In brief: Agencies hosting free lunch for homeless
Several area agencies are throwing a Community Lunch for the Homeless today at noon.
The lunch at Cowley Park, 602 S. Division St., is a collaboration of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, Inland Imaging and Catholic Charities Spokane and is being held in conjunction with Catholic Charities centennial celebration.
“This event creates a unique opportunity to welcome all individuals who are homeless … or suffering the effects of poverty to enjoy a summer meal in a parklike setting,” said Ann Marie Byrd, development director for Catholic Charities Spokane.
Sacred Heart will provide hot dogs, chips, salad, watermelon and cookies. Administrative staff members from Sacred Heart, Inland Imaging and Catholic Charities will help serve the meal.
Man stable after being stabbed with sword
An argument between neighbors in the Spokane Valley on Tuesday night ended with a man being stabbed with a sword, sheriff’s deputies say.
Deputies arrived at a home in the 19000 block of East Marlin Drive at 9:50 p.m. to find Jason Abbott lying in the front yard, wounded in the abdomen, a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release said. Witnesses told them 58-year-old Glenn Heister, who lives at the residence with Abbott’s mother, stabbed Abbott during an argument.
Heister told police he stabbed Abbott because he feared for his life, the release said. He said Abbott had struck him with a metal coat hook and a pipe, so he picked up a sword he kept in his room and stabbed Abbott in an attempt to push him out of his room.
Abbott was treated at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. In a statement at the hospital, Abbott told police Heister charged him and that he tried to hold Heister to the ground. Abbott said he tried to leave the residence but Heister grabbed the sword and stabbed him, the release said.
No arrests were made, but the investigation is ongoing. Abbott was listed in stable condition Wednesday.
Amtrak engine derails; no injuries reported
WOODLAND, Wash. – An Amtrak spokeswoman says the lead engine of an Amtrak Cascades train traveling from Portland to Seattle derailed Wednesday evening near Woodland, Wash.
Danelle Hunter said none of the train’s 86 passengers was hurt and the engine remained upright. Crew members were also uninjured.
She said bus transportation was being arranged for the passengers.
Hunter did not immediately know what caused the derailment or when the track would be cleared.
Gregoire signs letter seeking debris relief
OLYMPIA – Washington joined six other Pacific states and territories asking for more federal aid to clean up the debris they expect will hit their shores from last year’s tsunami in Japan.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to approve financial assistance for as-yet-unknown levels of debris the governors fear will overwhelm their coastlines. The state has already received a $50,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Also signing the letter were the governors of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and the territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Dog freed from crevice after prickly encounter
A dog chasing a porcupine got its head stuck in a rock crevice and couldn’t free itself Wednesday in the Liberty Lake area.
Owners called for help to free the German shepherd named Coco.
Animal protection officers Francie Rapier and Nicole Montano arrived at a rugged hillside and were joined by a Spokane Valley fire crew, according to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service.
Rapier found the dog’s head wedged in a crevice down a 2-foot-wide hole. She spent 20 minutes working to free the dog, which had a mouth and muzzle full of porcupine quills.
She turned the dog’s head just the right way to free the animal.
The dog was returned to its owners and carted off for a visit with the family’s veterinarian.