In brief: Driver, 70, killed in one-vehicle crash
A 70-year-old Clarkston man died from injuries suffered in a recent one-vehicle crash in Lewiston, police said Tuesday.
Emergency workers found Ronald G. Shaul dead Monday night after his pickup hit a tree on the 1400 block of Dike Bypass, according to a Lewiston Police Department news release. The white 1980 Ford, which had been heading westbound, had “extensive damage.”
It didn’t appear Shaul was wearing a seat belt, and there was no sign of alcohol being involved, police said.
The collision remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the crash may call (208) 746-0171.
– Parker Howell
Moscow, Idaho
Retirees claim UI reneged on benefits
Nearly 270 former University of Idaho employees have filed a claim against the school, saying unilateral changes in their insurance benefits violate early retirement agreements they signed in 1999 and 2002.
“It was a deal,” said Alan Place, a retired mechanical engineering professor and one of the 268 former employees who filed the claim against the university and the state Board of Education.
“The university administration is reneging on that deal,” he said.
If the claim is unresolved within 90 days, the former employees may file it as a lawsuit.
“The notice is being analyzed by university counsel and by the state’s Office of Risk Management,” the school said in a statement.
The university, which in recent years has suffered from financial instability, budget overruns and debt, offered early retirement packages in 1999 and 2002 to entice older employees to leave. Those filing the claim say the packages included offers to pay for medical and life insurance premiums. This year, however, the retirees say, school officials demanded that each retiree pay $240 a year for medical insurance, for a total of $64,000 a year. In addition, the retirees say the school capped lifetime medical benefits at $1 million and eliminated life insurance coverage.
– Associated Press
Seattle
Police: UW student was shooting targets
A fraternity house is no place for target practice with a rifle, city police say.
A 21-year-old man was arrested after police were summoned to the four-story frat house north of the University of Washington by neighbors who were alarmed by gunshots from the basement, Officer Jeffery R. Kappel said.
Officers surrounded the building and shouted for whoever was doing the shooting to drop the weapon and surrender. The man did so and police recovered a rifle, Kappel said.
No one was injured. Investigators determined that the man was shooting at cans and bottles he had lined up, and he was booked into the King County jail for investigation of reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm and property destruction.
– Associated Press