In brief: Washington State Patrol chief suffers stroke

TACOMA – The head of the Washington State Patrol, Chief John Batiste, is recovering after suffering a stroke while on vacation in Hawaii over the weekend.

The News Tribune reported that Batiste was vacationing with his family when he had the stroke. Doctors have advised against him flying, so he remains in Hawaii, where he is undergoing physical therapy.

Spokesman Bob Calkins said the State Patrol takes it as a good sign that Batiste started therapy so quickly.

He said Batiste hopes to return to the mainland by Thanksgiving and be back at work within a few months.

Batiste was appointed chief in February 2005.

An assault suspect’s girlfriend is facing a charge of witness intimidation after allegedly screaming “derogatory, threatening insults” at a witness in the hallway outside the Spokane County courtroom where her boyfriend was on trial, according to court documents.

Kaley J. Hilderbrand, 23, was attending the trial of her boyfriend, Lawrence Adams, on Tuesday before Judge John Cooney. Adams, 28, faces several charges of first-degree assault. The witness testified that Adams beat her and her boyfriend. Court documents in the case allege that Adams used his fists and a homemade club to beat them severely enough that the witness’s boyfriend passed out and stopped breathing.

After the witness completed her testimony, Hilderbrand reportedly followed her into the hallway at the courthouse and began shouting at her. Several people, including an advocate for victims and witnesses from the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office, told police that they saw the confrontation. The witness told police that she was afraid Hilderbrand was about to assault her, according to court documents.

Hilderbrand was ordered held on $5,000 bond during a brief court appearance Wednesday.

Holocaust exhibit to make CdA stop

The Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene is hosting a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The exhibit, “The Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals, 1933-1945,” will run through Jan. 7. It’s open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

An opening reception will be 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the institute, 414 Mullan Road.

In addition to killing 6 million Jews, the Nazis targeted Gypsies, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled and thousands of homosexuals, primarily gay men.

Craig new finance chair of Idaho GOP

BOISE – The Idaho Republican Party has named former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig as financial chair of its executive committee.

Party officials said Wednesday that Craig fills an empty volunteer fundraising position.

Craig was arrested in a 2007 airport bathroom sex sting.

He was accused of soliciting sex in a men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by an undercover officer.

According to the officer, Craig tapped his foot under the stall and signaled that he wanted sex.

He retired in 2009, after which he faced legal battles with the Federal Elections Commission over his use of campaign funds. In September, a federal judge ordered him to pay nearly $242,000 to the U.S. Treasury for improperly using campaign funds to cover legal expenses associated with the sex sting.

Broadband ruling reversal sought

BOISE – Gov. Butch Otter’s administration is asking an Ada County judge to reconsider his ruling that the $60 million Idaho Education Network broadband contract was issued illegally and is void.

In a 12-page brief filed by the state’s private attorneys, the administration raised several technical and legal questions.

It also said the decision could threaten broadband service for state agencies as well as the network that serves Idaho high schools.

The judge ruled that then-state Department of Administration Director Mike Gwartney illegally cut Syringa Networks out of the contract in 2009 in favor of Qwest, now CenturyLink, and Education Networks of America, both of which are big donors to Otter’s campaigns.

Qwest has donated $35,000 to Otter’s campaigns since 2006; ENA has given $18,250. Syringa sued.