In brief: Springdale mayor gets jail, fine after argument

A small-town mayor in Stevens County received a short jail sentence, a $500 fine and mandatory anger management classes after a jury convicted him of disorderly conduct stemming from an argument with a City Council member.

James Sullivan’s four days in jail will be followed by a year of probation, according to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Saundra Richartz. Security video of the March 10 altercation at the Springdale Town Hall showed Sullivan shoving a rolling office chair being used by Councilman John Kokinda into a corner and preventing him from exiting the room, Richartz said.

Five witnesses testified at trial, Richartz said, several of whom testified they heard Sullivan call Kokinda a “fat (expletive) pig.”

Kokinda did not return a phone message seeking comment. A phone number listed for Sullivan was not answered. A spokeswoman at the town hall for the city of roughly 250 people would not say Wednesday whether Sullivan had resigned, though Richartz said it was mentioned during the court proceedings Tuesday.

Richartz also said Sullivan did not apologize before he was sentenced.

Man allegedly chokes Spokane police dog

A crime suspect trying to avoid arrest choked a Spokane police dog Tuesday night, authorities said.

Richard Urbanski, 29, now faces an added charge of harming the dog.

Officers first arrived at a home in the 600 block of East Ninth Avenue to take Urbanski into custody on an escape warrant, according to a news release.

Urbanski, who police say was involved in an altercation with a deputy sheriff’s dog just a few weeks ago, refused to leave the home when officers arrived.

Police dog Rav found Urbanski, a 10-time convicted felon, hiding under a staircase. Urbanski grabbed the dog by the collar and began choking it, according to officers. Police say Urbanski ignored commands to release the dog so they shot him with a Taser, according to the release.

Rav was not seriously injured.

Witness: Accused cult leader spotted

An man accused of being a cult leader and sex offender who was thought to be in Spokane earlier this year was allegedly spotted by citizens Wednesday leaving a fast food restaurant in the Washington coast town of Raymond in a dark blue Audi.

Victor Barnard, 52, is the leader of the River Road Fellowship. He is suspected of soliciting sex from girls as young as 12, calling them his “maidens” and assuring them they would remain virgins after sex because he was a “man of God,” according to court documents.

Some of his followers have settled in Spokane after leaving rural Minnesota.

A witness told the Washington State Patrol they saw a man who appeared to be Barnard leaving a McDonald’s in Raymond headed toward Aberdeen on State Route 101. The witness reported seeing Barnard in what looked like a dark blue, 2-door Audi sports car with tinted windows and a spoiler. He was with a white woman, the witness reported.

Federal, state and local authorities are all trying to take Barnard into custody. He faces 59 counts in Minnesota of sexual molestation of children.

Highway 12 reopens after mudslide

WHITE PASS, Wash. – Washington state Transportation Department officials say a large mud and rock slide that shut down more than 30 miles of U.S. Highway 12 between White Pass and the Highway 410 intersection has been cleared.

Mud and tree debris reportedly blocked both lanes along a 40-yard-long swath of highway for nearly seven hours. The highway reopened at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

No injuries were reported.

Two firefighters injured in log accident

ELLENSBURG – A spokeswoman for a wildfire burning in central Washington said two firefighters from the Arizona-based Navajo Hotshots crew were injured when a large log rolled down a steep slope and hit them Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Anne Jeffery said the two men’s lower leg injuries seem to be mainly bruises. They were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where they were being treated. Both were reported in stable condition. They were not identified.

Fire crews on the South Cle Elum Ridge fire made progress Wednesday in creating fire containment lines on the west flank.

Cooler temperatures and rain that fell Tuesday night allowed them to work close to the fire’s edge.

The fire that started Aug. 7 has burned more than a square mile and is reported 15 percent contained. It’s among roughly a dozen wildfires burning in Washington.

Water level to fall at Nine Mile Reservoir

The water level of Nine Mile Reservoir will be lowered 3 to 6 feet starting Friday to accommodate work underway at Nine Mile Dam.

Avista Utilities is replacing the dam’s original 1906 turbine generating units and other equipment. The project requires the reservoir to be drawn down below normal levels until the end of the year.

The reservoir will be drawn down more sharply to about 12 feet during the middle of October for about a week, officials said.

The drawdowns dewater large stretches of shoreline, requiring landowners to secure docks.

Avista plans to take advantage of the deep October drawdown to construct a boater take-out just upstream of Nine Mile Dam and step up efforts to remove invasive flowering rush plants along the shoreline.