In brief: Icy roads contribute to crashes

Icy roads contributed to dozens of area crashes Thursday, including two separate accidents north of Spokane that killed two people.

The first occurred at 6:19 a.m. on U.S. Highway 2 just south of Riverside High School, Washington State Patrol Trooper Jeff Sevigney said.

Neil R. Gardner, 57, of Deer Park, died after his southbound 1987 Chevy Blazer careened across northbound lanes and struck a tree.

“Early indications are that it may have been a medical issue,” Sevigney said.The second fatal crash occurred at 9:29 a.m. on U.S. 395 about eight miles south of Colville.

Bonnie J. Konitzer, 44, of Evans, Wash., was driving a 2000 Nissan Xterra south on U.S. 395 when she tried to pass a semi truck.

Konitzer lost control, left the roadway and rolled, causing her passenger to be ejected, according to the WSP.

Jeffrey J. Konitzer, 39, also of Evans, died at the scene. Bonnie Konitzer was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Another passenger, Charles T. Williams, 39, of Evans, was transported by ambulance to Mount Carmel Hospital in Colville, according to the release.

Dropped gun fires; store evacuated

A man dropped his new pistol in the bathroom of the North Division Costco on Thursday, and nearly emptied the store as shoppers fled after hearing the gun go off when it hit the floor.

The bullet lodged in the wall and no injuries were reported, Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

“He was a little embarrassed and didn’t want to come out of the bathroom right away,” Reagan said of the man, who has a concealed weapons permit.

Deputies arrived after employees reported an armed man had fired a shot about 12:15 p.m., Reagan said.

“A customer was just outside the gunman’s stall when he heard the shot. He looked over the top of the stall, saw the shooter fumbling with the pistol and alerted employees who began evacuating the building,” Reagan said in a news release.

The pistol was a new Sig-Sauer .357-caliber semiautomatic carried in a shoulder holster. Reagan did not identify the man.

While the man was pulling up his pants, his shirt caught on the gun and pulled it out of the holster, Reagan said.

Deputy Mark Smoldt said the man broke no laws.

STA bus hits, injures pedestrian

A woman was injured Thursday when she was hit by a Spokane Transit bus while attempting to cross a downtown street.

The No. 45 bus was eastbound on Third Avenue and attempted a left turn onto Lincoln Street when the stop light turned green, said Spokane police Officer Tim Moses.

The driver apparently did not see the woman walking west in the crosswalk and struck her, Moses said.

The woman, who was not named but was thought to be about 47 years old, suffered a compound fracture to the left leg and was rushed by ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Several STA supervisors were investigating the accident, but declined to comment.

Sex offenders move to downtown

Two level 3 sex offenders have moved to downtown Spokane.

Edwin L. Kedish, 50, was released this week from prison after serving six years for two sex convictions involving children. He was convicted of third-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation, Spokane police Detective Jerry Keller said in a news release. Kedish’s victims were girls ages 11 and 15.

Kedish will be supervised by the state Department of Corrections for the next three years.

His release conditions prohibit Kedish from being around children under the age of 16 and he is prohibited from consuming alcohol, Keller said.

Jerry L. McIntosh, 48, was convicted of first-degree rape in Spokane County in 1991. McIntosh’s victim was a 14-year-old girl, Spokane police Detective Curt Kendall said a news release.

McIntosh will be supervised by the state Department of Corrections.

McIntosh is 5-foot-10, 260 pounds. He is one of about 1,344 registered sex offenders living in Spokane County, according to the news release.

Police say level 3 offenders pose a high risk for new sex crimes.

Kellogg

Silver Mountain chairlift to open

Silver Mountain Resort’s Chairlift 5 should be up and running before crowds of holiday skiers hit the slopes this weekend.

A helicopter hauled a new lift tower onto the mountain Wednesday, said Stephen Lane, marketing director for the Silver Valley resort.

The equipment was trucked to Kellogg from Salt Lake City, where it was manufactured.

Chair 5 has been closed since Nov. 30, when the lift tower sustained major structural damage. Water had seeped into the lift tower, which is located just below Kellogg Peak.

“It froze, expanded and broke,” Lane said.

All of the other chairlifts, including the gondola, were inspected and found to be safe, he said.

Chair 5 serves beginning and intermediate runs – terrain that can also be accessed by Chair 3.

Lane said technicians are finishing work on the new lift tower in anticipation of reopening Chair 5 before the Christmas holiday.

WASHINGTON

Bill signed to preserve WWII camps

President Bush signed legislation Thursday establishing a $38 million grant program to preserve notorious internment camps where Japanese-Americans were kept behind barbed wire during World War II.

The money will be administered by the National Park Service to restore and pay for research at 10 camps, helping to preserve them as stark reminders of how the United States turned on some of its citizens in a time of fear.

The camps housed more than 120,000 Japanese-American U.S. citizens and residents under an executive order signed by President Roosevelt in 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time there were fears that Japanese-Americans were loyal to Japan, and Roosevelt’s order prohibited such people from living on the West Coast.

It was the largest forced relocation in U.S. history as thousands of families in California and parts of Washington, Oregon and Arizona were pushed from their homes and into camps surrounded by armed guards. The sites named in the legislation are in California, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.

The law will give grants to nonfederal organizations for historical, research and restoration work at the sites named in the legislation, as well others selected by the Interior secretary. The grants will require 50 percent in matching funds.