In brief: Alford plea deal reached in drive-by shooting
A Tri-Cities man accepted a plea deal Monday that avoided the potential that a jury would send him to prison for life.
Nicholas W. J. Birden, 19, had been charged with 10 counts of drive-by shooting and attempted first-degree murder in connection with a June 11 incident in Spokane. Birden had been playing basketball when he became angry and left, then returned and fired a shot at other players without hitting anybody, according to court testimony.
Birden entered an Alford plea to second-degree assault and received a sentence of 60 days in jail. In an Alford plea, the defendant believes he’s innocent but acknowledges that enough evidence exists to convict him at trial.
Education, rights advocate will speak at banquet
An international advocate for public education and human rights will deliver this year’s keynote address at the 13th annual Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Human Rights Banquet.
Reginald Weaver is vice president of Education International, which represents 30 million teachers and educators in 172 countries. He is a past president of the 3.2 million-member National Education Association and has traveled the world advocating for the right of every child to attend school.
The banquet will be held April 12 at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, 506 W. Appleway Ave. Profits benefit the Human Rights Education Institute. A public reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and the banquet starts at 6:30. Tickets are $40 per person. For more information, call (208) 765-3932 or (208) 292-2359.
Sheriff’s office advises of two convicted child rapists
Two child rapists classified as sex offenders most likely to re-offend are living as transients in Spokane County, the sheriff’s office announced Monday.
Jeffrey R. Evans, 22, was convicted of second-degree child rape in 2001 for an attack on a 12-year-old female family friend.
Evans also was convicted of indecent liberties with forcible compulsion in 2004. His victim was a 6-year-old male relative, according to the sheriff’s office.
Clifford R. Sain, 30, was convicted of first-degree child rape and fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation in 1993 for attacks on 7- and 8-year-old male relatives. He was released from prison in December 1998.
Evans and Sain are being supervised by the state Department of Corrections.
They are not wanted by law enforcement, but they are level 3 sex offenders and the sheriff’s office wants the public to be aware of their presence.
385 marijuana plants found at scene of gunfight
KIRKLAND, Wash. – A spokesman for the King County Sheriff’s Office says deputies found 385 marijuana plants at the home of a medical marijuana activist who was in a shootout with robbers.
Sgt. John Urquhart said investigators also found marijuana products such as butter, baked goods and paraphernalia. Deputies have no plans to arrest activist Steve Sarich but will forward their findings to the prosecutor’s office.
Sarich suffered minor wounds when robbers broke into his home early Monday. One fired a shotgun at him, and pellets hit his face and arm. Sarich fired a handgun at one robber, sending him to Harborview Medical Center, where he was in intensive care.
Sarich runs CannaCare, an organization that provides marijuana plants to patients.
Overtime rules don’t cover seminarians, court says
SEATTLE – The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that seminarians are not covered by overtime laws.
The appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling in the case of Cesar Rosas, a Catholic seminarian in Mexico who was assigned to a ministry training program in Washington state.
He sued the Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle, saying that during his training he performed maintenance work for the church and should be compensated according to Washington’s minimum wage law for what he says were multiple overtime hours.
The appeals court agreed with the District Court’s decision that the claim fit within the “ministerial exception” to employment laws on issues such as compensation.
Foundation plans to build Seattle’s greenest building
SEATTLE – A charitable foundation getting ready to build its new Seattle headquarters wants to build the city’s greenest building ever.
The Bullitt Foundation is building the Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design and Construction. It would house the foundation’s headquarters as well as being a showcase for cutting-edge green engineering and architecture.
It’s expected to use less than a third of the electricity consumed by the average building and generate as much power as it consumes. It would rely almost exclusively on rain for its water. And it would treat and reuse on-site everything that’s flushed down its toilets and poured down its drains.