In brief: Grant County declares gonorrhea outbreak
Grant County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny has declared a gonorrhea outbreak in Grant County after rates of the sexually transmitted disease doubled this year.
Doctors have been asked to screen their patients for the disease, and those who are sexually active are asked to get tested, the Grant County Health District said in a news release. Gonorrhea is easily treated with antibiotics, but many people have no symptoms in the early stages of the disease. If left untreated, it can cause infertility in men and women.
The sharpest increase of cases has been in women ages 20 to 29 in Moses Lake, according to the Grant County Health District. Last year, the Grant County gonorrhea rate was 35.9 per 100,000 people. This year it is 77.5 per 100,000 people.
Symptoms can include a burning sensation while urinating, unusual discharge and abdominal pain.
Residents of Grant County can contact the health district at (509) 766-7960 for more information.
Problem home nearing remedy
A group of Indian Trail neighbors has joined forces with Spokane police to clean up a problem home in the neighborhood.
Police said they have received 40 calls for service to the house at 3215 W. Rosewood Ave. since October 2013. Drug activity, assaults, stolen property and leaking sewage at the property have all been reported to police or the Spokane Fire Department.
“It was definitely a quality-of-life issue for that neighborhood,” police spokeswoman Teresa Fuller said.
The neighbors were able to obtain an order to abate the property in Superior Court. The order allows police to do cleanup work and put a lien on the property to recover the costs.
Fuller said Officer Doug Strosahl, who focuses on the neighborhood, had been working with the property owner, William M. Christensen, to address ongoing issues. She said criminal activity at the property tapered off briefly, but then went back to where it was, prompting the department to take further action.
Man pleads guilty to robberies
A man who robbed three banks in Oregon and Idaho just days after he was released from a federal prison pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene.
Ricky A. Fisher, 35, admitted to robbing a Chase Bank and U.S. Bank in Ontario, Oregon, and a U.S. Bank in Cottonwood, Idaho, in May 2014. He stole more than $5,000 during the three robberies, including $2,324 from the Cottonwood bank, according to a news release from the Idaho U.S. attorney’s office.
Fisher was released from federal prison in May after serving a 77-month sentence for a 2006 bank robbery in Hayden.
Fisher was driven to each bank by Jennifer Balfe, 19, the news release said. Balfe previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced Nov. 20 to 27 months in prison.
Fisher is scheduled to be sentenced in March. He faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Fisher also has been ordered to pay restitution to the banks.
Camper missing in Oregon
OREGON CITY, Ore. – Searchers have begun looking for a 31-year-old Milwaukie man whose family believes he is missing on a camping trip near Mount Hood.
KATU-TV reported that Gerren Kirk’s car has been found, giving searchers an idea of where to look.
Wasco County sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Williams said Kirk was supposed to return from a camping trip on Saturday. Williams said the man is likely prepared for the weather.
Searchers reportedly were looking in the area near Frog Lake, south of Mount Hood.