Woman says boy ran after her car hit him
A Rathdrum woman told police she hit a teenage boy around 9 p.m. Wednesday while driving on Interstate 90. But authorities have not found an injured person or a body.
“We have no reason to disbelieve her,” Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo said Thursday.
Katherine Broughton said she was driving westbound on I-90 through Post Falls when the boy ran across the freeway and was struck by her car, Longo said.
She told police the teen, dressed in a gray T-shirt and black pants, ran off. A side mirror on her car was damaged.
Four state troopers and some Post Falls police officers spent nearly an hour looking for a victim with no success. Longo said Broughton pulled over, called police and has been cooperative with investigators.
He said she wasn’t impaired in any way.
Kootenai Medical Center did not have anyone seeking treatment for injuries consistent with an accident of that nature, Longo said.
“There’s no crime,” he said. “We took the report for insurance purposes. It may very well end this way unless someone comes forward and says she hit them.”
– Taryn Brodwater
Coeur d’Alene
NIC nursing receives gift of $735,000
The North Idaho College nursing department has been given its largest gift ever: $735,000 from the estate of John L. Harrison.
The trustee for the longtime Coeur d’Alene resident said Harrison received quality nursing care in the area and wanted to give back to nursing, said Pam Noah, development coordinator of the NIC Foundation.
Harrison was the golf course supervisor at the Hayden Lake Country Club for 42 years. He died at 98 in April 2005.
The gift is the third largest in NIC’s history and was the largest donation from Harrison’s living trust.
The area Shriners Hospital, Children’s Village and Humane Society also received donations.
The NIC gift carries no restrictions other than it be used to support the nursing department.
The college and foundation staff plan to discuss soon how to use the funds.
– Rasha Madkour
Mullan, Idaho
Valve shutoff leaves town powerless
The entire town of Mullan, Idaho, lost natural gas service around noon Wednesday when a valve was shut off during maintenance of a gas line, Avista Utilities spokeswoman Debbie Simock said Thursday.
Simock said 386 homes and businesses were affected and about 150 customers remained without service Thursday morning.
Avista sent employees from Spokane and Coeur d’Alene to go door to door to relight pilot lights.
“It takes about a half-hour at each location to check it out and get the pilot light lit,” Simock said. “It’s a slow process.”
She said the company hoped to have gas service completely restored by the end of Thursday.
– Taryn Brodwater