GU group, institute will host powwows
As many as 2,000 American Indian dancers and spectators are expected at Gonzaga University this weekend, and more will be at the Spokane Convention Center the following week, as the spring powwow season gets under way.
GU’s First Nations Student Organization is sponsoring the annual Unity in Spirit powwow at the Martin Centre, said club president Patrina Cox, a member of the Spokane Tribe.
The Unity powwow, which starts both days with a noon grand entry, is free to the public. Call (509)218-2897 for information.
The second powwow caps the six-day Northwest Indian Youth Conference sponsored by the Camas Institute of the Kalispel Tribe. Nearly 1,500 American Indian young people and their chaperones are expected, from as far away as Arizona.
The powwow, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. April 6 and continues at noon April 7. Call (509)445-0700 for more information.
Police trying to find man who robbed bank
Spokane police are looking for a man who robbed a bank Monday afternoon near Garland Avenue and Maple Street.
The man robbed the Washington Trust Bank branch about 1:15 p.m. He asked a teller for money and then ran south on Walnut from Providence, according to a police press release.
The robber was described as a 23- to 27-year-old black man with a medium build. He had a faint goatee and was wearing sunglasses, a fisherman’s hat with a small brim and black ski jacket. He also wore black warm-up pants with green stripes down the legs.
Anyone with information is asked to call (509) 242-TIPS.
EPHRATA, Wash.
Plea agreement reached in homicide
A plea agreement has been reached in a murder case after nine trial delays, an escape attempt, a claim of insanity, frequent toilet clogging and the hurling of urine at Grant County jailers.
Dustin Gene Abrams, 23, of Moses Lake, initially charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the shooting of Michael B. Mallon, pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder.
Deputy Prosecutor Steve Scott said he would recommend a 24-year prison term when Abrams is sentenced Wednesday. Scott acknowledged that Mallon’s family opposes the plea agreement.
The deal was reached more than two months after county officials requested $101,000 in state assistance to cover “the tip of the iceberg” in extraordinary costs for the case.
Prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty.
Mallon, 79, a retired state employee and World War II Army veteran, was shot to death in March 2004 at his isolated home about eight miles north of Soap Lake. Relatives reported him missing the next month, and his guns were later found at the home of a couple who said they had bought them from Abrams.
SEATTLE
Coast Guardsman died of head injuries
A Coast Guardsman who fell off a 25-foot fast response boat Sunday in Puget Sound near Vashon Island died of injuries suffered when the boat’s propeller hit his head, the King County medical examiner’s office said Monday.
The Coast Guard identified the victim as Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald Gill, 26, based in Anchorage, Alaska.
Gill, assigned to the Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team in Anchorage, was among those deployed to Seattle for maritime homeland security operations during March. Sunday was the last scheduled day of those operations, the Coast Guard said.
The vessel was one of two such boats involved in a training exercise. Gill was declared dead at Harborview Medical Center.
The propeller caused skull fractures, cerebral lacerations and cerebral contusions, the medical examiner’s office said.
Gill, a reservist on active duty who had served in the Coast Guard since October 2003, was a native of Cranston, R.I. He is survived by his wife, parents and brother.