In brief: List of police chief candidates narrows
The list of candidates for Spokane police chief is down to seven.
The mayor’s office is now conducting background searches and expects to narrow the field to three or four candidates, said city of Spokane spokeswoman Marlene Feist.
One of the four internal applicants is still in the running, said Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch.
The four Police Department applicants are Lt. Steve Braun, Deputy Chief Al Odenthal, Deputy Chief Bruce Roberts and Officer Karl Thompson.
Feist said the mayor’s office and police chief search committee also plan to meet with Waldron & Co., the consulting company hired by the city to help with the search, before publicly naming the finalists.
The city started reviewing the 43 applicants for the top police position last Friday.
Mayor Dennis Hession has directed city staff to complete the review process as quickly as possible.
– Jody Lawrence-Turner
Astronomers invite public to see planets
Members of the Spokane Astronomical Society will be setting up their telescopes on a lawn adjacent to Sacajawea Middle School, 401 E. 33rd Ave., about 8:45 p.m. Saturday, weather permitting, to view the planets Mars and Saturn in close alignment with each other.
Members of the public are invited to stop by for a look at the two planets as they pass within 0.6 degrees of each other in the western sky just after sunset.
They will be next to the Beehive star cluster in the constellation Cancer.
Mercury, which is not often visible, and Jupiter, a bright night sky object this year, can also be seen at the same time.
The telescopes will be set up in a grassy area near the school.
– Mike Prager
Bonners Ferry
Water level expected to fall
In the ever-changing forecast at Bonners Ferry, the Kootenai River is expected to remain half a foot below the flood mark of 1,764 feet above sea level and begin to fall this morning, negating earlier reports that the city could expect water above flood stage today.
The forecast is partially good news, said Bonners Ferry Mayor Darrell Kerby, but high water is still an issue that plagues Boundary County.
“The higher it gets, coupled with the duration (of the high flows), is a problem,” Kerby said.
“It’s better that we didn’t get the additional altitude, but this is just as significant.”
In an e-mail update Thursday, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydrologist Paul Koski said inflow into the Libby Dam reservoir through Wednesday was 34,700 cubic feet per second and increased to about 45,000 cfs Thursday.
The high flow is expected to continue through Saturday, Koski said.
He also said the reservoir is about 1.4 feet from being full and by next week will recede to about two feet from full capacity.
If the weather changes in some significant way, Koski said, the forecast could completely change today.
– Sam Taylor