In brief: Used car dealer sentenced to jail for battery of woman
The owner of an Inland Northwest used car dealership was sentenced to 30 days in jail for battery involving a woman who showed up for a job interview.
Monte Masengale, 77, the owner of Greenacres Motors, took the victim to his Post Falls dealership on Oct. 14, 2012, and showed her inside an RV, according to the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office. Masengale then embraced and began kissing her and put his hands inside her clothing, telling her he wanted her to have sex with him, officials said. The victim, who had responded to an advertisement Masengale had placed in The Spokesman-Review, refused his advances and called police.
Idaho 1st District Magistrate Scott Wayman sentenced Masengale Friday to the jail time plus one year of unsupervised probation.
Masengale also was sentenced to two days in jail in Spokane County last July for assault with sexual motivation after he kissed and hugged another woman who had answered a similar ad.
Greenacres Motors has car lots in Spokane and Spokane Valley.
Suspected thief faces new charges
A suspected car prowler implicated in the theft of weapons and gear belonging to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent in the parking lot of a Spokane hotel in March has been booked on dozens of new criminal charges.
Aaron Cunningham, 37, appeared in Spokane Superior Court on Monday where a judge set his bail at $100,000. Cunningham was initially arrested in March after a federal agent reported a rifle, a shotgun and a bulletproof vest missing from his work vehicle. Michael Murray, also known as Belton, was also arrested. Investigators used a GPS tracker and surveillance video to determine Cunningham and Murray (Belton) were involved in a string of thefts that included the taking of personal banking records and credit cards.
Detectives requested 56 criminal charges, including theft, identity theft, theft of a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm. Murray (Belton) is also in custody on $75,000 bond after appearing in court Tuesday.
North Idaho woman dies in car crash
A Bonners Ferry woman died in a collision Wednesday morning along U.S. Highway 2 in North Idaho, according to the Idaho State Police.
Jennie L. Starr, 68, struck another car from behind that was waiting to turn into a driveway to attend an auction outside of Bonners Ferry. Starr, who was not wearing a seat belt, was killed.
The driver of the other car, Keri L. Bodnar, 58, was wearing a seat belt and was not injured.
CdA veterans event helps with basics
Homeless and disadvantaged veterans will be provided medical, dental, counseling, housing, clothing and food assistance Saturday in Coeur d’Alene.
The 21st annual North Idaho Veterans Stand Down will be held at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s sponsored by St. Vincent de Paul, American Legion Post 143, United Way of Kootenai County and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Lakewood Animal Hospital will be there to provide free pet examinations and care. Other free services include haircuts and bike repair and minor tune-ups.
Volunteers are needed: register at kootenaiunitedway.org.
Information: Eric Swanbeck, St. Vincent de Paul veteran services coordinator, (208) 704-0548.
State attorney sides with statue ruling
HELENA – Montana’s attorney general said Wednesday that he supports keeping a 6-foot-tall statue of Jesus next to a Whitefish ski hill as a group of atheists and agnostics seek to remove it from U.S. Forest Service land.
Attorney General Tim Fox and the American Legion filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as it considers the legal challenge by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Fox is asking the court to uphold a federal judge’s August ruling that allows the Forest Service to reissue a 10-year permit for the statue that has stood at Whitefish Mountain Resort for decades.
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s organization, had the statue erected on the site in the 1950s.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said in his August ruling that the statue is used more for photo opportunities and as a meeting point than for solemn religious reflection.
Portland bike mural ordered removed
PORTLAND – The owner of Pedal Bike Tours in Portland has been ordered to remove a mural tourists love to photograph that reads, “Welcome to America’s Bicycle Capital.”
The city says it’s too big.
Owner Todd Roll tells KOIN he and his wife painted the mural in 2012 and thought it was allowed because there had been a sign there previously.