In brief: WSP trooper injured in rear-end crash

A Washington State Patrol trooper was injured Sunday after his patrol car was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer south of Ritzville.

The trooper, Dean Burt, was finishing up a traffic stop on northbound U.S. Highway 395 three miles south of Ritzville, where he was parked on a paved portion of the shoulder with the vehicle’s emergency lights flashing, when the crash occurred about 5:45 p.m., said Trooper Troy Briggs.

Burt was taken by ambulance to East Adams Rural Hospital in Ritzville, then by helicopter to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. He does not appear to have life-threatening injuries. His car was totaled.

The driver of the semi-truck, whose name was not released Sunday night, was taken to the Ritzville hospital with minor injuries. After hitting Burt’s car, the truck went through the median and came to rest in a southbound lane of U.S. 395, Briggs said.

Another trooper was pulled up next to Burt’s car on an unpaved part of the shoulder at the time of the crash, Briggs said. She was not injured and her car suffered only minor damage.

Briggs said it was unclear why the truck was driving on the shoulder. The incident remains under investigation, he said.

Shooting victim still in critical condition

A man shot in the head while driving a pickup early Saturday in Spokane Valley remained in critical condition Sunday, the Spokane Valley police reported.

The 26-year-old victim, whose name has not been released, was found by police when they responded to a 911 call about a vehicle crash at Sixth Avenue and Sunderland Road. Police believe he was shot by Robert D. Startin, 27. Startin, who was arrested at his home about 10:15 a.m. Saturday, declined a request for an interview Sunday afternoon.

Startin left a party with the victim in the victim’s 1962 Chevy pickup, Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release. Witnesses told officers that the men drove slowly past the party and that they heard a “pop” shortly before the crash, Reagan said. They also saw Startin fleeing the scene.

He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a count of first-degree assault.

Human rights display inspired by Gandhi

Artists from around the Pacific Northwest have interpreted Mahatma Gandhi’s seven social sins, as part of a display opening Thursday at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene.

The institute, at 414 W. Mullan Ave., will hold a grand opening event at 6:30 p.m. that is free to the public.

Gandhi’s seven social sins are wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without character, politics without principle, commerce without morality and worship without sacrifice.

Local artists Donna Bain, Harold Balazs, Allen Dodge, Mary Dee Dodge, Rhea Giffin, Barb Mueller, Joan Smith, Austin Stiegemeier and Marci Wing will discuss their portrayals of the social sins at the grand opening.

For the next two years, the institute will host exhibits and programs examining Gandhi’s social sins in the context of daily life. The artwork will be on display through December 2012. For more information call (208) 292-2359.

UI Extension offers water quality classes

Workshops teaching people how to monitor water quality in local streams will be offered by the University of Idaho Extension this spring.

IDAH20 Master Water Steward training teaches people how to assess the biological and chemical health of streams. Ashley McFarland, a Benewah County Extension educator, developed the curriculum.

The workshops cost $25 and are being offered:

• March 17 and 18, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Wellness Center, 1100 A St., Plummer. To register, call (208) 686-1716.

• April 1, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at University of Idaho, Coeur d’Alene, 1031 N. Academic Way, Coeur d’Alene. To register, call (208) 215-0407.

• April 2, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at University of Idaho, Coeur d’Alene.

Man, 61, in custody after firing on police

PORTLAND – A 61-year-old man opened fire on police from inside his home Sunday, wounding one officer at the front door and another at a nearby park responding to the scene, authorities said.

Two officers were conducting a routine welfare check at the home after getting a report that the man was despondent and threatening to commit suicide by taking pills, Portland police Chief Mike Reese said.

The officers knocked on the door and were met with gunfire, he said. One of those officers, a nine-year veteran, received minor injuries from shrapnel, and the two retreated to call for help.

Another police officer who responded to the scene was at a nearby park when he was shot by the suspect with a scope rifle, Reese said. He was hit in the lower abdomen and underwent surgery at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. He was listed in critical condition Sunday night, police said.

“There’s really nowhere to hide in that park,” said police spokesman Pete Simpson.

Other officers were forced to shoot at the duplex in order to rescue the wounded officer, a 13-year veteran from the bureau’s east precinct. He was pulled to safety “almost immediately,” Reese said.

Negotiators talked the man out of the home, where police found a handgun, shotgun and scope rifle in the house, Reese said. The man was taken into custody.