In brief: Highway 95 crash injures two
Two people were injured Saturday when their vehicles collided on U.S. Highway 95 at Cougar Gulch.
The Idaho State Patrol said John M. Shepard, 57, was northbound on the highway in a 2009 Jeep Patriot when he crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into a southbound 2008 Ford Edge driven by Diana C. Andrews, 62. The drivers, both Coeur d’Alene residents, were taken to Kootenai Medical Center after the 12:55 p.m. crash. Shepard was treated and released. Andrews was in fair condition Saturday evening, a hospital spokeswoman said.
ISP said alcohol was not considered a factor in the crash, which remained under investigation Saturday.
Officers say man swung bat at them
A man was arrested after charging at two officers with a baseball bat early Saturday morning.
Michael A. Bernal, 29, was booked into Spokane County Jail on two counts of second-degree assault, police said.
Officers James Erickson and James Christensen responded to the 200 block of East Crown Avenue at 1:57 a.m. for a 911 hang-up call. A dispatcher had called back, and a woman told the dispatcher she could not speak freely.
As officers arrived at the scene they could hear a man and a woman yelling loudly.
When officers knocked on the door, Bernal allegedly “whipped the door open, armed himself with a baseball bat and then swung it at the officers, almost hitting them both,” police said in a news release.
Police said Bernal refused to drop the bat. As he charged at officers with the bat, the woman, whom police did not identify, grabbed him around the waist. Police said he then threw the bat at the officers, broke free and yelled, “Bring it on!”
All three ended up on the ground when they tried to arrest him. During the struggle, police said Bernal grabbed one of their flashlights in “another apparent attempt to assault the officers.”
Officers determined there was no crime committed between the man and woman.
Mudslide cancels train service
MUKILTEO, Wash. – Passenger train service near Mukilteo was shut down for 48 hours following a mudslide on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the midday slide of mud, rocks and other debris in Western Washington was cleaned up by 2:30 p.m. The railroad put a moratorium on passenger travel for 48 hours beginning 1 p.m. Saturday as a safety precaution.
Amtrak said it would continue service between Seattle and British Columbia by busing passengers around the slide area.
Whitman Cellars seized by bank
WALLA WALLA – Community Bank in Walla Walla has seized Whitman Cellars LLC and closed the winery.
Andrea Burkhart, attorney for the bank, told the Tri-City Herald that the bank defaulted on loans and that Friday’s seizure stems from a lawsuit the bank filed earlier this week.
A telephone message seeking comment from Whitman Cellars was not immediately returned.
Burkhart said Community Bank plans to sell the company’s assets.
Whitman Cellars began making wine in 1998 and opened its Walla Walla tasting room in 2001.