In brief: Jury acquits former elk rancher
A jury on Friday acquitted a former elk rancher charged with obstruction after state officials killed elk that had escaped from his property.
Rex Rammell was arrested in September after he allegedly sat on a domesticated elk that had been killed by state officers near Rexburg. He refused to get off the animal when ordered to do so by law enforcement agents, according to state Department of Fish and Game officials.
Prosecutors charged him with obstructing an officer, but a Fremont County jury concluded he was not guilty.
“Jurors sent a clear message that the ones that aren’t above the law are the governor and his agents,” Rammell said. “This case is going to resonate with a lot of people that government officials cannot use excessive authority.”
Last August, about 160 elk fled Rammell’s Chief Joseph hunting preserve, prompting then-Gov. Jim Risch to order an emergency hunt to reduce the chances they could spread inferior genes or disease to wild herds near Yellowstone National Park.
Rammell has since sold the operation, but he filed a $1.3 million tort claim against the state earlier this week, alleging the state was negligent and capricious in its handling of the incident.
Spokane
Help sought identifying suspect
Spokane police are requesting the public’s assistance in identifying a man who attempted to abduct a 7-year-old boy on Feb.8.
The boy and his sister were on their way to a school bus stop when the man grabbed the boy near Fourth Avenue and Lacey Street, police said. The boy’s 12-year-old sister intervened, and the siblings escaped.
The suspect is described as white, possibly in his 60s, with short gray hair, a mustache and glasses, said Spokane police Officer Jennifer DeRuwe. The man was possibly driving a small red four-door car.
Anyone recognizing the suspect is urged to call (509) 242-8477.
Boise
Wine-growing region declared unique
It may not be the Napa Valley yet, but Idaho’s burgeoning wine-growing region is unique, according to the federal government.
The Department of the Treasury on Friday declared 8,263 square miles of southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon an American Viticultural Area – or AVA. The designation is for grape-growing regions that produce wines with a distinctive style and taste.
The Snake River Valley is the first AVA in Idaho, and will encompass 15 wineries, 46 vineyards and 1,107 acres, and will stretch from Twin Falls into Oregon. The Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission requested designation in 2005.
So far, 172 areas have been designated in the United States.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo.
Survey estimates 3,600 bison in park
An estimated 3,600 bison are in the park, down from 3,900 estimated last summer, park officials announced Friday.
The estimate is based on a recent aerial survey. The estimate also considers scientific estimates of wintertime casualties and the number of bison that have been killed after testing positive for brucellosis exposure.
The estimate helps guide bison management under the Interagency Bison Management Plan.
The plan is designed to protect Montana’s beef industry, which the federal government has designated brucellosis-free. Brucellosis is a bacterial infection that can spread to cattle from wildlife and can cause cows to abort.
From staff and wire reports