Inmate attempted gouging, jail says
A Spokane County Jail inmate has been charged with first-degree assault for allegedly trying to gouge out another inmate’s eye with a pencil.
Documents filed this week in Superior Court say Scott Gregory Gaffigan, 42, was offended when Brandon E. Jenkins, 26, complained about a bad odor while they were near each other in a common area on Nov. 14.
Jenkins had puncture marks on his cheek and two wounds to the arm he raised to protect his eye, authorities said.
“I told that kid to shut … up, and he wouldn’t,” Gaffigan reportedly told a corrections officer, who asked if Gaffigan tried to stab Jenkins with a pencil. “Yeah, I told him I’d cut his … eye out.”
Court documents say Gaffigan told another corrections officer he tossed away his pencil before confronting Jenkins.
“I don’t need a … pencil,” he reportedly told the corrections officer. “I will dig his … eye out with my … bare hands.”
Gaffigan, who was convicted of third-degree assault last year, was jailed Nov. 11 on suspicion of a new third-degree assault. He was released Nov. 15 when charges weren’t filed within 72 hours but was jailed again Sunday on suspicion of disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer.
Jenkins began serving a nine-month sentence on Sept. 15 for second-degree robbery.
RITZVILLE, Wash.
Tests fail to ID child’s skull
DNA tests have failed to establish the identity of a child whose skull was found last summer in a field by U.S. Highway 395, and Adams County Sheriff Douglas Barger hopes the FBI can do better.
Scientists at the health sciences laboratory of the University of North Texas in Forth Worth were unable to extract enough DNA from the bones, Barger said Wednesday.
“The FBI thinks they might be more successful,” he said.
A farmer found the skull in three pieces Aug. 12 in a field just south of this Eastern Washington town, and no other bone fragments were found despite an extensive search covering about 100 acres. The bones had been damaged by field burning.
Investigators have said the skull might be from one of two missing children – Cody Haynes, 11, who vanished from his family’s home in Kittitas in September 2004, or Sofia Juarez, 5, who was last seen in Kennewick in February 2003.
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow schools hope to boost levy
The Moscow School District wants more money.
Superintendent Candis Donicht aims to schedule a vote by as early as March to ask residents to boost the existing $5.6 million levy by more than a third, to $7.6 million. The Moscow School Board will consider the issue at its Dec. 19 meeting.
In Idaho, school districts have increasingly relied on supplemental levies to cover the rising cost of textbooks, bus drivers and extracurricular activities.
Since 1995, the number of districts with these property tax levies has risen to more than 50. Their value has jumped by half to around $70 million, the state Department of Education has said.
Even though Donicht wants more money, she said any new funding wouldn’t go to cover new items – only to pay for existing expenses that have risen with inflation. “We’re not asking for any additional money for anything new,” she said. “We’re just asking to maintain the status quo.”
Moscow taxpayers will pay $553 per $100,000 in taxable value in 2007. If voters approve the proposed $2 million increase, the figure would rise to $696 per $100,000 in 2008.
Spokane
Police say man fled from crash
A 27-year-old man was booked into jail Thursday on suspicion of vehicular assault in a hit-and-run collision.
Police say Nathan Moulton fled on foot after his sport utility vehicle ran a red light at Maxwell and Washington shortly after midnight and struck a car at high speed. Police and state troopers searched the area and arrested Moulton.
A passenger in the car was taken to a hospital with possible head, neck and shoulder injuries.
Compiled from staff
and wire reports