In brief: Plan author works for Tondee camp

In January, Kootenai County commissioners gave Cheri Howell a $75,000 contract to rewrite the county’s growth plan.

While still working under that contract, she’s also now a volunteer for Kootenai County Commissioner Todd Tondee’s re-election campaign.

Howell said that shouldn’t be perceived as a conflict because she doesn’t plan to seek an extension when the contract expires May 31. And Tondee said that if the commission has reason to consider Howell’s contract, he’ll “take a look at it then” and decide whether to recuse himself.

Howell’s role in the campaign, Tondee said, is to help recruit other volunteers.

Until January, Howell was a senior county planner earning $48,000 a year.

The day she resigned, Howell had just learned she would not face criminal charges for allegedly ordering an administrative secretary to delete the audio file of a Planning Commission workshop.

Also that day, commissioners gave Howell the independent contract.

It’s unlikely the comprehensive plan will be complete by the end of Howell’s contract. But she said Wednesday she d has no intention of asking for an extension.

Spokane

Witnesses sought in South Hill crash

Spokane police detectives want help determining what led to a crash that killed a man early Saturday.

Joseph White, 22, died when his 2000 Chevy Malibu struck a tree at 3000 S. High Drive, the Spokane Police Department reported. Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors.

Witnesses told police that they saw a Toyota Tundra chasing White’s Malibu, and that the two vehicles hit before the fatal crash. That bump may have sparked the chase, Cpl. Brad Hallock said in a press release. The white, extended-cab pickup, with matching canopy, held four or five men, witnesses have said.

“It is very important that we talk to the driver and the passengers of the truck to determine exactly where the collision took place,” said Hallock.

“At this point, I’m looking at the driver and passengers as witnesses, and possibly even as victims, of a hit-and-run” involving White’s Malibu, he said.

Anyone with information should call Hallock at (509) 835-4566 or the tip line at (509) 242-TIPS. Callers should refer to report No. 08-066421.

Body in river may be suicide

Spokane police believe that a man found dead Sunday in the Spokane River committed suicide.

Officers responded at 9:53 a.m. Sunday to a report of a body in the river. It was pinned against a metal gate in front of an Avista pumping station in Riverfront Park.

Workers used a boom crane to retrieve the body.

The man was in his late 40s, police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said.

Boise

Son arrested in man’s death

Authorities in Oregon have taken into custody a 17-year-old boy from Boise who police in Boise say killed his father, 45-year-old Dennis Lewis.

Derek W. Lewis was arrested Monday after a vehicle and foot chase that ended in Florence in western Oregon.

He is being held in the Lane County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Police say the teen was driving his father’s pickup at the time of his arrest.

Police say Dennis Lewis had a gunshot wound to the head from a small-caliber firearm.