In brief: Felon found with guns, drugs, cash
Washington State Patrol officers found a small arsenal, drugs, a bar of silver, collector coins and thousands of dollars in cash in a Montana felon’s westbound car during a traffic stop on Interstate 90 near Ritzville.
Trooper Carmen Herrington stopped 29-year-old Brian L. Croy Wednesday for driving without a front license plate and discovered he was driving with a suspended license and three loaded firearms — two semiautomatic pistols and a semiautomatic AK-47 assault rifle with a round in the chamber.
With help from Trooper Jason Kiel and Kiel’s police dog, Buster, Herrington also found bags of gold and silver coins, a small bar of silver, a $1,000 bill from 1934, a $50 savings bond, a small amount of marijuana, drug pipes and $3,000 in cash. Croy also had a $3,000 check from a Seattle rare-coin dealer, the troopers reported.
Herrington said the Bozeman Police Department told him it would issue an arrest warrant for Croy, who already was a suspect in several burglaries in that town.
Croy was booked into the Lincoln County Jail on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Coeur d’Alene
UI, NIC to offer joint enrollment
Beginning this summer, students can jointly enroll at the University of Idaho and North Idaho College – meaning that classes, degree requirements and other programs will be aligned between the schools.
Under the new arrangement – the first of its kind for both schools – a student could enroll at NIC and lock in a set of degree requirements that would not later be subject to change, the schools said in an announcement. The joint admissions begin in summer semester 2007.
“Joint admissions provide students the opportunity to plan their four-year degree from beginning to end,” said UI Provost Doug Baker in a news release. “This cooperative effort streamlines the academic evaluation and transfer processes and helps both institutions to better direct students toward their goals.”
The UI’s Coeur d’Alene center will help coordinate the joint admissions.
“We appreciate the strong support of the University of Idaho for our students at NIC,” said Eric Murray, NIC vice president for Student Services. “The opportunity to increase easy access of our students to four-year degrees is a priority at NIC.”
Students will be able to file a common application for both schools, which are now finishing an agreement that would align the course of study in more than 80 majors, the UI said.
For more information, call University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene at (208) 667-2588 or visit www.cda.uidaho.edu.
Boise
Prisoner’s religious petition reinstated
A prisoner’s petition to practice his Native American religion was sent back to Ada County District Court on Thursday by the state Court of Appeals.
Since 1993, Steven Lee Hyde has been serving 25 years to life for armed robbery and is imprisoned at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, where a sweat lodge is not allowed and a no-tobacco policy prohibits burning of any kind, including kinnikinnik, used in religious ceremonies. Hyde also is prohibited from wearing a choker or possessing a feather or herbs and grasses of spiritual significance to him.
Representing himself, Hyde filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in 2001, claiming his religious rights were being violated.
An Ada County District Court judge dismissed Hyde’s petition largely because he had not filed a security bond and because the prosecution contended that habeas corpus was an improper vehicle for enforcing the laws protecting religious rights.
On Thursday, Appeals Court Judge Sergio Gutierrez remanded the case back to the lower court to be decided on the merits of his claims. Judges Darrel Perry and Karen Lansing concurred.
KALISPELl, Mont.
Owner of septic tank charged
The owner of the home where a 3-year-old Kalispell boy drowned in a septic tank last month has been charged with misdemeanor negligent endangerment.
Tommie Cates, 40, allowed or was aware of the hazardous situation caused by the broken riser on her septic tank, Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan said Thursday.
The riser is within about 10 feet of where Mark Rogers had parked his van on Jan. 24 while he and his children were visiting Cates’ home.
Mark Rogers told police he took his son Loic to the van, told the boy to get in, and then returned to Cates’ house for Loic’s sister. When he returned, Loic was gone.
A massive search was launched, and the boy’s body was found in the septic tank two days later. An autopsy showed the boy had drowned.
Sheriff Mike Meehan said someone backed into the septic tank’s riser in December, damaging the riser so its plastic lid no longer could be bolted in place.
“To her credit, she made an attempt to fix it,” Corrigan said. He declined to comment on what steps Cates took to repair the riser.
“It is important for the public to understand that this was not a homicide,” he said. “It was an accident. But some negligence was involved, so some response from this office is required.”
He added that Cates has been extremely cooperative throughout the investigation and “feels just terrible about this whole thing.”
Cates is scheduled to appear in Justice Court on Feb. 21.
From staff and wire reports