In brief: Half-staff flags honor officers
Flags at many government office buildings will be at half-staff today in honor of fallen police officers.
National Peace Officers Memorial Day is dedicated to commemorating those who died in the line of duty. Gov. Chris Gregoire has ordered flags at all state office buildings to be flown at half-staff until sunset today. Many local government offices are expected to follow suit.
PORTLAND
Officer fatally shoots suspect
The Portland Police Bureau says an officer fatally shot a man suspected in a homicide.
Sgt. Brian Schmautz says officers investigating a report of a killing late Tuesday confronted 27-year-old Jason Spoor leaving a northeast Portland house that started to catch fire.
Spoor was killed by one shot to the head after allegedly ignoring orders to drop his gun.
Two officers fired shots. They were identified as Timothy Bacon and Scott McCollister.
McCollister was involved in a high-profile shooting five years ago, when he fatally shot Kendra James. A grand jury cleared the officer, but the killing of the 21-year-old black motorist created an outcry. McCollister was suspended without pay for 5 1/2 months, but an arbitrator later ordered the city to expunge the suspension from the officer’s record.
HAILEY, Idaho
Officials sue city on pot measures
The mayor, a city councilor and the chief of police have sued this central Idaho city over three pro-marijuana initiatives that were approved by voters in November.
The lawsuit, filed last week in 5th District Court by Mayor Rick Davis, City Councilman Don Keirn and police Chief Jeff Gunter, is meant to get a judgment that the city can use as its guide for dealing with the initiatives.
The initiatives pose a challenge to city officials because the measures passed by voters conflict with state law.
“It’s a tough decision to go against the voters’ will,” said Gunter. “That’s why we’re looking for a judgment to clarify things.”
The initiatives passed by voters Nov. 6 would legalize industrial hemp, decriminalize medicinal marijuana and make enforcing pot laws the city’s lowest police priority. A fourth initiative, to legalize pot outright, fell just short of approval.
BOZEMAN
Dogs in cruelty case can be moved
A district judge has ruled that 33 sled dogs found abandoned without food, water or shelter can be released to the owner’s father while a criminal case is pending.
John T. Hessert, 24, has pleaded not guilty to one felony count of aggravated animal cruelty and 33 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. His father, 56-year-old Stephen Hessert, said he would be willing to keep the animals at his home in Maine.
Judge Holly Brown ruled this week that the dogs could be moved to Maine because they’re not needed as evidence. She also said Hessert’s father would follow court orders, including keeping his son away from the animals.
According to court records, a man called animal control Jan. 30 to report that the dogs were being kept in an unsafe environment.
A veterinarian examined the dogs on Feb. 2 and determined that they were all “well below normal health and had not been being fed enough food,” according to court records. One of the dogs had a collar embedded in its neck and other dogs had frostbite.