County to pay couple for building delays
A Liberty Lake couple will be paid $80,000 by Spokane County for construction delays that they say forced the price of their new home to increase.
Heather Amity and Paul Shields were about to start construction on a home on Liberty Lake in July when a Spokane County building inspector noticed that plans for the house did not meet code. Designs for the log house showed that it would be too tall and that there was not enough space between the structure and property lines, said Mark Holman, assistant building and planning director.
Spokane County, however, had approved a building permit for the structure in 2002. Holman said approving plans for a home that had code violations was an oversight.
Frank Conklin, the attorney who represented Amity and Shields, said the county couldn’t stop construction because it already had approved the permit. The county has since allowed construction to proceed.
About $35,000 of the settlement will go to the contractor, Conklin said.
“They had to pay him to sit idle for six weeks,” he said.
The rest of the money was needed to compensate the couple for the spike in the costs of building materials that occurred while the project was on hold, Conklin said.
– Jonathan Brunt
Coeur d’Alene
Slain family’s home found vandalized
The Wolf Lodge house where three members of a Coeur d’Alene family were killed has been vandalized, and authorities believe someone may have been starting a shrine to the victims.
Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies responded to the house early Wednesday evening after a passer-by reported someone was pushing a child through a broken window into the home.
The deputies didn’t find anyone at the home but discovered a broken window. Graffiti was written on the walls and several beer bottles were found inside, according to the sheriff’s report.
One message mentioned 13-year-old murder victim Slade Groene. It said “I love Slade, Blake,” according to the report. The phrases “Live fast, die young,” “Miss you, wish you were here,” and “Smoke one for me” were also written inside the house.
Joseph Duncan pleaded guilty this month to using a hammer to kill Slade, his mother and mother’s fiance. Duncan is incarcerated at the state’s maximum security prison near Boise.
– Taryn Brodwater
spokane
Man jailed after attack on Kmart guards
A man who allegedly attacked two north Spokane Kmart security guards with a knife remained in the Spokane County Jail on Monday in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Michael Allen Flett, 38, was being held on suspicion of first-degree robbery and two counts of first-degree assault.
Police said in court documents that Kmart security guards Paul Sellers and Kenneth Sauve confronted Flett when he walked out of the store at 6606 N. Division St. about 3 p.m. Saturday with $121.45 worth of stolen merchandise in a plastic bag. Flett allegedly pulled a knife from his pocket and began slashing at Sauve and Sellers, narrowly missing Sellers.
Flett dropped the stolen goods and fled to an apartment at 212 E. Wedgewood Ave., where police arrested him without incident, according to court documents.
Sauve reportedly suffered a minor hand injury in the scuffle.
– John Craig