Van hits, drags pedestrian on Third
A pedestrian was hit by a van that dragged him half a block down Third Avenue late Monday.
A trail of radiator fluid and clothing led to where the victim came to rest before the van sped off.
The victim was taken to a Spokane hospital with several cuts and possible broken bones, said Sgt. Brent Austin, of the Spokane Police Department. The victim was in and out of consciousness and struggled to breathe.
The accident, which happened shortly before 11 p.m., forced police to close Third Avenue at Lincoln Street while officials investigated.
Witnesses told police the man was hit by a white van from the late 1980s or early ‘90s. There was no description of the driver. The victim was not identified.
– Christopher Rodkey
Airway heights
Utilities disagree on blame for outage
A public and a private utility are doing some finger-pointing over who was to blame for Sunday’s Airway Heights power outage.
On Sunday, an Avista Utilities spokeswoman said the problem at an Avista-owned substation in Airway Heights was caused by an Inland Power & Light feeder line coming out of the substation. On Monday, Inland Power & Light said the problem was actually caused by an Avista line attached to a lightning arrestor inside the substation.
“When it went down, it took our system down with it. It was Avista’s problem,” said Daniel P. Villalobos, marketing manager for Inland Power & Light, the state’s largest public utility.
When Avista crews worked through Sunday to analyze what went wrong, they discovered the lightning arrestor failure, said spokeswoman Laurine Jue.
The outage, first reported at 11:27 a.m., affected about 1,200 Inland customers and 120 Avista customers. Spokane International Airport lost power for about nine seconds before auxiliary power kicked in. The airport’s normal power supply was restored in less than an hour and all other customers had their power restored before 3 p.m.
– Karen Dorn Steele
Boise
Murder suspect in court over theft
A man charged in one shooting and suspected in two others was assigned a public defender Monday, and his bond was set at $2 million during his first court appearance on a felony grand theft charge.
Despite the bond, John Joseph Delling will likely remain in jail until his trial on the stolen car charge, Magistrate James Cawthon said, because the 21-year-old is also charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of University of Idaho student David Boss in Moscow.
In addition to Boss’ March 31 slaying, police suspect Delling in the death of Meridian resident and Boise State University student Bradley Morse in Boise a few days later, and the March 20 shooting of University of Arizona student Jacob Thompson. Thompson survived the attack outside his Tucson home. In the grand theft charge, Delling is accused of stealing Morse’s car.
– Associated Press
Spokane valley
Dog killed in blaze in Lily Street home
A kitchen fire severely damaged a Spokane Valley home early Monday, killing the family dog.
Two people in the house were not injured, but the fire caused at least $80,000 in damage, said Spokane Valley fire spokesman Bill Clifford.
Another person also lived there.
The fire started about 4 a.m. at 1406 N. Lily St. when a resident fell asleep while cooking french fries, Clifford said. The resident attempted to put out the grease fire with water, causing it to spread. Heavy black smoke filled the house, Clifford said.
Small grease fires can be put out with a fire extinguisher or by turning off the heat and putting a lid on the pan, Clifford said.
– Amy Cannata