Man on bus takes youth hostage
A 48-year-old man took a teenager hostage on an STA bus about 2 p.m. Saturday.
The bus was leaving the ground transportation center at the north end of Spokane International Airport when the man pulled a knife and threatened the boy, an airport spokesman said.
“The bus driver stopped the bus in front of the Ramada Inn, right there, and got everyone off, except the suspect and the boy,” said Todd Woodard, director of marketing and public relations at the airport.
Three airport police officers arrived at the scene, followed by two Spokane County sheriff’s deputies.
“An airport police sergeant was talking to the man on the bus, trying to calm him down,” Woodard said. About 10 minutes after the man pulled the knife, he suddenly dropped it and the airport police sergeant rushed him, freeing the boy.
“The man showed no signs of being intoxicated or anything,” Woodard said. “He didn’t know the boy, he wasn’t yelling anything – at this time it all appears completely random.”
The 48-year-old was transported to Spokane County Jail.
Wallace, Idaho
Two bodies remain unidentified
The man and woman found dead Friday morning near Dobson Pass, just north of Wallace, have yet to be identified.
Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds said an autopsy has been scheduled for Monday morning in Spokane.
Investigators were on the scene all day Friday.
Reynalds said the man was shot, but he’s uncertain how the woman died.
MISSOULA
Plaintiffs to appeal $455 million ruling
Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in a long-running trust case against the Interior Department, said a judge’s $455 million ruling will be appealed “as soon as possible.”
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a half-million American Indians and their heirs, claimed they were swindled out of billions of dollars in oil, gas, grazing, timber and other royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled Thursday that the government owes the plaintiffs $455 million.
Cobell said the litigation unfairly put the burden of proof for financial mismanagement on Native American landowners instead of the Interior Department.
In March 2007 the plaintiffs rejected a $7 billion offer from the government to partly settle the lawsuit and had said they were owed as much as $48 billion.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in June 1996.
BOISE
Edwards affair prompts GOP ‘nostalgia’
Republicans in Idaho used former Democratic presidential candidate John Edward’s confession this week that he lied about an extramarital sexual relationship to attack U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco.
In a press release, Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko said Edwards’ admission had prompted “widespread nostalgia” among Idaho Republicans because it reminded them of when LaRocco in 1994 acknowledged that he misled voters about an affair with a former employee and her sexual discrimination lawsuit.
Former two-term U.S. Rep. LaRocco is running against Republican Lt. Gov. Jim Risch to replace U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, who is retiring after his arrest in a gay sex sting in a Minneapolis airport in 2007.
In a prepared statement released Saturday, LaRocco said his marriage to Chris LaRocco is strong.
“Nearly 15 years ago, I apologized to my wife, my family and the people of Idaho. Strong marriages are not without difficult times. Chris and I and our family, supported by our faith, celebrate the strength and joy of our 41-year-long marriage,” LaRocco said.
DUBOIS, Idaho
Wolves kill 19 government sheep
Agricultural Research Service spokeswoman Sandy Miller Hays said 19 sheep at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois were killed by wolves last month.
Hays said the depredation happened in two or three separate incidents at the Humphries Ranch operation.
Officials at the government ranch contacted another government department – USDA Wildlife Services – to investigate the killings.
Todd Sullivan with the Wildlife Service in Pocatello said a young male wolf was trapped, radio-collared and released last week.
He said so far, no additional sheep have been reported killed. Wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are on the federal endangered species list under a federal court injunction.
SEATTLE
Elwha ferry still out of order
The 144-car ferry Elwha will be out of service until at least the end of next week, so the 90-car Sealth will continue to operate on the Anacortes-San Juan Island route.
The Elwha developed mechanical problems with its propulsion control cooling system Wednesday, causing several sailings to be canceled.