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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Record enrollment again for EWU

From Staff And Wire Reports

Eastern Washington University has posted its sixth-straight year of record enrollment.

The overall headcount for fall quarter climbed 662 students to 13,453, the university said Thursday. The number of first-time freshmen students enrolling this fall is listed at 1,598, just short of the 2005 record of 1,610.

EWU credits its commitment to meeting student interests and expectations, as well as aggressive retention efforts and focus on academic relevance.

The new live-on campus requirement for first-year students, and the recent opening of a new residence hall, also has contributed to what EWU says is the largest residential population in the university’s 132-year history.

Police seek two hit-and-run drivers

Spokane Police are searching for two hit-and-run drivers who struck pedestrians this month.

The first incident was reported at 8 a.m. Oct. 1 near Maxwell Avenue and Ash Street. A 14-year-old boy was crossing in a crosswalk when he was hit by a truck turning from eastbound Maxwell onto southbound Ash.

Police say the driver stopped and gave the boy a ride home, but didn’t provide a name or contact information. The vehicle is described as a black Lincoln pickup truck.

The second incident was at 8 a.m. Wednesday near Garland Avenue and Washington Street. A 15-year-old boy on a skateboard was headed south on Washington when he was hit by a red Ford Focus also going south. The car’s mirror hit the boy, fracturing his back.

Anyone with information on either of the two vehicles involved is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Hiker rescued near Snoqualmie Pass

SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. – The King County sheriff’s office says a Snohomish County helicopter located and rescued a missing hiker and her two dogs near Snoqualmie Pass.

A sheriff’s spokesman says 21-year-old Paula Reuter of Seattle is “pretty healthy,” ate mushrooms while she was lost and was able to build a fire.

Detective Jason Stanley told the Seattle Times that Reuter was taken to a hospital to be checked Thursday after she was reunited with her parents. She was found about 6 miles from where she parked her car and about 10 miles from a trailhead. Stanley says Reuter said she got lost while hiking.

She was last heard from on Monday.

Social Security fraud nets man jail time

SEATTLE – A Renton man who collected his late father’s Social Security checks for nearly two decades was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison.

Patrick Derrick admitted that he collected the benefits, totaling more than $219,000, for 17 years after his father died. The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle says the 67-year-old forged his father’s name on bank documents to continue receiving the checks.

Social Security investigators learned of the father’s death last year and confronted Derrick, but he initially denied taking the money. He eventually confessed, saying he used it to help pay his daughter’s college tuition and to make ends meet between his 21-year military career and his 17-year career with Boeing.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez also ordered him to repay the money.