In brief: WASL probe finds no irregularities

State experts who investigated WASL tests from Balboa Elementary School for alleged tampering have determined there are no irregularities, school officials said Tuesday.

The state said in an Aug. 20 letter that no test scores will be invalidated.

Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction inspected a sixth-grade classroom’s tests after allegations arose May 12 that Principal Pat Lynass tampered with completed tests, officials said.

Lynass was in teacher Jim Harrison’s classroom during tests because staff raised concerns about how seriously his students were taking the WASL. After confronting a student about doodling on the test, Lynass looked through the class’s tests – a violation of WASL protocol – for other drawings.

Harrison has taken a medical leave of absence for the school year, a district spokeswoman said.

Jody Lawrence-Turner

Man to spend life in offender lockup

A convicted sex offender who twice attacked victims in women’s bathrooms should remain in a secure facility for the rest of his life, a Spokane jury decided Wednesday.

The decision classifies Shawn Dale Botner, 36, as a violent sexual predator who has a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes him likely to commit another sex crime.

Botner will be housed at McNeil Island, the state’s home for sex offenders who have served their sentences but have been deemed too dangerous to release. Rapist Kevin Coe also is there; a jury civilly committed him in October 2008.

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about a day after a two-week trial that detailed Botner’s criminal history and recent clashes with law enforcement. Botner’s lawyer, Tim Trageser, said the decision will be appealed.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Indictment says man threatened doctor

A Spokane man has been indicted for allegedly threatening relatives of one of the few doctors in the country who performs late-term abortions.

Donald Hertz, 70, faces a charge of making an interstate threat and a charge of violating a 1994 law that protects access to reproductive health services.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Hertz of calling the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Boulder, Colo., in June and threatening to kill family members of Dr. Warren Hern.

Hertz, who was arrested Wednesday, said little during an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno in Spokane. He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to appear in court again on Oct. 8 in Denver.

Hertz faces up to six years in prison if convicted.

Associated Press