Man arrested in double stabbing

Two men were stabbed multiple times and a third was arrested following a fight Sunday morning, according to Coeur d’Alene police.

Police responded to Kootenai Medical Center just before 3 a.m. Sunday as 23-year-old Nicholas Cleveland was being treated for two stab wounds to his chest. His girlfriend’s brother, 24-year-old Leo Decker, was also at KMC being treated for stab wounds to his back and shoulder.

Cleveland told police that he received a call around 2 a.m. from Decker, who said he had been in a fight at a home at 16th and Maple streets in Coeur d’Alene. Decker picked Cleveland up and the two returned to the house, Cleveland told police.

Cleveland said he knocked on the door, then was hit in the head, police Sgt. Christie Wood said. He told investigators he didn’t remember being stabbed.

Both victims had been drinking, Wood said, and Decker was too intoxicated to tell police what had happened.

Interviews with witnesses at the scene led to the arrest of 25-year-old Cameron Willard, who was booked into the Kootenai County Jail on felony charges of aggravated battery. Wood said there could be additional suspects charged.

Cleveland was reported in fair condition at KMC on Monday evening. Decker was treated and released.

Avery, Idaho

St. Joe crash leaves driver dead

A 25-year-old Avery, Idaho, man was killed early Saturday morning in a crash that sent his pickup into the St. Joe River, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.

Ryan I. Smith, who had recently moved to Avery from California, passed several vehicles on St. Joe River Road at a high rate of speed, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He lost control and struck a guardrail, and the truck went airborne, according to a press release. The truck flipped, ejecting Smith, and came to rest in the river. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

LYNNWOOD, Wash.

Homeowners try mass sales tactic

Homeowners in the Oak Knoll neighborhood beside Interstate 5 in the suburbs north of Seattle know development is coming, and despite their reluctance to move, they have decided to sell out. Together.

Rather than endure piecemeal townhouse development, dozens of owners have banded together to sell at least 11 ½ acres in hope of attracting $24 million from a developer who could then build six- to eight-story buildings containing hundreds of condominiums. Others are considering whether to join in the effort.

Steve Canter, a Home Realty sales manager who is coordinating the deal, told the Herald of Everett that the price rises with each additional property posted and could reach $30 million for about 30 properties.

In a group sale, owners would be paid according to the square footage of each parcel, Canter said, potentially receiving several times the assessed values for homes that typically range from $300,000 to more than $400,000.

“The only choice we had was to come together as a neighborhood, to help each other, protect each other,” said Terry Quick, who helped organize his neighbors. “That’s our only defense.”

So far, at least 23 of 32 properties within Oak Knoll are in on the plan, joined by a handful on the edge of the neighborhood.

The strategy and scale appear to be unique, some developers said.

“I’ve not heard of a whole neighborhood assembling itself and seeking out a developer,” said David Toyer, a vice president for homebuilder Barclays North Inc. “Traditionally, a builder goes out and assembles property.”

LACEY, Wash.

Domestic unrest cited in 3 deaths

Two cases of domestic violence within 12 hours left three people dead in this town near Olympia, and police said a man survived after his wife blasted him four times with a shotgun near Ridgefield.

In both cases in Lacey, a husband is believed to have attacked his wife. One committed suicide and the other was jailed, police said.

The killings were the town’s first since 2005, police Cmdr. John Suessman said.

Police responding to a report of gunfire found two people lying in the road Saturday night. Richard Roberts, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene, and his wife Elizabeth, 51, died after being taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.

On Sunday morning Dorel Zlibut, 51, went to police and said his 45-year-old wife was dead at their apartment, Suessman said. Zlibut was being held in the Thurston County jail for investigation of first-degree murder after officers found a woman dead at the couple’s apartment. The manner of death was not released.

Clark County sheriff’s deputies said Sheryl Jean Martin, 51, was jailed for investigation of first-degree assault-domestic violence after her husband, Eddie E. Martin, also 51, was hospitalized Saturday for treatment of extensive shotgun wounds in an arm and a leg. He was listed in good condition.

From staff and wire reports