In brief: Social worker sentenced in child porn case

A state social worker who licensed foster homes has received a five-year prison sentence for distribution of child pornography.

Darrell J. Rogers, 52, pleaded guilty to federal charges in August.

FBI agents arrested him at his home in the 7100 block of North Westgate Place in the Indian Trail area in north Spokane, where he lives with his wife.

Rogers told FBI agents his wife, who specializes in finding homes for children who are wards of the state, had nothing to do with the child pornography they were investigating, according to court documents. The FBI began investigating Rogers in February after an agent in Maryland downloaded child pornography from an Internet user in Spokane.

The material includes children – including infants – being sexually assaulted by men and women.

Darrell Rogers was a social worker for 10 years with the Department of Social and Health Services beginning in 1995, said Thomas Shapley, DSHS spokesman. He began licensing foster homes in 2005, Shapley said in an earlier interview.

Thomas Clouse

Resort owner Joe Peak dies of blood disease

Joe Peak, well-known as the owner of the 132-year-old Enaville Resort north of Kellogg, died Saturday at age 66.

Peak had multiple myeloma, a blood disease similar to leukemia, and underwent a stem-cell transplant in February 2011.

The restaurant and bar along the Coeur d’Alene River, best known as the Snakepit, operated intermittently this year after Peak’s wife, Rose Mary, died in January from endometrial cancer. The couple ran the place for 35 years.

Joe Peak was trying to sell the business and retire. “It’s just too much for me,” he said in an interview in September.

Shoshone Funeral Service is in charge of funeral arrangements, which had not been set as of Monday.

Scott Maben

Eight-hour standoff ends with man’s arrest

Police arrested a man Monday morning following an eight-hour standoff in which he allegedly fired a gun inside his northeast Spokane home.

The standoff blocked early morning traffic for several hours near the home in the 4300 block of East Fairview Avenue. Police identified the man as 51-year-old Steven Zimmerman. Police suspect alcohol may have been a contributing factor.

His wife and 19-year-old son fled the home after an alleged domestic fight and called 911.

Police feared Zimmerman was armed so they shot pepper spray canisters into the home. They later found Zimmerman in a garage.

He was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment and domestic violence.

Nicole Hensley