Region in brief: Ski resort offers ‘White Friday’
Instead of hitting the stores on Black Friday, Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park is urging skiers and snowboarders to hit the slopes for what it’s calling “White Friday.”
The ski area north of Spokane is firing up its chairlifts on Friday to begin the 2009-’10 season after receiving six inches more of fresh snow Sunday, a Mt. Spokane news release said. The resort has about two feet at the summit and 16 inches at the base.
Lift tickets will be sold at midweek prices – $36 for adults – with lower prices for youths, college students and seniors. Lifts will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lifts 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be open.
Lookout Pass opened Nov. 13, and 49 Degrees North opened Saturday. Web sites for Silver Mountain and Schweitzer Mountain say they anticipate opening Friday as well.
Sheriff seeks tips on home burglary
A private award of $5,000 is being offered for information that leads to the recovery of items worth thousands of dollars stolen from a Whitman County home over the weekend.
The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary, which occurred sometime between Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Thieves broke into the home, located in north central Whitman County, and stole a “John Deere” personal safe containing numerous firearms, cash, rare coins, bank notes, jewelry, and property deeds.
The residents were not home at the time of the burglary.
Anyone with information about the crime should call (509) 397-6266.
Health districts giving HIV tests
Panhandle Health District will offer free HIV testing Dec. 1 to 3 in recognition of the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day.
The testing will be held, by appointment, in health district offices in Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties. The tests are available to people ages 13 to 64, a health district news release said. Rapid HIV tests provide results in as little as 15 minutes.
As of 2007, 130 people in the five northern counties were living with HIV. Of those 101 were male.
Some 94 of the cases were from men having sex with men, intravenous drug use or both, the release said.
Appointments for the free HIV tests are available:
Dec. 2 in Bonners Ferry. Call (208) 267-5558
Dec. 3 in Bonner County. Call (208) 263-5159
Dec. 3 in Shoshone County. Call (208) 786-7474
Dec. 1 in Kootenai County. Call (208) 415-5270
Dec. 1 in Benewah County. Call (208) 245-4556
Hospital lifts H1N1 visitor restrictions
Kootenai Medical Center has lifted its visitor restriction policies implemented during the height of the swine flu season.
People younger than 18 and friends will again be allowed to visit patients at the Coeur d’Alene hospital.
Though restrictions are no longer in place, hospital officials continue to ask ill people to stay home and practice good hygiene to slow the spread of infectious disease.
Hayden center to host art show
Showcase Center in Hayden will host an art show and auction tonight, with proceeds from the sale of about a third of the items dedicated to philanthropic causes. More than 150 original works and prints will be featured at the show.
Showcase Center organized the art auction after receiving more than 30 Bev Doolittle and Stephen Lyman limited-edition prints consigned by an estate donating all proceeds to the North Idaho College Scholarship fund. More collectible art from regional artists was added to the sale.
Post Falls artists, authors and siblings Akiane and Ilia Kramarik, who are considered child prodigies, will make an appearance.
Showcase Center is at 12551 N. Government Way in Hayden. It will be open for previews at 9 a.m. Refreshments will be served at 5 p.m. The sale begins at 6 p.m.
Information: (208) 772-8101 or www.showcase auction.com.
Robber with child gets 94 months
ELLENSBURG, Wash. – A man shown on videotape holding up a convenience store with his 9-year-old daughter at his side has been sentenced to nearly eight years in prison.
A Kittitas County Superior Court jury convicted Robert Daniel Webb, of Everett, in July of first-degree robbery and first-degree reckless endangerment. The Daily Record of Ellensburg reports that Webb was sentenced to 94 months on Monday.
The case stems from a holdup at the Arco AM/PM store in Thorp, west of Ellensburg, on March 31. A widely publicized surveillance videotape showed the robber accompanied by a young girl and saying he needed money for his daughter. He got about $200.
Suspect’s injuries delay murder case
SEATTLE – The arraignment of the man charged with killing Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween has been postponed until he is released from a hospital.
The King County prosecutor’s office said the arraignment for Christopher Monfort, which had been set for today, is now scheduled for Dec. 1 if he is out of the hospital.
The 41-year-old Tukwila man has been at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle since he was wounded in a Nov. 6 confrontation with officers.
Monfort is charged with aggravated murder. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg will decide whether to seek the death penalty.
Spokesman Dan Donohoe said the arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 1 in Room 1201 of the King County Courthouse.
Piling pins woman at naval base
BREMERTON, Wash. – A Naval Base Kitsap spokesman said a concrete piling fell and seriously injured a 24-year-old woman at the Bremerton, Wash., base.
Spokesman Tom Danaher said the accident occurred Monday as a crane and crews were moving the pilings. One piling shifted, fell and pinned the unidentified woman. She is reported in serious condition at a Seattle hospital.
Danaher says the woman works for California contractor Tutor-Saliba, which is helping build an aircraft carrier pier. Crews are demolishing and replacing 60-year-old Pier Bravo. The work is due to wrap up in January 2012.