Region in brief: Flu shuts down lakeside camp

Camp Sweyolakan, the Camp Fire USA getaway on Lake Coeur d’Alene, was closed temporarily Monday after one camper and two staff members tested positive for flu. Further tests will determine if it’s the H1N1 strain; those results will take several days, Camp Fire USA Inland Northwest Council said in a news release.

The camper and staff members were separated from the group Sunday morning, and campers’ families were alerted. A Camp Fire spokeswoman said 150 campers were there at the time.

Camp Sweyolakan is scheduled to reopen Monday.

Addy Hatch

Rape suspect faced earlier accusations

A man accused of raping a woman in north Spokane was arrested on a similar charge last year but was cleared after a jury couldn’t reach a verdict.

Justin L. Dehn, 22, remains in Spokane County Jail on $25,000 bail after appearing in Superior Court on Monday on one charge of second-degree rape and two charges of indecent liberties.

Spokane police responded to a rape call early Sunday and found Dehn a few blocks from 6700 N. Standard, where three women said he assaulted them after they returned from a party.

Dehn was charged in June 2008 with second-degree rape for an incident a woman said happened in December 2006. A jury couldn’t reach a verdict after a two-day trial, and the state dropped the charge.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Investigators hunt for clues about house fire

The Spokane Valley Fire Department is investigating a suspicious fire at an abandoned home on East Broadway.

Fire Marshall Kevin Miller said units were dispatched about 6 a.m. Monday to 13302 E. Broadway Ave. to a report of smoke from a basement. They found a fire in the house and extinguished it.

The home had been vacant since April, but neighbors said transients had been staying in it. One witness saw a small red SUV drive away just prior to the fire call.

Miller said the home was full of discarded furniture and a bed someone had been using. Miller estimated damages of about $75,000.

Anyone with information about the fire or the person staying in the house is asked to call the Spokane Valley Fire Department at (509) 928-1700.

Tom Clouse

Victim identified in Hayden SUV crash

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department has identified the man killed Sunday night in a crash near Hayden.

Bernie “Jack” Barnes, 74, of Hayden, died at the scene of a crash reported at 8:28 p.m. in the area of North Ramsey Road and West Boekel Road, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Barnes was alone in the SUV. Alcohol has been ruled out as a factor in the crash, officials said.

Tom Clouse