In brief: Otter signs ban on Internet hunting
Gov. Butch Otter has signed legislation banning so-called Internet hunting, in which people go to a Web site, aim with a remote camera and shoot animals with the click of a mouse.
The measure passed unanimously in the Senate and 59-10 in the House during the 2007 Legislature.
Internet hunting started in Texas in January 2005 with a Web site that allowed people to pay a fee and shoot captive animals on an exotic game ranch, sometimes from thousands of miles away. The animal was then shipped to the shooter’s home.
Five months later, Texas banned it, as have at least 25 other states since, with more considering outlawing the practice.
No Internet hunting operations are located in Idaho.
On Tuesday, Humane Society of the United States Vice President Mike Markarian praised Otter for signing the plan last Thursday, saying, “Traditional hunters know there’s no sport in shooting an animal remotely.”
Coeur d’Alene
Crews to clean spuds from I-90
An estimated 30,000 pounds of dumped seed potatoes will soon be cleared from the side of Interstate 90 near Coeur d’Alene, said Greg Munden with the Idaho Transportation Department. The agency was working with the Medeleze Trucking Company, of Umatilla, Ore., to coordinate the cleanup before the tubers rot or attract hungry wildlife.
“The stench from rotting potatoes is not real pleasant,” Munden said.
A truck hauling the seed potatoes from Montana to Oregon tipped and crashed late Monday afternoon near milepost 17. No one was injured in the crash.
NIC program helps future students
Anyone interested in attending North Idaho College should attend a campus visitation program on Friday.
The First Fridays program offers prospective students a chance to tour the campus and learn about the college’s programs and services from instructors and other NIC representatives.
Prospective students or their parents can sign up by calling NIC’s Admissions Office at (208) 769-3311 or e-mailing admit@nic.edu.
Spokane
Woman dies in apartment fire
A Spokane woman died Tuesday after firefighters pulled her out of her burning apartment.
The woman, whose name was not released, was found sitting in a chair and not breathing when firefighters entered the apartment at 1625 E. Pacific Ave., said Assistant Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer.
Paramedics placed the woman in a neighbor’s front yard and performed CPR before she was taken by ambulance to Deaconess Medical Center. She died at the hospital.
Schaeffer said the woman was thought to be in her mid-50s. The blaze caused extensive damage to the apartment, which was one of three units in a triplex.
The fire was reported at 7:19 p.m., and firefighters arrived to find flames coming from the apartment. An hour later, firefighters’ flashlights beamed through the smoke as they continued to put out small fires scattered inside the building.
Fire crews have responded to the address before, Schaeffer said, and knew that the woman inside had used oxygen in the past. When crews arrived, neighbors told the firefighters nobody was inside.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Ex-KHQ reporter named to board
A former reporter at KHQ has been appointed to Spokane’s community development board.
Tobby Hatley, 50, will fill an unexpired term until the end of May, after which he could be granted a three-year tenure. The Spokane City Council voted unanimously Monday to accept Hatley’s appointment to the board by Mayor Dennis Hession.
Hatley, a 1974 graduate of Colfax High School, is a senior account executive at Desautel Hege, a Spokane communications consulting firm. He left KHQ in November after 13 years. Hatley has a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs from American University.
The community development board oversees the distribution of federal grant money to neighborhoods and housing rehabilitation projects.
Reward offered in robbery case
Secret Witness is offering $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of two Spokane men wanted for first-degree robbery, burglary, kidnapping and assault.
The suspects remain at large after the robbery of a man’s home near Audubon Park, said Spokane police Cpl. Tom Lee. Three men entered the home, tied up the victim and spent 15 minutes gathering electronic items as well as the victim’s wallet.
The suspects, who apparently knew the victim, cut the man’s neck, then fled in his vehicle – a 1992 four-door Infinity, Lee said. The stolen car’s license plate number is 414 SFI. It has distinct wheels and tires; black, white and chrome.
Lawrence “Jalen” Campbell, one of the three suspects, was arrested the day after the robbery, Lee said.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the other two suspects in this robbery should call (509) 327-5111. Tipsters do not have to leave a name to collect a reward, but they should use a code name or number.
OLYMPIA
Gambling pact gains approval
A gambling compact between the state and the Spokane Tribe of Indians has won the OK of both Washingtons.
“It’s an exciting day and the end of a 16-year battle,” said tribal public relations director Jamie Sijohn. The Department of the Interior told the tribe that it has no problems with the compact, which will take effect when published in the Federal Register.
The agreement, signed in February by Gov. Chris Gregoire, allows the Spokanes to own up to 1,500 slot-style machines for the next three years and up to 3,000 after that. Sijohn said the tribe will likely expand and improve its two existing casinos in Chewelah and at the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia rivers.
The compact does not address a proposed casino complex the tribe wants to build on off-reservation land near Airway Heights.