In brief: Elderly man drives into licensing office
An elderly man drove his car through the Department of Licensing’s Spokane Valley driver licensing office Thursday, injuring at least one customer inside.
Police responded to the office at 12801 E. Sprague Ave. about 12:40 p.m., when the elderly driver confused the gas pedal for the brake pedal and drove his 1996 Chrysler Cirrus through the front door of the building, said Spokane County sheriff’s Detective Dave Thornburg.
A customer inside was hit by a flying door and treated for minor injuries. The driver was cited for not having insurance.
The Spokane Valley licensing office will be closed today, due to structural damage. Customers can go to the office at 6519 N. Lidgerwood St., open today from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office is closed for the holiday weekend.
Sara Leaming
Rain likely today;
sunny skies to come
The weatherman is giving the Inland Northwest a reprieve over the three-day July Fourth holiday and promising serious summer weather next week.
Forecasters are calling for mostly sunny skies on Saturday and Sunday in the Spokane area, although areas closer to the mountains, including Coeur d’Alene, will see a 20 percent chance of daytime showers.
Highs will start out below normal in the lower 70s on Saturday, and then warm a few degrees each day to the middle and upper 70s by Monday.
But before the nicer weather arrives, the region is going to see a 60 percent chance of rain showers in Spokane and a 70 percent chance in Coeur d’Alene today with highs in the mid-60s.
A serious warm-up arrives starting Tuesday when highs will go into the lower 80s. Wednesday should get to the upper 80s and Thursday may reach the low 90s.
Mike Prager
Ex-boyfriend to be charged in hit, run
The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office has requested felony charges in the case of a Washington State University student who was found unconscious along Pullman-Albion Road in November.
Evidence implicates the woman’s boyfriend at the time, Richard C. Pasma, 24.
Sheriff Brett Myers said in a news release Thursday that his office is requesting Pasma be charged with failure to report an injury accident in a hit and run.
Myers said he expects the prosecuting attorney’s office to seek an exceptional sentence if Pasma is convicted.
Kristen Grindley was found Nov. 11 about 1:40 a.m., lying in a pool of blood on a road north of Pullman. She was taken to a Spokane hospital for treatment of multiple fractures.
She spent two months in recovery before returning to her parents’ home in Seattle.
Mike Prager