In brief: Horizon advises fliers to check Web site
Air travelers are advised to check with the Horizon Airlines Web site before making plans to fly in or out of Spokane over the weekend, an airline spokesman said.
The airline canceled 89 flights on Friday, due to inspections still required for its fleet of 33 Bombardier Aerospace Q400 aircraft. Recent landing gear problems on those aircraft have prompted the safety review, said Horizon spokesman Josh Campbell.
On Saturday, four Horizon flights arriving and departing from Spokane have been canceled; on Sunday the number will drop to three canceled flights incoming and outgoing, said Campbell.
By Tuesday, the company will post a fixed domestic flight schedule that will remain in place through Sept. 25. By that point all inspections should be completed, said Campbell.
Tom Sowa
Pullman
Suspect arrested in rape, sorority break-ins
Pullman police arrested one suspect Friday after a rash of sorority break-ins Thursday morning, including one in which a Washington State University student was sexually assaulted.
Kyle M. Schott, 23, a WSU student, is facing one count of first-degree rape after a Kappa Alpha Theta resident woke to find two men in her room, attempting to rape her. Schott also faces one count of first-degree burglary, one count of attempted burglary and two counts of residential burglary, according to a Pullman police news release.
The Pi Beta Phi and Delta Gamma sororities were also burglarized Thursday morning, the release states.
Police were looking for a second man involved in the sexual assault. He called himself “Jack” on Thursday and said he is a “porn star,” according to police. He is in his 20s and has two known tattoos, depicting a solid triangle on the back of his neck and an ammunition belt around his right thigh.
Investigators also were seeking a possible third suspect who may have stayed outside the sororities to watch for police, the release states.
– Staff reports
Stevens County
Man gets 4-year term for fatal crash
A 19-year-old Chewelah, Wash., man has been sentenced to a maximum-standard four-year prison term for a drunken traffic accident that killed one of his passengers.
Kenneth Dean Fantasia had a previous conviction for drunken driving when he recently pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication.
The first drunken-driving case was still pending in July 2006 when Fantasia crashed his truck on Farm to Market Road, between Waitts Lake and Chewelah. John Jacob Lembcke, 23, also of Chewelah, was killed. He and two other passengers, who weren’t seriously injured, were thrown from the truck when it flipped and burned.
Stevens County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker noted that Fantasia also had prior convictions for minor in possession of alcohol, assault and resisting arrest.
Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said Fantasia admitted he had been drinking beer, and a blood test showed he also had been using marijuana.
– John Craig
Spokane
Two men trapped near dam rescued
Spokane firefighters rescued two men early Friday when they became trapped on the Spokane River near Avista’s Post Street dam.
One of the men was seriously injured in a fall and was carried out of the gorge in a rescue basket.
Rescue efforts began shortly before 1 a.m. when the fire department’s technical rescue team was called to the north side of the river, just below the Post Street Bridge. They found two men on the rocks below the dam.
Deputy Chief Dave Leavenworth said he doesn’t think the men were trying to vandalize the dam, but were bored and looking for something to do. They were able to walk along the spillway because this time of year Avista doesn’t spill water at night.
“The area around dams is extremely dangerous,” said Avista spokeswoman Debbie Simock.
– Amy Cannata