In brief: Man accused of choking girlfriend
Spokane police arrested a man reported to be armed after he allegedly attempted to strangle his live-in girlfriend.
Wayne S. Cooper, 28, was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree assault, according to Sgt. Jason Hartman.
About 12:40 p.m. Saturday, police responded to the 2600 block of East Fourth Avenue to reports of a man with a 9 millimeter handgun. They spoke to Cooper’s girlfriend, who said he strangled her almost to the point of passing out, threw her into a vehicle and fled with the weapon, Hartman said.
About a half-dozen officers scoured the area, but one officer eventually reached Cooper on his phone and persuaded him to surrender.
He was taken into custody without incident, and no gun was found.
Army reviewing handling of PTSD
SEATTLE – Two doctors on a Madigan Army Medical Center team have been temporarily removed from clinical duties as the Army reviews the team’s handling of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of more than a dozen soldiers.
Army officials did not name the doctors but confirmed they had been assigned to administrative work, the Seattle Times reported.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said one of the doctors, Dr. William Keppler, allegedly made inappropriate remarks about patients and the financial costs of disability benefits. The other doctor was not named by Murray, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Keppler leads a team responsible for assessing PTSD diagnoses for hundreds of soldiers under consideration for medical retirement at Madigan, on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Aging sculpture slated for removal
SANDPOINT – An abstract art structure put up a decade ago at the Bonner County Courthouse as a counterbalance to an Aryan Nations plan to parade through Sandpoint is slated to be removed.
Bonner County commissioners voted last week to remove the timber-and-steel structure called “Tolerance” that is rotting at the base.
Artist David Kraisler said it’s OK to remove the structure because it has served its purpose. The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force also doesn’t object.
Cabin crawl space just right for bear
BUTTE – A 200-pound black bear found the crawl space below a Georgetown Lake cabin a perfect hibernation spot and snatched some blankets and pillows from the cabin’s bedroom to make it even more comfy.
Cabin owner Judy Wing, of Missoula, told the Montana Standard that the family discovered the bear on a Jan. 1 visit to the seasonal cabin in Western Montana.
The family nailed shut the hatch in the floor and covered the outside opening with brush to keep the bear warm and hidden until it leaves in the spring.
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Jamie Jonkel said bears sometimes hibernate in seasonal cabins, perhaps viewing them as a big rock or hollow log.