Federal prosecutors in the sentencing hearing of convicted killer Joseph Duncan are asking a judge to close the Boise courtroom to the public should any testimony be given by kidnap victim Shasta Groene.

Tuesday’s legal brief filed by the U.S. Attorney for Idaho also recommends that the public be prevented from being in the courtroom while the jury is shown a graphic videotape Duncan made at Montana as he tortured and ultimately killed Shasta’s brother, Dylan.

Duncan faces the possibility of the death penalty on three of the ten charges he pleaded guilty to in December in connection to the 2005 kidnapping and molestation of Shasta and Dylan, and Dylan’s murder.

The government document was filed in response to an earlier legal memorandum filed this month by 16 media and open-government organizations, who argued that the public has a constitutional right to observe all matters occurring in a courtroom.

Jury selection for the sentencing hearing has been put on hold pending a mental evaluation of Duncan, who has asked to act as his own attorney.

A Lewiston man was killed after his pickup collided with a semi-tractor trailer on U.S. Highway 95 near Spalding Tuesday night.

According to the Idaho State Police, David Zwerneman, 45, was traveling north at about 8:30 p.m. when his 2005 Chevrolet pickup veered into the southbound lane and collided with the southbound 2008 Freightliner, driven by John McDonald, 43, of Laredo, Texas.

The semi-truck headed down an embankment and came to rest at the bottom of a creek bed where it burst into flames. Fire crews from Lewiston, Nez Perce County and Lapwai helped extinguish the fire.

Zwerneman died at the scene, while McDonald and a passenger, Marcos Caronado, were transported to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center where they were treated for smoke inhalation.

The accident remains under investigation.

Almost six years after it was first introduced, a bill to create a Wild Sky Wilderness east of Seattle has cleared Congress.

It’s another step toward the first new wilderness area in the Evergreen State in nearly a quarter-century.

The House gave final approval Tuesday to a bill, sponsored by Senator Patty Murray and Representative Rick Larson, that would designate 167 square miles in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest as federal wilderness – the federal government’s highest level of protection.

If signed into law by President Bush, as expected, Wild Sky would be the first new federally designated wilderness in Washington since 1984.
(AP)

A fatal crash involving a semi-truck and a box van has claimed the life of one person Tuesday afternoon near the bottom of Alpowa Grade west of Clarkston, Washington on U.S. Highway 12. Details are sketchy at this time, however the Washington State Patrol has confirmed that at least one person has died as a result of the accident that reportedly happened at about 1:30 p.m. PDT. The identity of the victim has not been released and the WSP’s investigation is continuing.

The Washington Transportation Department plans to reopen the North Cascades Highway Thursday morning at 8 a.m. PDT. The department reports that crews working from the east and west met Monday near Rainy Pass. Final project measures, including widening and cutting pullout areas in the snow will be conducted prior to officially opening the highway to traffic. The section of Highway 20 through the North Cascades has been closed since December 4th. A maintenance supervisor says heavy winter snow brought down a considerable amount of rock in avalanches, which limited the department’s ability to use snow blowing machines. The North Cascades Highway typically opens in the spring between March 10th and May 7th.
(AP)

A Boise man is suing the state, asking Idaho’s highest court to put him back on the primary ballot as a state Senate candidate. Democrat Matt Yost planned to run for the District 15 Senate seat against incumbent Republican Senator John Andreason. But Yost was disqualified by the Secretary of State’s office after learning that he wasn’t a registered voter in the district for a full year before filing to run. Secretary of State Ben Ysursa maintains that the state Constitution requires the one-year registration prior to running. But Yost, who was a registered voter in Gooding before he made the move, believes that interpretation is wrong. With the primary election next month, Yost says he wants the Idaho Supreme Court to intervene as soon as possible.
(AP)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a federal rule change that would allow Idaho’s new agricultural burning rules to move closer to implementation, with the possibility of field burning resuming as early as this fall.

EPA Air Program Coordinator Doug Cole says the move expedites the review process and allows the agreement recently reached between clean air advocates, agricultural representatives and the State of Idaho to be recognized under federal law.

Coordinator Doug Cole comments

The agreement, which was also approved by the Idaho Legislature earlier this year, would allow farmers to torch their fields as long as they do so under Idaho Department of Environmental Quality guidelines. Cole says the EPA’s role is to assure that the proposed plan is carried out in accordance with the federal Clean Air Act.

Doug Cole continues

Until the rule finalized, burning is not allowed on non-tribal lands.

Public comment is being accepted through May 29, and can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov. Written comments can also be mailed to the EPA Region 10 Office in Seattle.

For more information, visit www.epa.gov.

The Washington state Department of Health has established a Web-based registry that stores the living will documents of state residents.

Project manager Carol Wozniak says important documents such as medical health care directives and durable power of attorney forms are stored in a secure, online database.

Carol Wozniak comments

Living will documents contain information about treatment wishes in case a patient is unable to communicate. The system stores emergency contact information so next of kin can be contacted immediately.

Wozniak continues

People of all ages are advised to have a living will. Registering living will documents is free and easy, with two simple steps to the process.

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