In brief: Sexual predator works in Post Falls
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department is notifying the community of a violent sexual predator who has registered in the area.
Steven Gregory Smith, 46, works at 6602 Seltice Way in Post Falls and lives at 1601 W. Boone Ave. in Spokane, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
He was convicted of sexual abuse of a child under 16 in 1993 in Spokane.
Idaho law requires law enforcement to notify the media when a violent sexual predator registers in the state.
Teens hurt when car hits barrier
Four teenagers were injured early Tuesday morning when the car they were riding in crashed into a concrete barrier in Hillyard.
The four were driving east about 12:45 a.m. on Wellesley Avenue just east of Market Street at a speed witnesses estimated as high as 80 mph.
Two of the teenagers were seriously injured and taken to a hospital. The driver and another passenger were less injured, said Spokane Police Officer Glenn Bartlett.
“One girl was just two days past her 18th birthday,” said Bartlett, who added all of the passengers were 18 or 19 years old.
No one has been arrested at this time, but police say they believe alcohol was a factor in the wreck.
All of the occupants were wearing seat belts.
“We would have had multiple fatalities if they hadn’t,” said Bartlett.
Jetliner makes emergency landing
A United Airlines 757 made an emergency landing in Spokane after the captain reported a possible problem with one of the engines.
Airline spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the twin-engine plane, bound from Chicago to Seattle, was carrying 180 passengers and six crew members when it landed about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
She said the plane landed safely and nobody was hurt. Mechanics planned to inspect the engine.
The spokeswoman said United brought in another plane to carry the passengers to Seattle.
Spokane
Hession, Verner lead mayoral race
The only thing standing between Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession and a second term at the helm of Washington’s second-largest city appears to be Councilwoman Mary Verner.
Hession and Verner appear to be the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary, and will advance to the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
City Councilman Al French is close behind but is considered unlikely to close a roughly 1,000-vote gap between him and Verner as mail-in ballots continue to trickle in to the Spokane County Elections Office.
All three sought to portray themselves as candidates of change even though each is a City Hall veteran. If Hession wins in November, he would be the first Spokane mayor to win a second term since 1973.
In preliminary results Tuesday night, Hession was leading the pack with 10,666 votes to Verner’s 10,286.
French had 9,206, and two dark-horse candidates trailed far behind.
From staff and wire reports