In brief: Arena dropping Bon Jovi from name

Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena managers decided late Thursday evening to drop a publicity stunt announced Thursday morning.

After arena managers announced that they were temporarily changing its name to the Bon Jovi Veterans Arena, local veterans and community members criticized the decision on social media.

“We didn’t really expect people to react the way they did,” arena General Manager Matt Gibson said Friday.

Gibson said in the original announcement that the renaming was intended to show “Because We Can” tour promoters that Spokane was serious about hosting the rock band. Big names like Bon Jovi rarely come to Spokane, so booking the concert was a huge accomplishment, he said.

“It wasn’t meant to be anything other than a goofy promotional stunt for the concert,” Gibson said Friday.

Bon Jovi will play in Spokane on Oct. 6.

Kaitlin Gillespie

Prolific thief arrested in Flour Mill break-in

A prolific thief nicknamed “Strollin’ Nolan” is back behind bars, accused of burglarizing a mail room.

Fred W. Nolan Jr., 43, was arrested Thursday on charges of second-degree burglary and malicious mischief, according to a police statement.

Nolan broke into the mail room at the Flour Mill, 621 W. Mallon Ave., on Sunday, according to police documents.

An employee found the room broken into and mail from 24 businesses in the building rifled through and some possibly stolen.

Surveillance video shows Nolan breaking into the room at about 4:30 p.m., according to police. It also shows him trying to break into several lockboxes, breaking a lock out of one of them. Damage was estimated at $600.

Nolan was arrested after a police officer recognized him near the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Nolan’s criminal history includes 38 felony convictions since 1992, including theft, burglary, possession of stolen property and malicious mischief.

“It’s a chronic problem,” police spokeswoman Monique Cotton said.

Nolan is known for a disappearing act in 1997, when he walked out of a police interrogation room where he was being held on suspicion of a burglary, still in handcuffs, according to Spokesman-Review archives.

Nolan then mailed the handcuffs back to police.

Staff reports