Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 3/28/07

Amber Alert: Lars Baugher (left) born 2004-06-04, age two, is a white male child with blonde hair and green eyes. Baugher is 2‘7” and weighs 29 pounds. He was last seen wearing a brown or green jacket, blue jeans, black Converse shoes. Remi Baugher (right) born 2002-05-24, age 4, is a white female child with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Baugher is 3‘1” and weighs 37 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink jacket with heavier yellow jacket over the top, blue jeans, Strawberry Shortcake shoes. See Item No. 3.

KREM2: Washington State University has announced plans for a 3 p.m. news conference regarding head basketball coach Tony Bennett. A spokesperson would not elaborate on what will be announced.

1. The two highest-ranking officials in the WSU Police Department have acknowledged using their office computers to view and transmit pornographic images via e-mail. During depositions from last fall in preparation for a lawsuit, Police Chief Steve Hansen and Assistant Chief Scott West told lawyers they “occasionally” used department computers to look at sexually explicit photographs and jokes here . More: here and here .

2. Leslie Green started to notice things missing from her laundry. A pair of panties here, a bra there. When eight pairs of underwear turned up missing from one load of laundry, she grew suspicious and notified the Pullman Police Department here . Related: Panty thief: “I have an addiction” (w/KREM2 video, photos) here .

3. The weekend was supposed to be joyous, a time for John Baugher to be reunited with his children, whom he hadn’t visited unsupervised for about nine months, according to a Walla Walla police report. But the overnight visit didn’t go as it should have, after Baugher failed to return his 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son to their mother Sunday afternoon here . Related: FBI releases Amber Alert surveillance tapes here .

4. Two former Jerome County (Idaho) Sheriff’s Department employees have been charged, respectively, in separate cases with felony rape and misdemeanor assault, being intoxicated in public, and disturbing the peace. “It’s an embarrassment,” Sheriff Jim Weaver said Tuesday. “It’s tough. It’s just difficult to find good” deputies here . Related: 2 other southern Idaho deputies charged with having sex with female inmates here .

5. Winds flooded a small neighborhood northwest of Bozeman, Mont., with tumbleweeds Tuesday, covering sheds, burying mailboxes and blocking driveways. Residents on Shooting Star Lane in the Springhill area were forced to use snowplows and pitchforks to clear the debris here .

6. IMHO-NW: Chris Peterson /Hungry Horse News ( Welcoming back the blues ), Brandon Scheller /WSU Evergreen ( WSU’s Clark: “I was done bad” ), Rev. James R. Hillbrick /Moscow Pullman Daily News ( Partial birth abortion shouldn’t exist ), Gary Trauner /New West ( Less Gummint, Wyoming style ), and Idaho Statesman ( Change in ethics law overdue ).

Online Poll: 54% of 154 respondents to a Lewiston Tribune poll believe WSU basketball coach Tony Bennett will stay around one more year because he has a strong team returning.

*Fourth Puget Sound baby born in rush-hour traffic this year here .

*Weak Washington “Idol” wannabe gets online support here .

*2 arrested for racial graffiti around Pullman here .

*2 Montana fourth-graders suspended over BB gun incident here .

Orbusmax Special: Washington woman to inherit $10M Jell-O fortune here .