Minnesota court sets date for Craig case

Arguments will be heard in September in Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in a Minnesota airport men’s room sex sting.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals scheduled the arguments for 12:30 p.m. Sept. 10 in St. Paul. A three-judge panel will hear arguments from attorneys on both sides.

Craig pleaded guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in a plea agreement in which a more serious gross misdemeanor charge of interference with privacy was dropped. He paid more than $500 in fines and received a year’s probation and a stayed 10-day jail term.

After news of the incident surfaced, Craig, a Republican and longtime lawmaker, started fighting to withdraw his guilty plea, an effort that failed at the lower court level. He said an undercover officer had misconstrued his actions, and he said he wasn’t gay. Under pressure from Senate GOP leaders last September, Craig initially said he intended to resign from the Senate, but he changed his mind and is serving out his term, which runs through the end of 2008.

Betsy Z. Russell

Spokane County

Ex-pastor gets 18 years for attempted rape

A former Spokane pastor was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen.

Herman Lewis was found guilty last month of first- and second-degree assault and attempted rape for trying to rape a woman who worked as a cook at a north Spokane restaurant.

Lewis also was ordered to pay $7,385 in restitution for ramming a police car in a chase related to the April 20, 2007, incident.

Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year sentence, while Lewis’ defense lawyers requested three years.

Lewis addressed his victims during the sentencing, saying he’s on antipsychotic medicine and doesn’t remember what happened.

Until his arrest, Lewis was the senior pastor at Morning Star Baptist Church in northwest Spokane.

Karen Dorn Steele

Spokane

Photo-filled suitcase’s owner identified

The mystery of the suitcase full of memories has been solved.

Numerous calls Thursday to Spokane police and The Spokesman-Review revealed the suitcase found Wednesday belongs to 77-year-old Betty Lou Moore, of Spokane. Moore’s sister, daughter and several family friends identified Moore. The man alongside Moore in many of the photos is her longtime friend, Jim Santora, 74, said Moore’s daughter, Karen Harper.

Moore, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and dementia, has been in an assisted-living facility for the past two years, Harper said.

Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. David Reagan and Spokane police Officer Janice Dashiell found the suitcase in the intersection of Trent and Mission avenues Wednesday. How the suitcase, which contained hundreds of photos, a few e-mail printouts, birthday cards and cassette tapes, ended up in the middle of the intersection were unclear.

When told of the barrage of calls about the story, Harper replied, “Yeah. My mom was a wonderful lady.”

Carley Dryden