A Lewiston teenager died Saturday in a one car accident near Nisqually John Landing in Whitman County.
Authorities say Tyler Broneske, 18, was a passenger in a 2000 Mazda 626 driven by Jessica Smith, 19.At about 7 p.m., Smith apparently lost control after passing another vehicle while traveling east near mile post 24 on The Wawawai Road.The car rolled several times and Broneske was ejected.
Neither of the occupants were believed to have been wearing seat belts.Alcohol and drugs are not believed to have been factors in the crash, but speed and inattentive driving may have contributed.
The trial is underway in Lewiston’s 2nd District Court in the case against a Lewiston man accused of killing a 23-month-old boy.
Stacey Grove is charged with first-degree murder in the 2006 death of Kyler Martin. A grand jury indicted Grove after evidence suggested Martin died of abdominal bleeding, muscular hemorrhaging and a brain injury after being struck in the stomach, head, back and legs. Grove, 29, was living with Martin’s mother at the time the child’s injuries occurred.
He is currently out of Nez Perce County jail custody on bond.
The trial is expected to last two weeks, and if convicted, Grove faces up to life in prison.
Because of extreme fire danger in the region, Asotin County officials have placed an emergency ban on campfires. County Fire Marshal Karst Riggers says the combination of high temperatures and low humidity have made conditions ripe for wildfires.
County Fire Marshal Karst Riggers comments
Asotin County Fire District Assistant Chief Mike Holman says while campfires are still permitted inside Chief Timothy Park, the beaches located nearby will also fall under the campfire ban.
Asotin County Fire District Assistant Chief Mike Holman comments
Propane barbecues are allowed, however charcoal grills are not due to the open flame required to light briquettes. For more information contact the Asotin County Fire Marshal’s Office at (509) 243-2020 or the Asotin County Fire District Office at (509) 758-5181.
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is hoping meetings like those in Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, and Lewiston this week will drum up support among residents for new fee or tax hikes aimed at improving the state’s roads and bridges.
Otter has made a projected $240 million annual shortfall in transportation infrastructure funding his main priority, after failing to win support for increased fees and taxes for roads in the 2008 Legislature.
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter comments
At meetings this week, people who attended offered several ideas on improving Idaho’s highways, including erecting fewer stoplights, making contributions to new road building and maintenance voluntary and boosting mass transit. Otter is waiting for similar meetings elsewhere in Idaho before crafting a final proposal.
Otter continues
Meetings are also scheduled next week in Idaho Falls and Pocatello; and Aug. 5 in Twin Falls.
For more information, visit the ITD Web site at itd.idaho.gov.
Citing the potential for wildfires, the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee has taken action to close the fireworks season on the reservation for the summer. Tribal officials say the closure is effective immediately based on the “very high” fire danger report issued recently by the National Fire Danger Rating System.
The system provides a value that is determined by a set of computer programs and algorithms that allows land management agencies to estimate current and future fire danger for a given rating area.
Calculations are based on fuels, topography, and weather, which is commonly known as the fire triangle. The output given by the rating system gives relative ratings of the potential growth and behavior for any wildfire in the system. The “very high” rating means fires could start easily, increase quickly in intensity and spread rapidly into heavier fuels. Tribal officials also pointed to the recent wildfire that threatened the tribe’s casino and other businesses east of Lewiston last week as reasons for the firework season closure.
Potlatch Corporation has announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved the Company’s previously announced plan to pursue a tax-free spin-off of its pulp-based businesses into a publicly-traded company called Clearwater Paper Corporation. The planned spin-off is subject to final Board approval based on regulatory, market and other conditions.
A spin-off will create two stand-alone, publicly-traded entities: a timber Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT, with 1.7 million acres of forestland in Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Arkansas; and a pulp-based manufacturing company that will include Potlatch’s Consumer Products facilities in Lewiston, Idaho, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Elwood, Illinois, and its Pulp & Paperboard facilities in Lewiston, and Cypress Bend, Arkansas.
The businesses to be spun-off had revenues of approximately $1.2 billion in 2007. Michael J. Covey will remain Chairman, President and CEO of Potlatch. As previously announced, Gordon L. Jones will be President and CEO of Clearwater Paper. Potlatch will remain headquartered in Spokane, Washington, and Clearwater Paper’s headquarters will be based in the Spokane area at a new office location that has not yet been determined.
Mr. Covey said, “After a careful evaluation, our Board determined that separating these distinct businesses is a logical next step for Potlatch in our ongoing efforts to strengthen our businesses and build long-term value for shareholders.
This strategic move will enable shareholders to have a direct stake in two unique companies - an essentially pure-play timber REIT and a solidly positioned pulp-based manufacturing company. This increased transparency will enhance the likelihood that each company will receive appropriate market recognition of its unique performance and potential.
A Louisiana triple-murder suspect who was apprehended in Lewiston in May has pleaded innocent to the murder charges.
Robert McCoy, 34, is charged in the May 5 shooting deaths of his estranged wife’s son and parents in Bossier City, Louisiana.
He was captured May 9 on Lewiston’s Normal Hill while traveling as a passenger in a semi-truck - a handgun believed to be the one used in the killings was also recovered.
While being held in the Nez Perce County Jail he was found hanging from a bedsheet in his cell, and was extradited back to Louisiana the following week, where he again attempted suicide in his cell.
Prosecutors have also charged McCoy with aggravated battery for an April incident in which he allegedly cut his wife’s neck during a confrontation – the district attorney says McCoy was arraigned on the charge to use it as evidence of other crimes during McCoy’s murder trial.
McCoy faces the death penalty if convicted on the murder charges. No trial date has been set.
Lewiston City Manager Jay Krauss will not be taking a similar job in Janesville, Wisconsin.
Krauss was one of five finalists for that city manager’s job at community panel interviews earlier this week, but was one of three who did not make the cut for a subsequent round of interviews.
Krauss has been Lewiston’s city manager for two-and-a-half years. He was previously the city administrator in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.
