In brief: Councilman Ojala resigns suddenly
Rathdrum City Councilman Jesse Ojala resigned, effective immediately, as the council wrapped up its Tuesday meeting. On Thursday, he declined to say why he stepped down.
At the same meeting, Mayor Brian Steele appointed Dan Tesulov, a real estate broker, to serve the two years remaining on Ojala’s term.
Tesulov had filed to run for mayor last month but recently withdrew from the race, citing personal reasons.
This will be his second stint as a council appointee.
Steele previously appointed Tesulovto the Rathdrum Parks and Recreation board.
Coeur d’Alene
Food giveaway takes place today
Thousands of pounds of fresh produce and other food will be given away to families in need today from 10 a.m. to noon in the St. Vincent de Paul parking lot, 108 E. Walnut Ave., in Coeur d’Alene.
No registration is required, and senior citizens, young families and handicapped people are encouraged to show up.
This will be the sixth time the 24-foot refrigerated truck, sponsored by Second Harvest Inland Northwest and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, has visited Kootenai County.
Seattle
Plane evacuated after phone found
An Alaska Airlines passenger plane was evacuated when it landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Thursday, after a passenger found an unclaimed cell phone tucked in his seat, an airport spokeswoman said.
The cell phone appeared to have been taken apart, put back together and shoved into a passenger’s seat, airport spokesman Terri-Ann Betancourt said. The passenger asked if it belonged to anybody, and when no one claimed it, the pilot determined the plane needed to be evacuated.
Alaska Airlines Flight 383 from San Jose landed at 11:41 a.m. with 104 passengers and five crew on board and was directed to park on a taxiway at the far west end of the airport, where it was evacuated.
The airport halted all takeoffs and landings for about 10 minutes while the Boeing 737-400 was evacuated, then one of the airport’s two runways was cleared for departures and arrivals, Betancourt said.
It was not immediately known how many flights were affected, but Betancourt said at the worst point, the airport was reporting 12-minute flight delays.
Normal airport operations resumed about 12:30 p.m., after the FBI and Port of Seattle police determined that the cell phone posed no safety threat, Betancourt said.
Lewiston
Lewiston teen faces felony charges
A Lewiston teen accused of chanting “white power” at an American Indian girl and her mother has been charged with two felony counts of attempted intimidation of a witness.
Jason R. Grant, 19, is among five people charged in the attack outside a Lewiston apartment building Sept. 12. Prosecutors describe the attack as a hate crime.
Grant’s mother, Jill Grant, 40, and his sister, Ashley Grant, 21, are each charged with one count of felony malicious harassment.
They are accused of giving the girl minor injuries during an assault while others allegedly yelled “white power” and raised their fists into the air.
From staff and wire reports