FBI joins probe of reservation shooting

POCATELLO - The FBI is investigating what happened when a Bannock County deputy shot a man on the Fort Hall Reservation after a police chase last week.

The Idaho State Journal reported that officials with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes said they welcome the probe and want to be sure that everyone, including law enforcement officers, is held to the rule of law. Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen echoed that sentiment, saying his agency will rely on the FBI's findings.

Kevin Deane Toane, 33, was shot by a Bannock County deputy late on the night of Nov. 27 after the sheriff's department said he led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase. Toane survived but required surgery on his jaw and neck. He has since been charged with eluding and aggravated battery.

Man charged with filing false report

BOISE - A 19-year-old Boise man was charged with filing a false police report after Ada County deputies said he reported being assaulted in an effort to gain the sympathy of his former girlfriend.

Shawn Sheltra Jr. was arrested Tuesday after police investigated his report that he was attacked by two men and strangled with an electrical cord.

Deputies received a call at 5 p.m. Tuesday with a report that a man was found lying on the ground with a cord around his neck.

Officers said Sheltra told them he was knocked unconscious and woke up on the side of the road. After hospital medical staff could find no injuries consistent with the attack, Shelton confessed to fabricating the story in an attempt to win back his former girlfriend.

Power restored in southeastern Idaho

IDAHO FALLS - Rocky Mountain Power said power was restored to about 4,500 customers in southeastern Idaho Thursday morning after an overnight outage during which temperatures fell below zero.

The company said power was restored shortly after 8 a.m. for customers in Ashton, Rexburg and St. Anthony.

The National Weather Service reported the temperature in Rexburg at 7 a.m. was minus 7 degrees.

Repair work being done at a Rocky Mountain Power substation near Firth on Wednesday caused about 70,000 people in southeastern Idaho to lose power for some portion of the day.

Man charged in connection with blast

SPOKANE - Prosecutors have charged a Spokane man in connection with a car explosion last summer that was triggered when he tried to mix marijuana with butane.

The Aug. 4 explosion injured 27-year-old Jacob W. Sayman and his 2-year-old daughter, who was a passenger in the car.

Sayman was charged with assault of a child and manufacturing a controlled substance.

Spokane Fire Department investigators contend Sayman used butane lighter fluid in an effort to extract THC from marijuana plant materials, attempting to make a substance called "butane honey oil."

Both Sayman and the child suffered burns.

Minimum wage activists on the march

SEATTLE - Activists for a $15 minimum wage marched their campaign Thursday from SeaTac to Seattle.

About 100 demonstrators with a police escort started the march in SeaTac, where voters in November approved a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

Organizers planned a rally at Seattle City Hall to urge city elected leaders to pass a $15 minimum wage law. Newly elected socialist city council member Kshama Sawant said if the council doesn't approve it, she'll help put a minimum wage measure on the ballot.

Woman rescued after fall on volcano

STEVENSON, Wash. - A woman who was injured in a fall on Mount St. Helens was airlifted by rescuers Thursday and taken to a Vancouver hospital.

The Skamania County sheriff's office said 28-year-old Alana McCammon of Vancouver, Wash., fell into a snow cave Wednesday night at about the 7,000-foot level of the volcano in southwest Washington. She was with 25-year-old Kyle Knight of Petersburg, Alaska.

The sheriff's office received a call for help and rescuers reached her overnight. She was stabilized until she was airlifted off the mountain by a helicopter at daylight.

Officer involved in second shooting

FAIRVIEW, Ore. - An officer in a Portland-area town who shot a man this week has now been involved in two shootings in less than a month.

The police chief in Fairview, Ken Johnson, said Thursday that 24-year-old Brian Gerkman has been put on administrative leave, standard practice after shootings.

Gerkman and two sheriff's deputies went to an apartment Tuesday on a report of a person acting strangely.

Johnson said Tyler Brown of Federal Way, Wash., lunged at Gerkman with a kitchen knife, and Gerkman fired three times.

Brown was reportedly hospitalized in stable condition.

On Nov. 22, Gerkman fired at a car and hit it after a traffic stop and chase.

A grand jury said the driver was trying to run the officer down. Gerkman was then returned to duty.