Cocaine seized near border worth $3.1 million

Border Patrol agents are calling a drug seizure made last weekend one of the highest-valued in the history of the Spokane Sector Border Patrol,

In a statement released Friday, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said agents recovered $3.1 million in cocaine in a rural area near Oroville on March 11. Three suspected drug dealers got away. The spokesman said public information about the drug seizure was delayed “due to an investigation.”

The cocaine was found after Border Patrol agents spotted three persons carrying backpacks and walking north toward the Canadian border. When agents attempted to question them, the trio took off, leading officers on a foot pursuit. The threesome eventually dropped their backpacks and fled.

Inside the backpacks, agents found bundles of cocaine totaling 98 pounds, a border patrol spokesman said.

– Gina Ferrer

McGuire to become West Bonner schools chief

Michael McGuire will take the helm at the West Bonner, Idaho, school district starting July 1.

But until then, the Spokane district principal is taking the time to learn about Idaho funding and other particulars of his new schools.

McGuire accepted the school board’s offer on Thursday, and will replace retiring Superintendent Tony Feldhausen.

In his tenure as head of the district, McGuire plans to tackle the facilities challenge at West Bonner and make sure all children are receiving an education.

McGuire is currently a high school principal on special assignment in Spokane and has been overseeing capital improvement projects. He is also the interim director of safety, security and transportation. In his 31 years in education, McGuire has been a music teacher and a principal.

When asked during the interview process if he’s prepared to wear several hats, McGuire responded: “I think I can do that.”

– Rasha Madkour

Walla Walla

State penitentiary lockdown enters third week

A lockdown at the Washington State Penitentiary has entered its third week, and officials are uncertain when conditions for about 1,050 inmates will return to normal.

Two assaults by inmates on guards in the prison’s north dining hall triggered the lockdown March 1, said spokeswoman Lori Scamahorn.

On Feb. 23, inmate Joseph Brassyapodaca, 22, allegedly punched a prison lieutenant who was searching him, Scamahorn said. Brassyapodaca is serving a 14-year sentence for a 2003 King County conviction for robbery, burglary and drug possession.

Then on March 1, inmate Jose Reyes, 22, serving a 20-year sentence for a 2004 Spokane County conviction for robbery and assault, allegedly hit a corrections officer in the head with a plastic meal tray and punched two more officers while they were subduing him, Scamahorn said.

The assaults appear to be caused by changes in the prison’s dining hall, she said. Among the changes: installing a wall between inmates and food servers – with slots to pass trays through, and requiring inmates to sit at designated rows of tables, rather than choosing to sit where they please.

Inmates typically congregate by race in the dining hall.

– Associated Press