Cockfighting leads to six arrests

Six people were arrested Saturday after Okanogan County Sheriff’s deputies broke up a cockfighting match and took 25 roosters into custody.

Deputies responded to a call about 3 p.m. Saturday and found several people observing a cockfighting match on the north side of the Columbia River near Bridgeport, said Kim Scott, a sergeant in the dispatch center for the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office.

About 50 people fled from the deputies, but six were apprehended and arrested on charges of animal fighting, Scott said.

Deputies didn’t release the names of suspects Sunday.

It is a Class C felony to observe or facilitate animal fighting in Washington, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

– Christopher Rodkey

Offices, services affected by Christmas

The following offices and services will be affected by the Christmas holiday today:

Spokane

•City, county, and state offices are closed.

•No garbage service is scheduled for today, and service will run one day late all week.

•Parking meters do not need to be plugged.

•Banks and liquor stores are closed, as are most grocers.

•Buses run on the holiday service schedule.

•Post offices are closed.

•County libraries are closed today, and city libraries will be closed through Tuesday. Library branches are closed Sundays and Mondays; the two holidays granted to employees for Christmas will result in the four-day closure, library officials said.

•Schools are closed for the holidays.

North Idaho

•All Kootenai County city and rural garbage pickup will be one day late for the week.

•City, county and state offices are closed.

•Post offices are closed.

•Liquor stores are closed.

•Most banks are closed.

•Area schools are closed.

– Staff reports

Sun Valley, Idaho

Schwarzenegger resting after accident

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recuperated at his home in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Sunday, a day after he broke his right leg while skiing.

A spokeswoman for the governor said he planned to stay in the ski resort town where he often vacations at least through Christmas and was “continuing to do well today and looking forward to spending time with his family.”

Doctors at the Sun Valley hospital who examined Schwarzenegger after Saturday’s accident told him he needs surgery to repair his fractured femur. The operation has not been scheduled and won’t take place until he returns to Los Angeles, according to spokeswoman Julie Soderlund.

But the governor has no intention of delaying his second inauguration, Soderlund said. He is planning two days of events to mark the occasion, starting Jan. 4. He is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 5 in a ceremony at Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium.

Soderlund said he was not fitted with a cast and that she did not have information on whether he was using a wheelchair or crutches to get around.

– Associated Press

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.

Park entrance opens after avalanche work

The East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park opened to snowcoaches and snowmobiles on Sunday after a helicopter crew cleared avalanche zones in Sylvan Pass.

The interior of Yellowstone opened to commercially guided trips on Wednesday, but the East Entrance had remained closed because of avalanche danger in the pass.

The National Park Service says heavy snow and high winds on Dec. 15 left dangerous avalanche conditions across the region.

– Associated Press