Ex-official pulls request on e-mails
Marina Kalani has withdrawn her request for the Idaho Supreme Court to reconsider its decision that e-mails she exchanged with Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas are public records.
Kalani filed a motion Friday withdrawing the request, removing a potential hurdle to release of the e-mails.
The Spokesman-Review sued in 2005 to obtain the e-mails that Kalani, former coordinator of the county’s juvenile drug court, exchanged with Douglas. The public records request was submitted after questions arose following the demise of the federally funded drug court.
District Judge John Stegner ruled that the e-mails should be released, but Douglas and Kalani appealed. Douglas dropped his appeal, but Kalani continued to fight against release of the e-mails.
The Idaho Supreme Court ruled May 4 that the e-mails were not exempt from disclosure.
Newspaper attorney Joel Hazel said the e-mails could be made available as early as this week.
POST FALLS
Feds say transfer of assets was fraud
The former president of a Post Falls group home who stole from his employees’ pension plan and lost the money in a Nigerian scam also fraudulently transferred assets to his wife’s name – an effort to keep the property from being seized to pay debts, federal authorities allege.
James C. Stone was sentenced to three years in federal prison last year for embezzling funds from Alpha Health Services’ retirement plan. He was ordered to pay $170,000 in restitution.
On Monday, federal authorities filed a civil suit against his wife, Cynthia Stone. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, would make her liable for the value of property that Stone transferred to her.
In a 2003 marriage settlement, Stone gave his wife sole ownership of much of the couple’s property. Cynthia Stone received the title to the couple’s Post Falls residence and property in South Carolina, savings and checking accounts, and vehicles. James Stone kept the barbecue grill and some stock.
The transfer was intended to put the property beyond the reach of creditors, the lawsuit said. But the transfer was fraudulent, according to court documents, because James Stone continued to have control over the assets.
Spangle, wash.
Sergeant, 32, killed by bomb in Iraq
A former Spangle resident was killed in an explosion in Iraq, the U.S. Army announced Monday.
Sgt. Dariek Dehn, 32, died June 2 in Sharkat from wounds from a homemade bomb, the Defense Department announced in a brief news release Monday afternoon. No further details of the incident were available, and officials at Dehn’s home base of Fort Hood could not be reached for more information.
Dehn was a member of the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Members of his unit have recently been operating in the Diyala Province near the Iranian border, according to a report in Stars and Stripes.
Spokane Valley
Three boys arrested in office break-ins
Authorities wrangled up three boys allegedly involved in two office break-ins Saturday night.
Spokane Valley police officers arrested a 14-year-old boy after tracking him from Centennial Middle School, where a knife and other small items were stolen from a school administrative office, said spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan, of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
Two other boys were arrested after allegedly running away from their quarters at Morning Star Boys’ Ranch southeast of Spokane and breaking into the camp’s administrative building. A 14-year-old and a 12-year-old were arrested after they returned to the camp, Reagan said.
They stole candy from the office and drove a tractor a short distance through a field, according to a news release.