In brief: Services limited on holiday
The following offices and services will be affected by the Labor Day holiday Monday:
• All Kootenai and Spokane County city and rural garbage pickup will be one day late for the week.
• City, county, state and federal offices will be closed.
• Post offices will be closed.
• State liquor stores in Washington and Idaho will be open.
• Most banks will be closed.
• Riverfront Park and its attractions will be open. Open swim times and lap swims are planned at A.M. Cannon and Witter aquatic centers. Visit http://spokaneparks.org/ Parks/page/47/ for times.
• Free on-street parking will be available in downtown Spokane’s metered spaces Monday.
Panel to review UI safety
Members of an independent review panel have been selected to assess campus safety policies in light of the recent shooting death of a University of Idaho graduate student.
University officials identified a group of experts “who we believe will provide valuable insight and analysis” into how university policies affect student, faculty and staff safety, UI President M. Duane Nellis said in an email Friday. Group members, whose names will be released when their membership is finalized, are experts on higher education, student affairs, campus security and legal affairs, Nellis said.
They will provide their findings and recommendations as quickly as possible, he said, preferably within 30 to 60 days. Nellis directed the creation of the panel in the wake of the killing of Kathryn “Katy” Benoit, 22, who police say was gunned down outside her Moscow apartment by UI assistant professor Ernesto Bustamante, 31, on Aug. 22.
Bustamante was found dead early the next day in a Moscow hotel room after apparently shooting himself.
Shooting victim identified
Authorities on Friday identified a man who was fatally shot near Moses Lake earlier this week.
Michael Vincent Elliot, 39, died of gunshot wounds to the torso, said Craig Morrison, Grant County coroner, who ruled the death a homicide.
Around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, Grant County sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance in the Larson Housing area northwest of Moses Lake, where they found a man with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest, said Chief Deputy Dave Ponozzo in a news release.
The man died shortly after he arrived at a local hospital.
Police said Thursday they have been interviewing a person involved in the shooting, and that person is cooperating with the investigation.
However, that person has not been arrested or named as a suspect in the case.
Guard reviews training sites
The Idaho National Guard is surveying former training sites in North Idaho for environmental hazards.
The largest site – 600 acres of state land near Spirit Lake – was used for guard training maneuvers from 1996 to 2001. Other sites are located near Athol, Bonners Ferry and Garwood.
Some of the sites may have been used for live-fire training. The surveys will determine if munitions are still present and if cleanup is needed, said Lt. Col. Kyle Carpenter.
The Idaho National Guard is working with a contractor who will do initial site surveys, Carpenter said.
Depending on the initial results, some sites may require more in-depth surveys to look for pollutants or hazards, he said.
Besides the North Idaho sites, other former training sites are located near Lewiston, Grangeville, White Bird and Buhl.
Raid unveils suspicious guns
A theft investigation led to a SWAT team raid at a Spokane Valley home Wednesday, where detectives seized several suspected stolen firearms.
Donald Jay Patterson Jr., 42, was arrested as a search warrant was executed at a home in the 3300 block of East 35th Avenue, where police found five guns believed to have been stolen from a home in the 2800 block of North University Road.
Police believe Kevin Robert Boler, 43, brought the stolen guns to the home. He was arrested in the 12000 block of East Valleyway Avenue.
The case began as a burglary, vehicle prowling and identity theft investigation.
A man arrested after Spokane police found a suspected methamphetamine lab was said to be collecting his urine to use in the making of the drug.
Washington Department of Corrections probation officer Scott Wright tipped police to the suspected lab at a home Michael Ward Baker, 54, shares with his elderly mother in the 4500 block of North Hawthorne Street, according to a search warrant.
Wright said neighbors complained about drug activity in the home and another witness said Baker collects his urine “to be recycled for use in manufacturing methamphetamine,” according to the warrant.
Spokane police drug detectives joined DOC officers at the home Wednesday and found Baker staying in the garage, where meth pipes and materials to make meth were present, police said.
Baker has seven previous felony convictions, including two for drugs.
Escaped convict sought
A 21-year-old man escaped a work release program recently. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to the arrest of William V. Woods, who left the Brownstone Work Release Program while serving a sentence for third-degree assault, according to a news release issued Tuesday.
He faces charges of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and two counts of first-degree possession of stolen property for the theft of two cargo trailers and a truck in North Idaho, in addition to a fresh count of escape from community custody.
Woods, 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, is a transient with a previous felony conviction for second-degree theft. Anyone with information on his current location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS or submit tips at www.crimestoppersinlandnorthwest.org.
Tipsters do not have to give their name to collect a reward but should leave a code name or number.