In brief: Attorney disbarred for deception
The state Supreme Court has disbarred Spokane attorney Gail Schwartz, effective today, for deceiving a client, incompetence, ignoring a potential conflict of interest, charging an excessive fee, and mishandling and misappropriating a client’s money.
Schwartz previously was suspended after failing to respond to a Washington State Bar Association investigation.
Schwartz edged out Spokane County Superior Court Commissioner Joe Valente in the three-way 2004 primary for a Superior Court vacancy but lost the runoff with then-District Court Judge Harold Clarke III by a 2-1 ratio.
Three shooting suspects arrested
Gang police arrested two drive-by shooting suspects Tuesday, leading them to a third suspect at a West Central home.
An investigation into the Tuesday drive-by at 3124 N. Cook St. led detectives to Brandon W. Carter, 25, and Wross Arndt, 30, whom police arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault, said Spokane police Officer Jennifer DeRuwe.
After the arrests, authorities searched a home at 2218 W. Broadway Ave., where they found and arrested Kevin T. Gilfoy, 19. He is a suspect in two additional drive-bys and a robbery that occurred late Monday and early Tuesday, DeRuwe said. He was booked into Spokane County Jail for first-degree assault stemming from the North Cook incident.
The local Gang Enforcement Team is continuing its investigation.
Man in crash charged with DUI
A 24-year-old Spokane man was charged with driving under the influence early Wednesday morning after crashing his car on Trent Avenue.
According to a Washington State Patrol release on the crash, Kyle Dietterle was driving west on Trent about 2:15 a.m. when he sped through a curve near Pines Road and hit a guardrail.
Dietterle was injured in the crash. He was taken to Valley Hospital and Medical Center for treatment.
City lets residents ‘Ask Spokane’
Spokane residents have two new ways to help them navigate City Hall.
Mayor Dennis Hession announced Wednesday the implementation of a new phone number to call with questions relating to city government. The number, touted as “Ask Spokane,” is (509) 755-CITY (755-2489). An operator will direct callers to the correct department.
Those with questions or comments can also go to the city’s Web site, www.spokanecity.org, and click on “Ask Spokane.” Messages will be forwarded to the appropriate staff member.
The city plans to respond to all e-mails within two days, Hession said.
Spokane hired one additional employee to start the program, said Dorothy Webster, Spokane’s administrative services director.
The city will pay Comcate, a software company in San Francisco, about $17,000 a year for the software for Ask Spokane.
Hession said the unveiling of Ask Spokane on Wednesday is unrelated to next Tuesday’s primary election. This week is when the program became fully tested and ready to promote, Webster added.
Spokane’s September water and trash bills will include magnets promoting the new system.
Shorelines plan to get more study
Spokane County commissioners decided Tuesday to have three more study sessions before they act on a state-required update of the county’s Shorelines Master Plan.
Commissioners will review proposed revisions from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 27 and from 1:30 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 1 and 3. Tentatively, they plan to make a decision at their regular 5:30 p.m. meeting Oct. 9.
Okanogan County
Pot growers raided on reservation
About 50 law enforcement officials raided a 10,000-plant marijuana growing operation in the Colville Indian Reservation on Tuesday, arresting two people who had set up a camouflaged camp in the forest.
The marijuana plants were growing among a network of plastic pipes that siphoned water from nearby creeks, which also provided water for the suspects’ living, cooking and bathing locations, said Sheriff Frank Rogers of Okanogan County.
“It’s amazing when you get in there, it’s like, ‘Good grief,’ ” he said, adding that the operation appeared to have been there for at least a year.
The bust followed 1 1/2 months of investigation by the North Central Washington Narcotics Task Force, which includes at least 10 local and federal agencies. A seizure of such size is rare in the area, though operations are moving northward into heavily wooded areas that are patrolled by fewer police, Rogers said.
Northeastern Washington
U.S., Canada join in wildfire fight
About 200 firefighters from Canada and the United States are now working together to fight a wildfire along the border.
The Pend Oreille fire has burned about 500 acres in British Columbia and an unknown amount of dense forest in far northeastern Washington in the Jubalee Creek basin, according to a statement from the Colville National Forest.
No structures are threatened, but firefighting officials say the heat wave and the area’s steep, remote topography are making it difficult to control the blaze.