In brief: Avista users get electric bill credit

Avista Utilities’ residential and small-farm customers in Washington and Idaho will receive a credit on their monthly electric bill effective today.

Customers using an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month will see a decrease of $2.90 in Washington and $6.98 in Idaho. The credit runs through Oct. 31. The amount varies by state because Idaho customers were paying an extra charge.

The credit is part of the Bonneville Power Administration’s “residential exchange program,” created to ensure that all Northwest residents get a financial benefit from federal hydroelectric generation on the Columbia and Snake rivers. In essence, the program allows public and private utilities to swap higher-cost power they generate for lower-cost hydropower generated by 31 federal dams.

The BPA suspended the credits after a federal court held last year that the agency’s formula for distributing benefits of the Columbia River hydropower system violated federal law. On Feb. 22, the BPA said it would restore a part of those benefits temporarily until a new long-term formula is developed this year.

Avista’s share of the BPA payout is $9.6 million.

Spokane

Democrats plan Obama rally

Inland Northwest supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will hold a rally at one Spokane city park Saturday morning, then march to another. It’s part of a nationwide effort to hold Obama rallies across the country. The Spokane rally will start at 9 a.m. in the city’s Liberty Park, the campaign said. After speeches, including one by state Sen. Chris Marr, supporters will be asked to join a march to Mission Park, about two miles away.

Cheney

Man who died in fall identified

Spokane County authorities on Thursday identified the 71-year-old Cheney man who died in a fall.

Leslie A. Harris left his home last weekend to erect a turkey blind atop a 40-foot cliff on the east shore of Badger Lake, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

His wife called neighbors Monday when he failed to return home.

The neighbors summoned deputies after they found Harris’ body at the base of the cliff with head injuries.

The Spokane County medical examiner’s office has ruled the death an accident, Reagan said.

Coeur d’Alene

Man charged with domestic violence

A Coeur d’Alene man was arrested Wednesday after his wife told police that he held a gun to her head and twice threatened to kill her.

The 34-year-old woman reported the incident Tuesday. She told police she had fled the home with the couple’s children, ages 12 and 8, Coeur d’Alene police spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood said in a press release.

The woman told officers that 32-year-old Gene A. Rives had been drinking.

Officers spent two hours outside the home Tuesday but couldn’t make contact with Rives, Wood said.

On Wednesday, they obtained a search warrant for the home and an arrest warrant for Rives, who has an extensive criminal history and two outstanding warrants from Washington.

They found him hiding in the attic, with a BB gun that looked like a 9 mm Glock handgun.

Some city streets were shut down from 8 to 10 p.m., Wood said.

Rives was jailed on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of domestic violence in the presence of children, she said.