In brief: No charges to be filed in wolves’ shooting
No charges will be filed against a landowner who shot two wolves west of Ashton, a county prosecutor said.
The two male wolves were shot April 1. The first was shot within view of the man’s home, near his horses. The landowner pursued the second wolf on a snowmobile and killed it about a mile away.
Ashton is near Yellowstone National Park.
The shootings are the first reported in Idaho since wolves were removed from the endangered species list March 28.
“In my opinion, there is ‘reasonable doubt’ whether the wolves were, or were not, molesting livestock or domestic animals,” Karl H. Lewies, Fremont County’s prosecuting attorney, said in a letter to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “I have determined that no charges will be filed.”
Lewies and game officers investigated the shootings. Since delisting, wolves are classified as big game animals in Idaho. People are allowed to shoot wolves that are attacking or molesting their animals, but the shootings must be reported to Fish and Game within 72 hours.
The two wolves’ fur is the property of the state and will be sold at an annual fur sale.
Spokane
Owner signs order for pit bull’s death
The pit bull terrier that attacked his owner’s fiancee in the couple’s north Spokane home Tuesday will be put to death.
The two-year-old, reddish-brown dog named Capone broke Elizabeth Dotzler’s arm during the afternoon attack, which police believe happened after the woman tried to break up a fight between Capone and her German shepherd.
Dotzler, 28, also suffered severe lacerations on her arms and face. She’s recovering at Sacred Heart Medical Center while Capone sits in a cage at SpokAnimal. He’ll be killed April 24, the day his mandated 10-day quarantine ends.
Shelby Martin, Dotzler’s fiance, signed Capone’s death order Wednesday afternoon, said Spokane police Officer Bryan Townsend.
Townsend said the man, who’s owned Capone since he was a pup, seemed to have “mixed emotions” about putting the dog down.
No laws mandate dogs be killed if they bite their owners, so the couple could have kept Capone had they wanted.
But Martin seemed to realize the viciousness of the attack and decided killing Capone was the best option, Townsend said.
“It was totally their idea,” he said. “They right off the bat wanted the dog gone.”
The German shepherd first attacked by Capone was taken to a veterinarian with puncture wounds, “but other than that he’s gong to be fine,” Townsend said.
School officials will take calls from public
Officials with Spokane Public Schools will answer questions from the public during the district’s hourlong call-in show, “Educating Spokane,” tonight at 7 on KSPS, channel 7.
School board President Garret Daggett, Vice President Rocky Treppiedi and Director Christie Querna will join Superintendent Nancy Stowell to answer questions. During the show, the question hot line is (509) 354-7711.
The program will re-air on Comcast cable channel 17 for one week starting Friday at 8 p.m.
SEATTLE
Girls softball team members hurt in crash
A bus carrying a girls high school softball team smashed into an overpass in Seattle on Wednesday evening, crushing part of the bus roof and slightly injuring at least five students.
Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said the bus was carrying 22 Garfield High School students, their coach and a driver.
It smashed into a concrete overpass as it was traveling on Lake Washington Boulevard near the Washington Park Arboretum. The collision partially crushed the bus’s roof and broke some of its windows.
Fitzpatrick said five students were taken to Harborview Medical Center after they complained of neck or back pain or other problems. She said none of the injuries appeared to be serious.