Car-motorcycle crash kills girl, 9

A 9-year-old Chewelah girl died Sunday after the motorcycle she was riding on was struck by a car southwest of Spokane.

Nehalah May was riding on a 2003 Harley-Davidson driven by Robin Richard Scholz, 51, of Colfax. They were headed north on U.S. Highway 195 at Meadowlane Road about 1:45 p.m. Sunday when they collided with a 1986 Oldsmobile driven by Esther Mae Westlund, 89, of Spokane, according to the Washington State Patrol.

According to police, Westlund was trying to turn onto Meadowlane from the southbound lane of the highway when the northbound motorcycle broadsided her.

May was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where she died. Scholz was transported to Deaconess Medical Center, where a nursing supervisor said he was in stable condition Sunday night. Both were wearing helmets, police said.

Westlund was not injured. She was cited for second-degree negligent driving for failing to yield the right of way, police said.

Man shoots unruly partygoer

A 24-year-old man said he was defending himself and his girlfriend when he shot another man early Sunday morning after an altercation at a northwest Spokane home.

Dieter Meyer said he and his girlfriend were hosting a barbecue with about 15 people at their home in the 2500 block of West Courtland Avenue on Saturday night and early Sunday, when a man unknown to him became belligerent.

About 1 a.m. the man began arguing with others about “nothing important” and pulled a knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade. Meyer, a college student, asked him to leave.

“I kept telling him to stop, just like an officer would,” Meyer said. The man went outside and was on the street when he “flipped,” Meyer said.

“He came running back toward the house,” wielding the knife. That’s when Meyer, who carries a concealed weapon permit, said he pulled out his .22-calber pocket pistol and shot the man several times.

According to Spokane police, the man was recovering at a local hospital.

Boise

Officials hopeful about economy

Local economists, state labor officials and some Boise-region builders say they expect improvement in Idaho’s economy by the end of the year.

Idaho Department of Labor spokesman Bob Fick said the department expects nonfarm job losses year-over-year to bottom out by summer’s end.

Home builder Don Hubble said his company is projecting that though the market for new homes will be smaller this year than last, the market will improve by the second half of the year.

New home prices have stabilized, Hubble said, because they can’t be built for any less.

From staff and wire reports