conduct with an 11-year-old girl when he was 14.
He is white, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 200 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.
Williams – also known as Floyd Spates and Floyd Collins – was convicted of second-degree rape of a woman in 1994 in Spokane County. He is black, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 240 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.
Artis was released from prison in August 2005 after serving three years for burglary. He also has been convicted of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and taking indecent liberties with a woman, whom he threatened to kill with a knife during the sexual assault. Artis is black, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 215 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.
Police say all three men are under Department of Corrections supervision.
CD sales to benefit Police Chaplains
A Spokane police officer will be singing Christmas carols and signing her CDs on Sunday in Spokane Valley.
Officer Stephanie Barkley has two CDs out: “The Best Gift of All,” and “A Shield Around Me,” said Spokane police spokeswoman Teresa Fuller. The CDs cost $15 with all proceeds going to the department’s chaplaincy program, which is funded by donations. The Spokane Police Chaplains are primarily volunteers, Fuller said. Their functions include making death notifications, comforting families who have lost loved ones and helping when an officer is sick or injured.
Barkley will be at Spokane Valley Hastings, 15312 E. Sprague, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Inland northwest
Residents asked to curb burning
The Washington Department of Ecology on Friday asked state residents to refrain from outdoor burning and unnecessary use of fireplaces and wood stoves.
Fog and clouds over most of the state caused air quality to deteriorate by Friday afternoon, and pollution-trapping weather was expected to continue through the weekend.
Wind may provide some relief in the Columbia River gorge and the Columbia Basin this afternoon and Sunday, but little improvement was forecast for Eastern Washington valleys, department officials said.
They advised people with asthma and other pollution-sensitive medical conditions to stay indoors.
Compiled from staff reports