In brief: UGM to open center in North Idaho
Although the Union Gospel Mission’s new Center for Women and Children in Coeur d’Alene doesn’t open until September, women are already calling to reserve a spot there.
A dedication ceremony will be held at the site, 196 W. Haycraft Ave., on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
The center will be Kootenai County’s first residential long-term recovery center for homeless women and children, said Barbara Comito, a staff writer for the Union Gospel Mission. Women there will receive tools and skills to re-enter society as contributing members through its 18-month recovery program.
Members of the public are invited to attend the dedication. Tours of the facility will be offered after the ceremony until 7 p.m.
The center, which can house up to 100 people, has been in the works since its conception in 2009 and was funded, in part, by a grant and public and private donations. The total cost was $8 million.
Police still looking for stabbing suspect
Police are investigating a stabbing that took place early Saturday in southeast Spokane.
The stabbing occurred in the area of East Fourth Avenue and South Fiske Street. The victim sustained a stab wound in the chest, described by police as life-threatening, and the suspect escaped the scene.
Witnesses said the suspect left eastbound on Third Avenue, KHQ reported. No arrests have been made.
Man wounded after target explodes
A Spokane man was wounded in the shoulder Saturday by shrapnel from an exploding target, officials said.
Ronald Kiima, 50, of Spokane, was with several people target-shooting south of Steptoe, Wash. They were using Star Targets, which are designed to explode when struck by bullets, according to a news release from the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office.
The exploding targets are legal to use, but investigators said the targets were not being used at their recommended minimum distance, and a metal box placed near the target ripped apart, “sending shrapnel in all directions.” Kiima was struck in the right shoulder by the shrapnel, the release said.
Kiima was transported by helicopter to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Three injured in train-truck crash
Three people were hospitalized Saturday after a pickup truck was hit by an Amtrak train traveling 79 mph near Tenino, Wash.
Four people were in a 2004 Ford F-150 that stopped on the tracks “for an unknown reason” just after 2 p.m. near McDuff Road and Fenton Avenue, said Washington State Patrol spokesman Guy Gill.
“The train struck the front area of the pickup, which really saved their lives,” Gill said.