Ruling expected today on same-sex marriages
After months of speculation and waiting, Washington’s highest court will rule today whether the state’s same-sex marriage ban is constitutional.
“The anticipation and excitement are unbelievable,” said Marge Ballack, of Spokane. “I’ve got goose bumps; I really do.” She and her longtime partner, Diane Lantz, are among 19 lesbian and gay couples suing for the right to marry. Lantz works in The Spokesman-Review’s shipping department.
If the state Supreme Court sides with two lower courts and throws out the ban, Washington could become the second state, after Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriage. And unlike Massachusetts, Washington has no residency requirement for marriage. Seven other states have civil union or domestic partnership laws that provide some of the legal benefits of marriage.
Proponents of same-sex marriage are planning gatherings today in Spokane, Seattle, Olympia, Yakima, Tacoma and Vancouver. Opponents and proponents have news conferences scheduled for this morning in Seattle.
The court opinion – as well as any concurring or dissenting opinions – will be posted at www.courts.wa.gov at 8 a.m.
Whitman County
Four charged with pipe bomb detonation
Four people who are accused of pipe-bombing a Spokesman-Review newspaper box and sparking a small fire in rural Whitman County have been arrested on charges of felony arson, Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said.
The adult and three juveniles constructed a “fairly crude” bomb and detonated it in a paper box in Endicott around 11 p.m. Sunday, Myers said. The explosion started a fire in the box, which sat against the wall of a store, he said. The store wasn’t damaged.
Eric Johnson, 18, was charged with second-degree arson and is being held on a $10,000 bond at the county jail, Myers said. Two 16-year-olds and one 15-year-old were also arrested on those charges and taken to a juvenile detention facility, where they’ll receive violence assessments, he said.
“All four of the individuals have expressed remorse in this incident,” Myers said. “None expressed any intent to scare, threaten or intimidate.”
“It was just plain stupidity,” he added.
The suspects have detonated several pipe bombs over the past few weeks, Myers said.
Athol
Burning cats suspected cause of wildfire
A small forest fire that caused about $1,000 in damage in Athol is believed to be the work of arsonists who set two cats on fire.
Timberlake Fire Chief Lane Wintermute reported the fire to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department after noticing the cats had been doused with a flammable liquid and set ablaze.
According to a sheriff’s deputy report, three teenage boys were at the home where the 911 call originated, one with burns on his feet. The boys told the deputy they were inside playing video games when they noticed the fire outside and went to put it out, causing the boy’s injuries.
Three gasoline containers were found in the front yard of the home of one of the boys, 20 feet from where the fire began. About an hour after the deputy left, the father of one of the boys called back to say he did not believe they were involved and that “lately there have been disturbances in and around the area of his residence.”
LEWISTON
Historic headstones taken by descendant
Historic headstones missing from the Normal Hill Cemetery have been found.
James Molloy of Asotin called the Lewiston Parks and Recreation office Monday to say he had taken the stones, belonging to his great-great-grandparents.
He spotted them sitting in grass near the plots.
Molloy’s relatives were part of a pioneer convoy that helped settle North Idaho and eastern Oregon in the 19th century.
A cemetery employee had told Molloy the grave sites are private property and the family is responsible for upkeep, he said.
Molloy said he had no idea they were the two oldest headstones in the cemetery.
Lynn Moss, the city’s parks and recreation director, assured Molloy the city will try to restore the stones.