In brief: Several UW students injured in crash on California highway

BRADLEY, Calif. – Two vans carrying 22 University of Washington students to a conference collided on a central coast highway Friday, injuring seven students, including two who were hurt when they were ejected from one of the vans, the California Highway Patrol said.

The vans were driving south side by side on U.S. 101 near Bradley in Monterey County when they crashed into each other around 12:30 p.m., Officer Joel Newby said.

The collision sent one van into the center divide, where it rolled over. Two students were ejected through a broken window. The CHP initially said the two students were seriously injured but later described their injuries as moderate.

The two students were taken by helicopter to trauma centers. Two other students were taken by ambulance to local hospitals, also suffering from moderate injuries.

The remaining injured students suffered minor injuries that didn’t require medical treatment, the CHP said.

The students, undergraduates from the university’s Foster School of Business, belonged to an organization that connects American students with internships abroad, as well as foreign students with internships in the U.S., university spokesman Bob Roseth said. In all, there were three vans transporting 33 Washington students to the organization’s regional conference in Santa Maria.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Marijuana odor during standoff leads to growing operation

Authorities responding to a Spokane Valley standoff sniffed out and busted a marijuana growing operation nearby.

Sheriff’s detectives executed a search warrant at the house on the 12100 block of East Valleyway Avenue on Thursday and found an “active marijuana grow in the basement of the residence that included 49 marijuana plants, two pounds of finished product and baggies and scales consistent with drug scales,” sheriff’s Deputy Craig Chamberlin said in a news release.

The bust came after units from the Spokane Valley Police Department and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office responded to a standoff on the same block on Feb. 15. Members of the Hostage Negotiation Team could smell marijuana odor emanating from a nearby residence and eventually pinpointed where the smell was coming from, Chamberlin said.

The house was empty when detectives searched it. The investigation is ongoing.

Use of Force Commission’s first meeting Wednesday

The commission that will examine how the Spokane Police Department uses force and questions surrounding the city’s handling of the Otto Zehm case will meet for the first time next week.

The city announced that the Use of Force Commission’s first meeting will start at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the City Council Chambers at Spokane City Hall. It will be televised on CityCable 5.

Time will be set aside for public comment.

The commission includes five members, including former Gonzaga Law School Dean Earl Martin, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and Ivan Bush, equal opportunity officer for Spokane Public Schools.

Zehm died in a hospital two days after he was beaten, shocked with a Taser and hog-tied by police at a north Spokane convenience store in 2006. The first responding officer, Karl F. Thompson Jr., was convicted by a federal jury of violating Zehm’s civil rights and lying to investigators.

Police arrest ex-girlfriend of suspect in trooper’s killing

PORT ORCHARD/LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The ex-girlfriend of Joshua Blake, the man police said gunned down a Washington State Patrol trooper, was arrested Friday and charged with rendering criminal assistance.

Bail for Jessi Leigh Foster, 32, a mother of two, one of whom is Blake’s daughter, was set at $500,000.

Police said Blake, 28, killed State Patrol Trooper Tony Radulescu during a traffic stop Thursday morning before taking his own life several hours later.

Blake contacted Foster after abandoning the vehicle he was in and asked her for a ride, police said.

During this time, Foster attempted to call people for a ride from the residence, but she did not try to call 911. As a SWAT team approached those trailers, Blake shot himself and later died.