In brief: More jail workers get layoff notices

Spokane County officials say they will lay off an additional 10 jail employees to offset budget shortfalls they attribute to a drop in the number of inmates.

The 57 employees already facing layoffs were notified May 18 and will lose their jobs June 16.

The 10 additional employees – eight at Geiger Corrections Center and two at the Spokane County Jail – were notified today and will be out of work July 16.

“This is an incredibly hard thing to have to do, and it isn’t pretty,” Capt. John McGrath said in a memo to Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and corrections staff, according to a news release. “It’s as low as we can get and still operate the two sites safely.”

The 57 layoffs include 30 corrections deputies at Geiger – more than 40 percent of the deputies there.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Wenatchi Band’s fishing rights upheld

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the Wenatchi Band’s legal right to fish for salmon at Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, Wash.

Thursday’s ruling should settle a decades-long dispute between the band, which is part of the Confederated Colville Tribes, and the Yakama Nation, said John Stensgar, vice chairman of the Colville Business Council.

The 9th Circuit determined that both the Yakamas and the Wenatchis have rights to the Wenatshapam fishery on Icicle Creek. The Yakama Nation had argued that its members had exclusive rights to a tribal fishery there through an 1855 treaty and later agreement with the U.S. government. The 9th Circuit Court’s ruling affirmed an earlier district court decision.

“We are pleased that the 9th Circuit has recognized these centuries-old connections to the area and the rights of the Wenatchi members to continue to fish in their ancestral territory,” Stensgar said.

Becky Kramer

S-R’s grads section available online

Check out our Grads 2010 section online, where you’ll find complete graduation lists for dozens of schools in the Spokane area and North Idaho.

We even have individual pages for thousands of graduating seniors, where you can use your Facebook account to say congratulations.

It’s easy to find your favorite student: Just visit spokesman.com/grads and click on his or her school.

If you’d like to sponsor one of our Grads 2010 pages, get in touch with us. E-mail webteam@spokesman.com, or call (509) 459-5587.