Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two scheduled to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.
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McCALL — A Cascade, Idaho, man was killed Feb. 8 in a snowmobile accident about 26 miles east of Cascade.
Scott Onaindia, 56, was snowmobiling with friends in deep snow in the Sulpher Creek area between Landmark Summit and Deadwood Reservoir, said Valley County Sheriff Kevin Copperi.
Around 1 p.m., Onaindia was riding up a hill when it appears the snowmobile flipped over backward and landed on him, Copperi said.
“His riding partners found him unresponsive and started CPR,” he said. “This was attempted for an extended amount of time before a person with a medical background evaluated the situation and advised that he was gone.”
Valley County Coroner Scott Carver confirmed that Onaindia died from blunt trauma from the snowmobile impact.
Onaindia is survived by his wife Becky Onaindia, 59, and children Amanda Hill, 34, Brittani Onaindia, 27, Tiffani Onaindia, 26, and Michael Onaindia, 23, as well as his grandchildren Braydon Hill, 16, Beau Hill, 13, and Remi Hill, 16.
“Our dad was a pillar of this community. He’s been in Cascade for 56 years where he was born and raised, and he always served and helped anyone in need,” Brittani Onaindia said.
“He was a great man. He was so loved, will be so deeply missed by many,” she said.
Scott Onaindia worked in field maintenance for the Federal Aviation Administration for about 30 years and founded Onaindia Landscape and Dirt Works LLC with his son.
A celebration of life is scheduled for Feb. 22 at Cascade High School, but a time has not yet been set.
A fundraiser to pay for funeral expenses can be found at gofundme.com/f/honoring-scott-onaindia-community-support.
— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
Palouse woman’s trial date set
HARRINGTON — A Palouse woman charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of three Davenport, Wash., men appeared in Lincoln County Superior Court on Tuesday, where the court ordered assessments and proposed a trial date of April 9. A readiness hearing is scheduled for March 18, and a waiver of a speedy trial was completed.
Jade A. Ellsworth, 30, of Palouse, is facing one count of vehicular homicide in connection with the Friday, June 7, 2024, crash that killed Alan Kysar, 26, Braedon Efraimson, 26, and Blake Wilson, 24.
All three men were graduates of Davenport High School, with Efraimson graduating in 2016, Kysar in 2017, and Wilson in 2018, according to newspaper archives and school district administration.
Ellsworth is not currently in custody.
Court records indicate that Ellsworth did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the crash.
The collision occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m. at the intersection of Harrington-Tokio Road and Mohler Road.
According to court documents, Ellsworth was traveling westbound in a 2007 Honda Pilot on Mohler Road when she failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with a 2002 Honda Civic carrying Kysar, Efraimson, and Wilson.
Ellsworth told responding deputies she had been driving about 65 mph and did not see the stop sign or the intersecting Harrington-Tokio Road because the sun was in her eyes.
The posted speed limit on Mohler Road is 50 mph.
During the investigation, Ellsworth stated she was following a GPS route to Lake Chelan at the time of the crash.
Authorities determined that neither drugs nor alcohol were factors in the incident. Records indicate that all three victims, as well as Ellsworth, were wearing seat belts.
— Olivia Harnack, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday
