In brief: Neighbors’ report leads to burglary arrest

Before Shadle Park homeowners even knew they’d been burglarized, Spokane police arrested a man in connection with the crime.

Officers were called to the 2200 block of West Rowan Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday by neighbors who said a suspicious person was knocking on doors, Officer Teresa Fuller reported in a press release.

An officer contacted 36-year-old Russell Ogg, Fuller reported, and as the two spoke, another officer retraced Ogg’s trail and found a house that had been burglarized.

The homeowner discovered that an object was missing, and officers found it on Ogg, Fuller reported. The item was not identified.

Ogg was booked into Spokane County Jail on charges of residential burglary and possession of burglary tools.

Several neighbors have reported recent burglaries. Police said they’ll investigate whether Ogg might have been involved.

– Thomas Clouse

Richland

Company proposes uranium plant

A proposed uranium enrichment plant would employ 350 to 400 people.

Richland is one of five sites under consideration for the plant, and the only one in Washington. A decision will be made by the end of the month, Anne Lauvergeon, Areva’s chief executive officer, said in a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The French company already employs 650 people at a Richland plant that fabricates fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors. Enriched uranium is shipped to Richland for that process. If the new plant is based next to the existing one, unenriched uranium would be shipped to Richland instead.

The new plant would require large amounts of electricity, as it uses centrifugal force to increase the concentration of an isotope in natural uranium to make it suitable for fuel.

Analysts predict the market for nuclear fuel will increase as global warming concerns make nuclear energy more popular.

Associated Press

TACOMA

Woman found guilty in ELF arson at UW

A federal jury Thursday found a woman guilty of two counts of arson for being the lookout in the 2001 burning of the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture by members of the radical Earth Liberation Front.

U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess declared the jury deadlocked on three other counts against Briana Waters, including conspiracy, possessing an unregistered destructive device and, the most significant count, using a destructive device during a crime of violence. The final charge would have carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bartlett said his office would decide within a week whether to retry her on the deadlocked counts.

Waters was taken into custody pending her sentencing, set for May 30. The 32-year-old violin teacher from Oakland, Calif., faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison. She closed her eyes, bowed her head and cried as the verdict was announced.

– Associated Press