In brief: Police arrest man they say stabbed his own dog
A Spokane man who reportedly stabbed his own dog in the throat was arrested early Sunday morning in the 3700 block of North Regal Street.
Someone called police at about 1 a.m. Sunday to report that his uncle had a knife and was threatening people. When police arrived they found Nathan Meier, 24, covered in blood with cuts on his wrists, according to a police news release.
Officers also discovered that Meier reportedly stabbed his dog, a 7-year-old German shepherd named Raider. The dog was seriously injured, the release said.
Meier was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of first-degree animal cruelty after he was treated for his injuries at a local hospital.
Chimpanzee who used sign language dies at Central
ELLENSBURG – A chimpanzee at Central Washington University who learned to use American Sign Language has died at the age of 36.
Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold said the chimpanzee, Dar, died Saturday morning of unknown causes.
Jensvold directs the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. She said an autopsy will be performed in the next few days.
The university said Dar was born at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. He learned to sign from infancy and was moved to CWU in 1981.
Man injured in rollover crash on Interstate 90
MOSES LAKE – An Everett man was injured in a rollover crash near Moses Lake early Sunday, the Washington State Patrol said.
Christopher P. Bates, 26, was driving eastbound on Interstate 90 when he reportedly lost control of his 2001 Ford pickup at 3:55 a.m. The pickup rolled before stopping on the shoulder, troopers said.
Bates was taken to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake. His truck was totaled.
Troopers listed speeding as the cause of the crash.
Ephrata woman injured when car drifts off road
WARDEN, Wash. – An Ephrata woman was reported injured near Warden early Sunday morning when her car drifted off the road into a ditch, the Washington State Patrol said.
Rosendo Gonzalez, 56, was driving westbound on Highway 170 when she drove off the road at 5:19 a.m. She hit the ditch bank, overcorrected and then drove back onto the highway before coming to a stop across both the eastbound and westbound lanes, the State Patrol said.
Gonzalez was taken to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, the State Patrol said.
Scouts, Mormons settle sexual abuse lawsuit
BOISE – The Boys Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a Portland man who said they didn’t do enough to stop a Scout troop leader from sexually abusing children.
The Idaho Statesman reports that a document filed Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Boise said both sides agreed to an undisclosed monetary settlement.
Oregon attorney Gilion Dumas represents the Portland man and said the settlement will be final once a judge approves a request from both sides to dismiss the suit.
The lawsuit alleges the leader of a Boy Scout troop in Nampa in southwestern Idaho sexually abused the plaintiff over three years in both Idaho and Oregon starting in 1967, and that the abuse left him with debilitating physical, emotional and mental injuries.
The lawsuit was initially filed in February 2008 in Malheur County Circuit Court in Vale, Ore., by a then-53-year-old man who sought $5 million in damages.