In brief: Two fires hit Spokane on holiday
A South Hill fire displaced a couple and their three cats Thursday morning while a north Spokane blaze closed a stretch of North Monroe for more than an hour.
No one was hurt in the South Hill fire, but it “definitely had an impact on their Thanksgiving,” said Brian Schaeffer, the Spokane Fire Department’s assistant chief.
The blaze started on the second floor of a lower South Hill home about 10:45 a.m., Schaeffer said. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the home. The residents had already evacuated.
The damage was kept to the second floor, but the couple could not stay there.
Firefighters offered to take the couple to a fire station for a Thanksgiving meal, Schaeffer said, but they have friends and family in Spokane and went to be with them.
Just before 1 p.m., firefighters responded to North Monroe Street and closed the thoroughfare for about an hour and a half as they fought a building fire. Two people escaped the building at 2415 N. Monroe, one with minor burns sustained while trying to put the fire out with an extinguisher. Firefighters contained the fire to a room on the building’s ground floor.
The cause of both fires is under investigation. Damage from the South Hill fire is estimated at $10,000.
Groups say budget promotes inequality
Cuts made to balance Washington’s current budget disproportionately affect racial minorities and worsen socioeconomic inequality within the state, according to a study released Wednesday by a broad coalition of nonprofit organizations.
The study, “Facing Race: How Budget Cuts Are Increasing Racial Disparities,” released by Washington Community Action Network, said the 2011-2012 budget exacerbated already existing disparities in health care, education and criminal justice.
While national economic conditions have increased unemployment and foreclosures throughout the state, people of color are losing their jobs and homes at a higher rate than whites, the study found.
The report urged the Legislature to look for additional revenue sources, including closing tax loopholes, in the upcoming special session.
Evaluation ordered for murder suspect
BONNERS FERRY – A judge has ordered a North Idaho man charged with second-degree murder undergo a competency evaluation before entering a plea in the case.
Prosecutors charged 61-year-old John August Funkhouser called 911 earlier this month and told dispatchers that he shot and killed 43-year-old Anna Old inside the house they shared south of Bonners Ferry. Deputies who responded said Old appeared to have been dead for some time.
The Bonner County Daily Bee reports Funkhouser remains held on a $1 million bail.
Court records show a public defender for Funkhouser asked that a Nov. 18 preliminary hearing in the case be postponed to allow time for a competency evaluation. A judge in Idaho’s 1st District Court granted the request and the hearing was vacated but has yet to be rescheduled.
Teen faces drunken driving charges
A teenage driver faces drunken driving charges after crashing into a yogurt shop Thursday morning at the corner of Division and Hawthorne.
No one was injured, according to Washington State Patrol. The collision that occurred at 3:57 a.m. damaged a wall at Didier’s Yogurt & More.
The teenage girl fled on foot, but returned, according to WSP. She was cited and released.
According to authorities, the van was going about 90 mph and almost went through the building, KHQ reported. Both the owner and troopers say the building is a total loss.
Safeway ‘appalled’ by guard’s actions
EVERETT – A grocery store security guard was fired after he told the father of a 4-year-old girl that she would face criminal charges for eating from a dried fruit package, a TV station reported.
The child’s mother, Alissa Jones, said the father wasn’t looking when the girl grabbed the package, ate a few pieces of fruit then returned it to a shelf at a Safeway store in Everett, KOMO reported Wednesday.
The guard took the 4-year-old and her dad to a room and said the girl would face charges and be banned from the chain, Jones said, adding that the guard had the girl sign a paper acknowledging she wasn’t allowed to enter any Safeway stores.
The company said it was “appalled” by the guard’s actions and dismissed him. Store officials have apologized to the girl’s parents, Safeway spokesperson Cherie Myers said.
“Our policies on shoplifting are intended to protect our customers, but built on common sense. And everyone understands what common sense is,” Myers said.
Murderer applauds halt on executions
SALEM – A condemned inmate spared by a reprieve from Oregon’s governor is applauding Gov. John Kitzhaber’s decision to temporarily halt all executions and start a statewide debate about the death penalty.
Kitzhaber said he’s morally opposed to the death penalty and Oregon’s system of capital punishment is arbitrary, inequitable and expensive.
Two-time murderer Gary Haugen told the Oregonian in a phone interview from prison on Wednesday that the governor cited some of the same criticisms that Haugen has raised. The 49-year-old inmate had waived his legal challenges and prepared for execution next month in part to protest a system he says is broken.