Briefly

Police issue warning on ‘federal grant’ scam

Spokane police warned residents Sunday not to fall for a “federal grant” scam after a woman told police she had been called six times in the past week. The caller said she was eligible for a $25,000 federal grant, and all she had to do was pay them $480.

The woman told the callers she was not interested, but the calls continued.

The scam is based on a federal Agriculture Department grant for farmers who grow a specific item. There’s no payment of $480 attached to the legitimate grant.

The calls are fraudulent efforts to obtain money and perhaps a checking account number from the victims. Police advise anyone who gets these calls to hang up.

Member of bishops’ review board to speak at GU

A member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth will be the featured speaker Thursday as part of Gonzaga University’s “Catholicism for a New Millenium” series.

Alice Bourke Hayes, president of the University of San Diego, will talk about her experience working on the board and its final report to the bishops.

A native of Chicago, Hayes spent 27 years at Loyola University of Chicago, where she served as vice president for academic affairs, associate academic vice president and dean for the natural sciences. A biologist with a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Northwestern University, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow, she has published many books and articles on the natural sciences and on Catholic higher education.

Her presentation will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Cataldo Hall on the GU campus. For more information, call Pat McCormick at 323-6715.

Local police prostitution sting leads to 6 arrests

Six people were arrested Friday afternoon in a prostitution sting, Spokane police said in a news release Sunday.

Male and female police officers posed as prostitutes or would-be customers and arrested four women and two men in the area of Sprague, First Avenue, Madelia and Pine.

Those arrested, and the addresses they gave police, were: 37-year-old Kerri L. Wilson, a transient; 23-year-old Shannon P. Houston, 1205 S. Oberlin; 44-year-old Tina M. Roberts, 907 W. Fairview; 42-year-old Julie L. Chapman, 604 E. Eighth Avenue; 34-year-old David A. Wade, 19017 E. Fourth Avenue; and 48-year-old Steven A. Ostlie, 6915 N. Pine Rock Place.

All were cited and released, police said.

Police operate prostitute and “john” stings when they have a relatively slow period of calls.