North Idaho gets first West Nile virus case
The first case of West Nile virus in North Idaho was confirmed by the Panhandle Health District on Tuesday, but health officials say the infected man contracted the virus in southern Utah.
Officials won’t release the name of the Post Falls man infected with the virus but say he is in his 40s, recently traveled to southern Utah and remembers being bitten by a lot of mosquitoes there.
“We strongly believe that he acquired the infection down there and not up here in North Idaho,” said David Hylsky, an epidemiologist with the Panhandle Health District.
Mostoften carried by mosquitoes and birds, the virus isn’t transferable by humans, and there’s no cure. There have been more than 600 confirmed infections and nine deaths in southern Idaho resulting from the virus, but this is the first report of an infection north of Idaho County, Hylsky said.
“Southern Idaho is getting hit really bad,” he said.
The local case shouldn’t cause anyone to panic, Hylsky said, but it should raise awareness that the virus is out there and people need to be careful to avoid mosquito bites.
– Meghann M. Cuniff
200 pounds of grapes plucked from yard
Two hundred pounds of grapes were reported stolen from the yard of a Coeur d’Alene woman.
Mildred Wolters told police Monday her vines were picked clean sometime between Sept. 3 and 6. The 64-year-old said her metal step ladder was also stolen.
She said the grapes may have been stolen while she was at church. By her estimate, it would have taken about three hours for a person to pluck all of the grapes, which were growing on an arbor in her yard.
Police valued the stolen grapes at $1,000, meaning the person responsible could face felony charges of grand theft.
– Taryn Brodwater
Smelterville, Idaho
Burglary suspects crash getaway car
Two men were arrested early Tuesday morning after allegedly burglarizing a Smelterville, Idaho, convenience store and crashing the getaway car.
David Yeoman, 27, and David McCorkle, 25, are accused of stealing two cash registers, money, alcohol and cigarettes totaling $25,000 from the Way Side Market.
Yeoman was an employee of the store, according to a press release from the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the release, McCorkle was driving up 9 Mile Road near Wallace around 4 a.m. when he drove his Nissan Sentra off the road.
Both men were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. Authorities found the stolen property off the side of the road at the crash scene.
The men remained in custody at the Shoshone County Jail Tuesday evening.
– Taryn Brodwater
HAMILTON, Mont.
Post Falls man jailed in U.S. 93 shootings
An Idaho man has been arrested and is being investigated for attempted murder for allegedly shooting at two vehicles traveling on U.S. Highway 93 in western Montana. A bullet struck one woman in the knee.
Blaine C. Fadness, 38, of Post Falls, was arrested and jailed Monday and is awaiting charges.
A Missoula County man reported that someone shot at his car on U.S. 93 south of Darby about 8:45 p.m. Monday.
A short time later, a 52-year-old Idaho woman reported that she was northbound on U.S. 93 when she felt a burning sensation in her leg and realized she had been shot by someone in a southbound vehicle. The woman was treated at an area hospital.
A description of the vehicle was given to authorities and Fadness was arrested about 10:20 p.m.
– Associated Press