In brief: Man who died in house fire identified
A man who died in a house fire in Spokane on Saturday was 38-year-old Christopher Rusco, the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office announced Tuesday.
Rusco and Stacy Hains, also 38, died from smoke inhalation after a fire started in a second-story bedroom of their home at 2213 E. Fourth Ave.
Firefighters found Rusco dead in the bedroom. Fire investigators said Monday the fire was accidental but they have not determined a cause.
Source not known of silt plume in lake
The cause of a large silt plume in Lake Coeur d’Alene remained a mystery Tuesday.
Steve Funk, a local resident, noticed the muddy water spilling into Wolf Lodge Bay on Monday and alerted officials at the Forest Service, Idaho Department of Lands and the Department of Environmental Quality. A picture he snapped showed silty water moving across the bay.
But agency officials were unable to detect the cause of the plume.
Based on the high volume of sediment, Forest Service officials were looking for a “point source” for the dirt, such as a creek jumping its banks and cutting into a hillside, a landslide or a road washing out, said Jason Kirchner, Idaho Panhandle National Forests spokesman.
A Forest Service sale, the 889-acre Blue Alder project, is taking place in the watershed above the bay. But logging operations were scaled back earlier to reduce erosion during the recent heavy rains and snowmelt, Kirchner said.
Diane Partridge, a state forest practices adviser, drove around the area on Tuesday afternoon but couldn’t find the source of the plume either. Creeks were running clear below the Forest Service sale and several logging operations on private lands that she inspected.
The plume was still visible in the lake but was not as severe as it was on Monday, Partridge said.
Ethics Board passes on 12-meal rule
OLYMPIA – Washington lawmakers can take up to 12 meals per year from lobbyists, but just what constitutes a “meal” – or who gets to define it – isn’t clear.
The Legislative Ethics Board tried to clear that up Tuesday, just four months after creating the 12-meal rule to limit freebies. In the end, however, the board decided that’s a decision for the Legislature.
“I get a sense that legislators are trying to comply with the 12 meals,” said Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Felida. “I just feel like there’s a lot of ambiguity out there for meals that are more social in nature rather than policy-driven.”
State law says legislators may accept infrequent meals from lobbyists. After wrestling for months to define “infrequent,” the board in October settled on 12 free meals or fewer per year, although legislators can have them over any period they wish.
Police arrest two in South Hill holdup
Spokane police arrested two men in connection with an armed robbery early Tuesday at a gas station on the South Hill.
Just after 6 a.m., two men walked into the Tesoro station at 17th Avenue and Ray Street. One displayed a gun, and the men took cash and other merchandise, police said in a news release. Witnesses said the men fled in a dark-colored town car.
Video surveillance was used to identify the suspects. On Tuesday afternoon, police arrested Jeremy S. Tindal, 29, and Nickolas J. Barth, also known as Nickolas J. Bakun, also 29. They are facing charges of first-degree robbery.
WSU gets $100,000 for medical school
Washington State University’s bid for a new medical school is getting a $100,000 boost from a 1979 graduate.
The commitment from Mikal Thomsen, co-founder of Bellevue-based Trilogy Equity Partners LLC, is for direct support in the founding and operation of a WSU medical school in Spokane, the university said.
“I believe WSU is proposing a practical and sustainable solution that will educate more doctors in our state and prepare them for careers in communities that desperately need their services,” Thomsen said in prepared remarks.
WSU is seeking $2.5 million from the Legislature to begin establishing its own medical school, which would be located in Spokane’s University District.