In brief: Truck hits, injures 60-year-old in alley

A 60-year-old man suffered serious head injuries Saturday when he was hit in an alley by a truck.

The truck’s driver fled the area, said Spokane police spokesman Officer Tim Moses. The incident is being treated as a vehicular assault.

The victim, whom police have not identified, was walking east in an alley between McClellan and Browne streets about 3:50 p.m. when the truck came barreling down the alley, Moses said. Witnesses told police the driver intentionally veered toward the man.

The man rolled up on the hood, shattering the truck’s windshield, Moses said.

Witnesses described the truck, which was driven by a male, as small, red and possibly a newer model Nissan or Toyota with damage to the driver’s side and passenger doors, as well as the windshield. Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner

Hayden

Man enters home, demands money

A man with a gun remained at large Saturday after forcing his way into a Hayden home and demanding that residents give him an undisclosed amount of cash before fleeing on foot.

Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies used trained dogs but were unable to find the robber, described as white, 5-foot-9, 180 pounds and unshaven with shoulder-length brown hair. Armed with a handgun, he forced his way into a home at 1666 E. Bruce Road and demanded money about 9:15 a.m. Saturday, deputies said.

The man was last seen wearing a long-sleeved white shirt or sweater with dark horizontal stripes and khaki pants. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department at (208) 446-1300.

– JoNel Aleccia

Spokane

Cantwell hails plan to expand insurance

A threatened veto by President Bush didn’t prevent Sen. Maria Cantwell from stopping in Spokane on Saturday to cheer a Senate committee’s approval of a plan to expand health insurance for low-income children in Washington and the nation.

Cantwell, D-Wash., is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which voted 17-4 this week to add about $35 billion in federal money over five years to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.

A 61 cent-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes would pay for the expansion, which aims to add 3.3 million uninsured children to the program that now serves 6 million nationwide. In Washington state, that means more than 35,000 children who lack health insurance would be covered, Cantwell said.

The bill is now headed to the Senate floor. However, Bush has threatened to veto the expansion if it passes Congress, saying he prefers to hold the line on spending for the program that now costs the federal government about $5 billion a year. Bush has proposed adding about $5 billion more to the program over the next five years, while advocates for the plan have pushed for an increase of as much as $50 billion during the same period.

“We’ve cleared the first hurdle to make sure that every child in America has access to health care,” Cantwell said in a statement in Spokane on Saturday. “But the president’s veto puts this entire plan at risk.”

– JoNel Aleccia