In brief: Van driver injured by logging truck

A man was in serious condition Friday night after he was injured in an accident on Highway 3 near St. Maries that morning.

Lawrence Schlappy, 53, was taken to Benewah Community Hospital then airlifted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

The accident occurred at 8:22 a.m. when Schlappy, who was driving a 1993 Ford van, pulled out in front of a Kenworth logging truck driven by 58-year-old Robert Allen, Idaho State Police said. The truck hit the van, forcing it into the porch of a nearby house.

Allen was not hurt.

The road was blocked for about two hours. Police said it did not appear alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash.

Police say U-turn caused injury crash

A Plummer driver and her 12-year-old passenger were hurt Thursday when another driver made a sudden U-turn on Highway 95 near the Coeur d’Alene Casino south of Coeur d’Alene.

Bernadine C. Twoteeth, 33, of Plummer, and her passenger, Deannette T. Dominique-White, were treated for injuries at Kootenai Medical Center and later released, according to Idaho State Police.

They were headed north on U.S. 95 in a 2007 Chrysler Sebring when they collided with a 1995 Saturn SL driven by Lowell Compton, 75, of Weippe, Idaho, who was not injured. Compton made a U-turn in front of Twoteeth, police said.

Investigators seek house fire’s cause

Spokane fire investigators on Friday sifted through rubble of a northeast Spokane home destroyed by fire on Thursday night, fire officials said.

No one was injured in the 10 p.m. blaze at 2914 E. Rowan Ave.; all of the occupants escaped.

Fire crews remained at the scene overnight and turned over the investigation into the cause to the Fire Department’s special investigation unit.

Three occupants were displaced.

Minnick counters pulled Labrador ad

BOISE – A day after Idaho GOP congressional challenger Raul Labrador pulled a new TV ad before it aired, Rep. Walt Minnick launched a new commercial Friday using the incident to paint Labrador as untrustworthy and touting his own business and congressional record.

The original Labrador ad was pulled because it contained copyrighted material from the “Idaho Debates” on Idaho Public Television; it used a clip of Minnick in a 2008 debate gaffe.

Phil Hardy, spokesman for the Labrador campaign, said a new version of its ad will focus on “Minnick’s troubling record on taxes.”

Minnick’s new ad touts his votes against tax increases and his record as a fiscal conservative.