In brief: Standoff ends with arrest
A man police believe robbed a coffee stand was arrested Friday after a SWAT team standoff.
Shawn Michael Westlie, 41, hid inside a home in the 2100 block of Montgomery Avenue in west Spokane when police arrived about 3:30 p.m. He surrendered about 90 minutes later without incident, said Officer Glenn Bartlett.
Detectives believe Westlie robbed Best Espresso, 5226 N. Division St., at gunpoint Wednesday, Bartlett said.
The robber had a silver handgun and matched the description of a would-be robber earlier that day at the Jack in the Box restaurant at Hawthorne Road and North Division Street about three miles away, but police don’t know if the crimes are connected, Bartlett said.
“We’re definitely looking into it,” Bartlett said.
Police didn’t find a gun on Westlie Friday but were preparing to search the home at about 6 p.m.
Westlie has a history of burglary and theft dating to at least 1997, according to news archives.
Temperature just shy of record
Winds gusting to 40 mph and a near-record high temperature blew into the Inland Northwest Friday afternoon.
The temperature at Spokane International Airport rose to 50 degrees just before 3 p.m., just short of the previous record of 51 in 1973.
The temperature reached 51 in downtown Spokane, Cheney and Coeur d’Alene.
More wet and mild weather was expected across the lowlands of the Inland Northwest today, with flooding now being reported in parts of the region as a result of an accumulation of water over frozen ground.
Snow is expected in the mountains this weekend north of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene above 4,000 to 4,500 feet and above 4,500 to 5,000 feet in the central Idaho Panhandle and Blue Mountains.
CdA Tribe plans veteran memorial
PLUMMER – The Coeur d’Alene Tribe is building a memorial to honor its warriors who have fought for their homeland and country.
The memorial will be constructed at the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes trailhead in Plummer. The memorial will feature granite columns with an interpretation of the Battle of Steptoe, a life-size statue of a warrior on a horse and names of veterans. It will be completed in May or June.
Indians have the highest rate of military service per capita compared with other minority groups. Five members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe are currently serving in the U.S. military.
The tribe has a partial list of veterans from battles and wars. A search is under way to identify other members who have served in the military. Contact the tribe’s Veterans Program, P.O. Box 408, Plummer, ID 83851 or by phone at (800) 829-2202 or (208) 686-5602.
Mild tremor hits near Tum Tum
A micro earthquake was reported Wednesday in the vicinity of Long Lake to the southwest of Tum Tum, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
The quake measured 1.7 in magnitude based on the duration of the shaking, and occurred at 7:50 p.m. Wednesday at an estimated depth of 0.3 miles. The location was 12 miles north-northeast of Reardan.
There were no reports of the earthquake being felt.
Minor quakes occur frequently across the Columbia Basin and northern mountains of northeast Washington and are sometimes concentrated in one locale.