In brief: Four killed in crash with semitruck west of Davenport
Four people were killed Wednesday when a car slammed into a semitruck on U.S. Highway 2 about 13 miles west of Davenport, the Washington State Patrol said.
The collision near the Telford rest area was reported just before 6 p.m. It appears the westbound passenger car crossed the centerline and hit the truck head-on, WSP Trooper Jeff Sevigney said.
All four people in the car died at the scene. The driver of the semi was not injured but was taken to Lincoln Hospital in Davenport as a precaution, Sevigney said.
The identities of those killed will be released after relatives have been notified.
The wreck closed the highway for several hours. Traffic was detoured onto Miles Creston Road and state Route 25.
Vigil held for teen missing on lake
The search continued Wednesday for a 16-year-old Athol boy believed to have drowned after he fell out of a boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene Tuesday evening.
Community members held a twilight vigil Wednesday night for Reginald J. Nault, a student at Coeur d’Alene High School.
Nault was not wearing a life jacket. Two other boys, also 16, were in the boat when Nault jumped or fell overboard while the boat was moving. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the incident, police said.
Emergency units responded to the area north of Arrow Point about 6 p.m. Tuesday. Because of the lack of a precise location, and due to water depth of about 130 feet, no dives were initiated that night. The Kootenai County sheriff’s sonar search team resumed looking for the boy Wednesday morning.
ATV accident kills boy in Idaho
A 10-year-old boy was killed in an ATV accident Tuesday night in Shoshone County.
The boy, whose name was not released, was driving the ATV on Moon Gulch Road, north of Interstate 90 between Kellogg and Osburn.
Family members found him unconscious with the ATV on top of him, the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office said. The boy had been wearing a helmet.
Family members removed the vehicle, took the boy back to their residence and called 911. The boy was transported by ambulance to Shoshone Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Man found dead in burning car ID’d
The man found dead in the back seat of a burning car parked at the Shadle Center Wal-Mart last month was identified Wednesday as 32-year-old Warren R. Lively.
The manner of Lively’s death remains under investigation by the Spokane Police Department, according to a news release from the Spokane County medical examiner.
The car caught fire just after midnight June 22. Witnesses reported hearing at least one explosion. Firefighters called to the scene discovered Lively’s body as they doused the flames.
Tubbs Hill brush fire burns acre, put out
A small brush fire threatened six homes Tuesday night on Tubbs Hill in Coeur d’Alene. Four agencies responded to the fire, reported at 8:30 p.m. It burned about an acre.
The cause is under investigation, Fire Chief Kenny Gabriel said. “So, our guess is that it’s probably a human-caused fire, which makes us nervous,” he said.
The fire started about halfway up Tubbs Hill Drive and burned uphill, Gabriel said.
“It spread quite rapidly. It was within 25 feet of homes,” he said.
Crews left the fire about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday and mopped up later in the day.
This was the second fire on Tubbs Hill in a month. On June 20 there was a 5-acre fire.
Wildlife trafficking will be on fall ballot
OLYMPIA – Voters will decide this fall whether the state should crack down on people who traffic in endangered animals.
Initiative 1401 has more than enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot, the secretary of state’s office said Wednesday. Supporters had turned in about 100,000 more signatures than the minimum needed to qualify for the ballot.
If approved, the initiative would outlaw the sale of a wide array of protected animal species, or their parts. Sale of the animals or their parts would be a gross misdemeanor or felony, depending on the circumstances.