Man recovering after shooting

A 25-year-old man was recovering Monday from a gunshot wound to his arm.

The Spokane resident was shot by a man driving in the lane of traffic next to him on Division near Francis, said Spokane police spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee.

The shooter was described only as white or Hispanic, and he was driving a large maroon sedan, Lee said.

Shortly after midnight Monday, police responded to the shooting scene and found the victim’s driver side window shot out, Lee said. A woman and a baby in the victim’s car were not injured.

The 25-year-old man was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery for the bullet wound to his left arm, Lee said. He was in satisfactory condition.

Attorney gets 2nd suspension

The state Supreme Court has suspended Spokane attorney Gail Schwartz’s license for six months – on top of an interim suspension that began Dec. 1.

The interim suspension in December was imposed when Schwartz failed to respond to a Washington State Bar Association investigation of complaints that she failed to perform services for which she was paid in one case and that she mishandled money she held in trust for another client and ignored that client’s instructions to transfer his money to another lawyer.

After completing its investigation, the bar association recommended the six-month sentence that the Supreme Court imposed last Thursday.

Schwartz edged out Spokane County Superior Court Commissioner Joe Valente in the three-way 2004 primary for a Superior Court vacancy, but lost the runoff with then-District Court Judge Harold Clarke III by a 2-1 ratio.

Boise

Otter criticized for fundraiser

U.S. Rep. Butch Otter, who is running for governor of Idaho, is taking heat from both his Republican primary opponent and a Democratic opponent for passing up a public debate to host a “high-dollar fundraiser” with big donors on Monday night.

According to Otter’s campaign Web site, “For this event, contributions of $1,000 or greater are appreciated.” The event was sponsored by 21 top donors who are giving the maximum contributions allowed by law, including Idaho Power Co., Sempra Energy and Avista Corp.

Otter originally had agreed to debate GOP primary challenger Dan Adamson last week as part of “Idaho Debates,” a series of debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters, the Idaho Press Club, and Idaho Public Television, and broadcast live across the state. But he canceled six days before the debate, citing scheduled votes in Congress. Three other dates were proposed, but he rejected those as well.

Otter was busy with family activities on two of those dates, while on the third he was hosting a major fundraiser at the Top of the Hoff in Boise.

Adamson put out a news release saying Otter was “putting big business above debating issues before the people.”

QUILCENE, Wash.

Fire destroys historic hotel

A fire Monday destroyed the historic Quilcene Hotel in this Jefferson County community at the north end of Hood Canal.

The hotel was built in 1917 for loggers and hunters and, according to its Web site, was famous for its Saturday night chicken dinners.

In recent years, it became a stopover for tourists on the Olympia Peninsula.

Seattle

Woman rescued after fall

The Coast Guard on Monday used a helicopter to evacuate a 19-year-old woman who was hurt when she fell three days earlier from a cliff on Washington’s Pacific coast.

The woman, whose name was not released, fell near Strawberry Point, south of La Push in Olympic National Park. She was found by a person hiking in the area, the Coast Guard said.

She was flown to a Port Angeles hospital after park officials asked the Coast Guard for assistance.

Details on the circumstances of the fall were not immediately available.