Record voting turnout expected

Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa predicts 80 percent of Idaho’s registered voters will vote Tuesday.

“We are expecting a record turnout in numbers, at around 700,000 ballots cast,” he said. The previous record of 612,000 was set in 2004, he said.

Absentee and early voting around the state has occurred at record levels and continues through 5 p.m. Monday.

Heavy turnout on Election Day – and new ballot-counting equipment in many counties – “will make for a long evening before final results will be available,” Ysursa said.

spokane

Runaway balloon recovered

A high-altitude balloon that got away from a Whitworth University physics class Thursday was found Friday near Hurley Lake, west of Davenport.

Three students picked up the deflated balloon and the electronic gear it was carrying, said John Larkin, the Whitworth professor overseeing the project. The balloon had been inflated with too much helium when it launched Thursday and moved faster than the class expected, Larkin said.

They had tracked it from Potholes State Park using a GPS device, but they lost track of it after a lunch stop in Ritzville. The group used GPS devices to pinpoint its exact location Friday, Larkin said.

Teens arrested in armed robberies

Police have arrested three teens in a series of armed robberies on and around the Gonzaga University campus.

Two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old face robbery charges and one could be charged with attempted murder in an August incident in which a robber fired a gun through a front door after the victim locked himself inside, according to Spokane police.

“We’re talking serious, serious crimes here,” said Lt. Dave McGovern, of the major crimes unit.

Along with armed robberies in March and August, police believe the teens are responsible for an assault with a gun in August, an attempted robbery Oct. 11 and two armed robberies the weekend of Oct. 17.

Run a red light, get a ticket

Infractions rather than warnings will be issued starting today under Spokane’s photo-enforcement system at three busy intersections. Motorists photographed running red lights will be mailed $124 violations.

The system has been used to issue warnings for the past 31 days. The system is in place for southbound traffic on Browne Street at Sprague Avenue; northbound and southbound traffic on Division Street at Francis Avenue; and northbound traffic on Hamilton Street at Mission Avenue.

Scouts collecting for food drive

Scouts in Eastern Washington and North Idaho will distribute 300,000 bags today for their annual Scouting for Food Drive.

The Inland Northwest Council of the Boy Scouts of America expects to collect more than 200,000 pounds of food for distribution to food banks. Scouts will also collect used Scout uniforms.

Nonperishable food will be picked up between 9 a.m. and noon next Saturday.

Colfax

Crash victim identified

Authorities identified the man killed in a Highway 195 crash Thursday as Lavern A. Ochs, 67, of Colfax.

The man’s vehicle crashed into a delivery truck about 4:50 p.m., the Washington State Patrol said.