Region in brief: Assailant slashes drunken man
Spokane police are looking for the knife-wielding assailant who slashed an intoxicated man across the face following an argument early Thursday in the Logan neighborhood of north Spokane.
The victim was attacked about 4:25 a.m. in front of the Ruth Apartments, 813 E. Sinto Ave., by a man who left the scene in a newer, dark-green Jeep Wrangler with a tan top.
Witnesses said they heard the argument and found the victim injured and drunk. The man, whom police did not identify, was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Three injured in two-car crash
Three people were injured Wednesday night in a two-car accident east of Springdale, Wash., that Washington State Patrol troopers said may be related to drunken driving.
Michael J. Forsyth Jr., 42, of Springdale, may face a vehicular assault charge after the accident on state Highway 292 east of Springdale about 7:20 p.m., troopers said.
He was taken by ambulance to Providence Holy Family Hospital for treatment and was released.
Troopers said he was headed west in a 1998 Chevrolet pickup and collided with another vehicle in the eastbound lane.
The second vehicle, a 2000 Ford Focus, was driven by Justin D. Icard, 24, of Spokane. He and passenger Brittany J. Knudson, 19, of Spokane, were taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
District getting filtration system
About 45 residents of Burke Canyon will get safe drinking water when the East Shoshone County Water District installs a new filtration system later this year.
Residents get their water from an intake on Sawmill Gulch Creek. The district treated the water with chlorine, but the treatment doesn’t guard against microscopic parasites such as giardia or cryptosporidium, federal officials said.
The $600,000 filtration system must be in place before the end of the year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is paying for about half of the cost.
The EPA ordered the water district to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act standards in 2000.
The district agreed to pay $5,000 for failing to comply.
In addition to installing the filtration system, the district will spend $20,000 to clean up an old mine adit upstream of the drinking water intake. The cleanup will reduce mud flowing into Sawmill Gulch Creek, which will improve the filtration system’s efficiency.
Two jailers face drug charges
PASCO – The Franklin County sheriff says two county corrections officers have been arrested in a federal drug investigation.
Sheriff Richard Lathim said Kevin Still and Sonya Symons were arrested Thursday by members of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force on federal charges of criminal conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
Still is a 21-year county corrections veteran and Symons has been employed there for six years.
The sheriff said tips were received that the two were trying to get into the business of running large quantities of marijuana.
Still was arrested in Spokane while Symons was arrested at her Pasco home. The sheriff said both will appear in federal court in Spokane.
Lathim said the two have been suspended without pay pending termination.
Roadside bomb kills soldier
FORT LEWIS, Wash. – The Defense Department said a soldier from Fort Lewis was killed Wednesday in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb in Kandahar province.
Twenty-two-year-old Spc. Kyle A. Coumas, of Lockeford, Calif., was a member of the 5th Stryker Brigade.
He was the 18th member of the brigade to die since it deployed in July.
Climate event set in Sandpoint
People from Sandpoint will gather at 1 p.m. Saturday at City Beach for a Save Our Snow Rally and bike ride.
The climate-change activism event is one of 2,000 planned worldwide in cooperation with 350.org. One of the organizers, Susan Drumheller of the Idaho Conservation League, said 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide is the amount the Earth’s atmosphere can safely handle. The current concentration is about 390 parts per million.
“People here are making a conscious effort to buy local food, cut back on driving and save energy,” Drumheller said. “But there’s no doubt now that citizens want to see real action from national and world leaders, too.”
After a short rally, participants will gather for a group photo and bike ride.
Other event sponsors are the Sandpoint Transition Initiative and Sandpoint Friends Meeting.