In brief: Charges filed after driver hits STA bus
A driver who crashed into a Spokane Transit bus Monday night and tried to run away has been arrested and charged with hit and run, DUI, obstructing justice and driving with a suspended license, according to authorities.
The crash happened at about 9:40 p.m. at the intersection of Francis Avenue and Division Street, when a Dodge Ram exited a bar parking lot and then sped east on Francis before plowing into the back of the stopped STA bus.
The impact pushed the bus into a Jeep Cherokee, according to a news release from the Spokane Police Department.
Police say three men ran from the truck and one was caught a short time later. That man, identified by police as 25-year-old Brad J. Hargrave, was arrested.
– Amy Cannata
Jury fails to reach verdict in murder trial
The first-degree murder trial of a 73-year old former commercial fisherman ended late Monday in a mistrial.
Last Friday, the jury foreman in the trial of Norman L. Roberts sent a note to Spokane County Superior Court Judge Robert D. Austin indicating the jury had made little progress since beginning its deliberations on Nov. 14.
On Monday afternoon, the jury was polled again and told the judge they’d be unable to reach a unanimous verdict on either of the counts Roberts was facing, said Spokane County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dale A. Nagy.
Roberts is accused of first-degree murder for shooting Kenneth G. Conklin Jr. on March 6 during an argument in Roberts’ South Hill apartment below the Studio K at 2811 E. 30th Ave.
Roberts is also charged with first-degree assault for shooting and critically wounding Thomas L. Darco Jr. in the same incident.
Roberts told Spokane Police Department detectives he shot Conklin because he was “fighting with everyone,” according to a police affidavit.
A new trial will be scheduled for Roberts, Nagy said.
– Karen Dorn Steele
S-R photographer takes regional prize
Spokesman-Review photographer Brian Plonka won the 2007 Cowles Cup, the top prize in the Washington-Oregon AP Photo Contest, for his photos of twin brothers from Idaho who enlisted in the Marine Corps.
Plonka tracked Robert and Matt Shipp from their departure for boot camp, through training, and to one brother’s wedding.
The cup, named for William Hutchison Cowles, former publisher of The Spokesman-Review, goes to the best entry in the contest, regardless of category. Judges are from outside the region.
The last Spokesman-Review photographer to win the cup was Colin Mulvany in 2000.
Plonka also won first prize in the photo-page category.
Other awards won by Spokesman-Review photographers: Chris Anderson placed third for sports photos; and Jed Conklin, who was recently laid off, placed second for news photos and third for portraits.
Although Plonka won the top award, Seattle Times photographers took the most first-place awards in individual categories, winning for features, portraits and sports, while an Oregonian photographer placed first for news photos.
– Staff and wire reports