Group nears goal for Shasta’s house

The effort to build a house for crime victim Shasta Groene is nearly complete.

A “Shasta Fiesta” dinner and auction on Saturday raised $94,000, enough to finish paying for the lot and cover future property taxes on the house.

The $94,000 brings the total amount raised to about $158,000, said organizer Midge Smock, of Windermere Coeur d’Alene Realty. Construction materials and labor have been donated.

The home is scheduled to be complete in time for 10-year-old Shasta and her father, Steve, to move in by July 4.

The home still needs furniture, and more fundraisers are scheduled, starting with an opportunity for people to shred personal papers using a shredding machine that will be set up in Windermere’s parking lot May 15.

For information, call (208) 664-9221.

Spokane County

Officers in Taser incident named

The police officers involved in an incident that left a man hospitalized in critical condition have been identified.

During a May 2 incident, officers used a Taser on a man who appeared to have just had a seizure.

The man, Trent A. Yohe, 37, went unconscious and has been in critical condition since, said Spokane Valley police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

The first Spokane Valley police officer to arrive at the scene was Scott Bonney, hired in 2002, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, Spokane police spokeswoman. Spokane police investigated the incident.

Also present were K-9 Officer John Cook, hired in 1985; Michael Wall, hired in 2001; and Griffen Criswell, hired in 1998.

Three of the four officers have returned to their normal duties, DeRuwe said.

Boise

Group surveys court hopefuls

A conservative Christian lobbying group is handing out questionnaires to learn more about the candidates vying to replace Idaho Supreme Court Justice Gerald Schroeder.

Schroeder is expected to retire this summer after 38 years as an Idaho judge, and, so far, 19 candidates have filed applications to fill his seat.

The Idaho Judicial Council is reviewing the applications and will submit a final list to Gov. Butch Otter.

Otter has offered no deadline for appointing the high court’s next justice.

The questionnaire, produced by The Idaho Values Alliance, seeks the candidates’ thoughts on a variety of issues, including prohibitions on bigamy and polygamy, judicial restraint, capital punishment and limits on the ownership of firearms, according to a copy posted on the group’s Web site.

Bryan Fischer, the group’s director, said the selection process by the Idaho Judicial Council is done too secretly, leaving Idaho residents without access to the leanings of candidates.

“For all we know, genuine conservatives may be in a distinct minority on the IJC, yet it will have the authority to deny 15-to-17 of the applicants the opportunity to sit on the bench,” Fischer said in a statement attached to the questionnaire.

Other questions focus on the legality of gambling, eminent domain and gay marriage.

Otter appoints 5th district judge

A new judge has been appointed to fill a vacancy in Idaho’s 5th Judicial District in Twin Falls.

Gov. Butch Otter appointed Twin Falls County Magistrate Randy Stoker to the post.

Stoker replaces Judge John Hohnhorst, who died in February while awaiting a lung transplant.

Hohnhorst was 54 and was appointed by former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne in 2001.

Stoker, of Filer, was among seven applicants for the district judgeship and one of two forwarded to Otter by the Idaho Judicial Council.

Stoker is a native of Burley and a graduate of the University of Idaho.

He worked in private practice, including work as a public defender, until being appointed magistrate in 2003.

Otter chose Stoker over Twin Falls attorney Richard Greenwood.

From staff

and wire reports