Web site details candidate info
Kootenai County has a new link on its Web site profiling candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The site went live Monday. It also has links to information on proposed initiatives, constitutional amendments and the Idaho Voters Pamphlet.
County Clerk Dan English said a bipartisan committee developed the questions presented to the candidates. The Web site includes only candidates who have returned the questionnaire.
English said he expects more candidates to provide profiles in the next few days.
“This is a test run for us to get some feedback,” English said about the new offering.
The Web site is at www.co.kootenai.id.us/elections. Click on “candidates job applications.”
For more information, call English at (208) 446-1651.
Boise
Car crashes during police chase
Three people suspected in a string of smash-and-grab robberies at downtown businesses were rescued from a fiery crash after a chase with police.
Victor J. Wolf, of Lewiston, a passenger, was treated at a hospital and booked into the Ada County Jail. He was arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto and burglary, Boise police said.
Two other people, a 19-year-old man from Washington, who was driving, and a 16-year-old Boise girl, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Several convenience, liquor and cigarette stores reported cash, tobacco products, beer and other items were stolen through smashed store windows last weekend.
Boise police responded to a robbery call and saw the suspects driving a stolen black Jeep at 90 mph. The vehicle ran a red light and crashed into a pole, police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said.
The Jeep caught fire, and police officers dragged the three from the wreck.
North Bend, Wash.
North Bend couple wins jackpot
An immigrant couple from Laos claimed a $55 million Mega Millions jackpot on Monday.
Sommay and Xia Rattanakone of North Bend won the prize last week. As part of their weekly ritual, the couple bought the winning ticket at a Safeway in the King County community.
The couple said they plan an early retirement and a return trip to their native country in the near future.
Sommay Rattanakone works for the Seattle Public Schools and his wife, Xia, works at Nintendo. They have two children.
Sommay picked up the winning numbers report the day after the drawing but decided to take a nap before checking the numbers; his wife couldn’t wait.
“I heard her scream, ‘We won,’ ” he said.
“We couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I prayed for this. It is a dream come true.”
They also plan to donate some of the money to a Catholic orphanage in Laos where Xia was raised before being adopted and brought to the United States. They plan to invest in a new home, a new car and put aside money for their children’s college education, state lottery officials said.
Seattle
Man pleads guilty to luring minor
A 46-year-old Whidbey Island man was foiled in his attempt to lure a 14-year-old girl for sex when the girl bought an airplane ticket to Washington, D.C., instead of Washington state.
The Chicago-area girl was trying to visit John Leonard Young, 46, of Coupeville, who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to one count of using the Internet to entice a minor to travel for illegal sexual activity.
According to Young’s plea agreement, he offered to buy the girl a ticket to visit him in January 2005. Instead, she bought a ticket with her own money and flew to Dulles International Airport. That’s where airport police found her, upset that she had flown to the wrong Washington.
FBI agents contacted the girl’s parents and eventually searched her computer, leading them to Young.
Young faces between five and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced in January.
Everett
Body identified as missing man
Skeletal remains found near Mount Pilchuck are those of Brandon Kempf, 19, of Granite Falls, who disappeared in August of last year, the Snohomish County medical examiner said Monday.
The cause of death is still under investigation. The remains were found last week by two hikers.
Investigators believe Kempf was slain, but they recently had to release a man charged in the case because a body had not been found.
Prosecutors have said that if new evidence emerged, charges could again be filed against the man.
The Mount Pilchuck area is where two hikers – Mary Cooper and her daughter Susanna Stodden – were found shot to death in July.
Authorities said there is nothing to link that case, which remains unsolved, and Kempf’s death.