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

Head

AUBURN, Wash. – Investigators say a 41-year-old man was killed in a fire near Auburn that apparently began when he threw a Molotov cocktail at police.

The King County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were investigating a vandalism complaint Tuesday afternoon when the man threw the incendiary device, ran into a nearby building and barricaded himself.

Fire investigators said the flames from the Molotov cocktail spread to the building in which the man was barricaded, and that he was either unwilling or unable to escape. They said he likely died of smoke inhalation.

His identity has not been released.

One of the deputies suffered minor burns from the device. His uniform caught fire and he had to “stop, drop and roll” to put it out. He was treated and released from a hospital.

Head

here

PARMA, Idaho – Several construction workers were injured when a building that was under construction collapsed in the southwestern Idaho town of Parma.

Paramedics said the workers were believed to be standing on top of the building when it collapsed Wednesday afternoon.

Parma Police Chief Albert Erickson said neither the exact number of people injured nor the extent of their injuries was immediately known.

The building under construction was on property owned by the JC Watson Company, an onion growing, packing and shipping business.

Head

here

OLYMPIA – The woman who has been trying to keep Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital from failing has been appointed to run the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that Cheryl Strange will replace acting DSHS secretary Bill Moss beginning Sept. 18.

Pat Lashway and then Moss were appointed after the former secretary, Kevin Quigley, resigned in January 2016 amid growing problems with the agency, which cares for the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

Strange took over as CEO of Western State Hospital last year as federal regulators threatened to strip its funding over safety violations.

Inslee says Strange brings the “strategic management skills” needed to run the social services agency.

He says a search is underway for a new CEO for the psychiatric hospital.