In brief: Commercial vehicles to be inspected for safety
For the next 72 hours, 10,000 federal, state, provincial and local inspectors will examine commercial vehicles throughout North America.
The inspections are part of International Roadcheck, which kicked off Tuesday at the Spokane port of entry station at the state line. This year, inspections will focus on cargo securement, although inspectors will do full vehicle inspections.
Two demonstration trucks were inspected after the news conference. Officials emphasized the importance of these inspections in preventing accidents. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance estimates International Roadcheck has prevented 318 deaths since 1988.
“If I can walk out of my career and say I saved one person’s life, I’d say I had a successful career,” said Capt. Derek Barrs of the Florida Highway Patrol.
During the operation, 17 buses or trucks will be checked every minute throughout North America, officials said. Last year 18.7 percent of vehicles inspected were placed out of service – with 29.5 percent of those violations being brake-related.
“It’s not our goal to write tickets,” said Capt. Mike Dahl of the Washington State Patrol. “It’s to change behavior.”
Woman sentenced for selling pills
A 28-year-old Post Falls woman will spend the next three years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge of illegally selling prescription painkillers.
Fawnie L. Bracamonte was sentenced Tuesday to 40 months in prison and three years of probation by U.S. District Court Judge Edward L. Lodge. Bracamonte was arrested in August by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department and indicted two months later on a charge of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams of oxycodone, an opiate targeted by the Food and Drug Administration for its high rate of abuse.
Bracamonte bought prescriptions, then took them to various pharmacies to be filled in 2012 and 2013, according to court documents. She admitted to investigators that she was addicted to the pills and has asked for drug rehabilitation while incarcerated. She is in custody in the Kootenai County Jail on other drug-related charges.
County to raze house in floodway
A $509,000 federal grant will allow Bonner County to purchase and raze a home that was improperly built in the Pack River’s floodway, potentially jeopardizing other local landowners’ ability to get flood insurance.
The house is near the confluence of the Pack River and Grouse Creek, where high water velocities and floating debris could cause significant damage during flooding, said Clare Marley, the county’s planning director.
Bonner County issued permits for the two-story home on Colburn Culver Road in 1994, but when the new owners tried to get permits for outbuildings several years ago, county planners determined the property was in the floodway.
“They didn’t know that when they bought the place,” Marley said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency alerted county officials that leaving the house in the floodway could jeopardize other Bonner County landowners’ ability to purchase private flood insurance through a federally backed program. To participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, communities have to enforce floodplain standards.
FEMA is providing the grant to buy the home and restore the land to a natural state, which requires a $170,000 match from the county.
Marley said the county is in negotiations with the property owners, James and Marlene Stobie, who couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.