NW briefs

Kootenai County to join lawsuit

to upend Idaho redistricting

COEUR D'ALENE - Northern Idaho's Kootenai County will join a lawsuit being drafted by Twin Falls County seeking to upend the state's new redistricting plan.

The Spokesman-Review reported Kootenai County commissioners on Tuesday asked the county prosecutor to intervene.

They don't like District 7, because it lumps 5,000 residents in southern Kootenai County into a district stretching south to distant Idaho County.

They said it will make it difficult for legislators from that district to represent all their constituents, violating the Idaho Constitution.

Twin Falls County announced last month it was filing its own challenge, arguing the redistricting map that splits it into three separate districts puts voters at a disadvantage.

It took two redistricting commissions this year to come up with a map, but it still must survive these legal challenges.

Rhoades' attorneys file emergency appeal of execution set for Friday

BOISE - The attorneys for condemned Idaho inmate Paul Ezra Rhoades have filed an emergency appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court in hopes of staving off the execution set for Friday morning.

In a 33-page brief to the court, Oliver Loewy and the other attorneys with the Federal Defenders of Idaho reiterated Rhoades' contention that Idaho's new lethal injection protocol is likely to be botched, causing him to suffer excruciating pain in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The state has countered that Idaho's protocol closely matches protocols used by other states and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rhoades was given two death sentences for the 1987 kidnappings and murders of 34-year-old Susan Michelbacher and 21-year-old Stacy Dawn Baldwin, and life in prison for the murder of 20-year-old Nolan Haddon.

Storm to bring heavy snow to Cascades

SEATTLE - The National Weather Service said a strong frontal system will blow into Washington today, bringing the chance of significant snow by tonight in the Cascades.

A storm watch is in effect for the Cascades above 3,000 feet through Thursday morning. Forecasters expect 10 to 14 inches in the passes and 10 to 20 inches over the higher terrain.

Cold temperatures Thursday and Friday will drop snow levels down to 500 feet in western Washington and bring the chance of accumulations of snow in the low elevations of eastern Washington.

The snow is good news for mountain resorts. Crystal Mountain said it plans to open Friday, based on the forecast. The Mount Baker Ski Area said it could open Friday.

Spokane mayor acknowledges losing race

SPOKANE - A week after the election, Spokane Mayor Mary Verner is finally acknowledging that she lost to David Condon.

On her Facebook page, Verner wrote that it has been a privilege to be mayor. She also took a shot at Condon, a former aide to Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

She said his campaign for a non-partisan local office was woven into a larger partisan domination strategy with out-of-town consultants, push polls and shrewd positioning of issues.

Missing hunter found dead

near Mount St. Helens

STEVENSON, Wash. - A missing elk hunter has been found dead near Mount St. Helens.

The Skamania County sheriff's office said a private helicopter located 56-year-old David Sherwood of Onalaska late Tuesday morning on the side of a steep ravine.

A county helicopter picked up Sherwood's body. Snow and low clouds had hampered the sheriff's office's search for the elk hunter who was reported overdue on Friday evening.

Sherwood's vehicle was found Saturday on a Forest Service road.

Teen faces charges in fatal crash

COUPEVILLE, Wash. - Island County prosecutors are charging an 18-year-old woman with three counts of vehicular homicide in connection with an automobile crash that killed three young men.

Kaylea F. Souza of Langley was the driver of a vehicle that crashed into a tree and burst into flames on Whidbey Island Saturday. Her three passengers were young men aged 19, 20 and 22. Souza was not seriously injured.

Authorities said Souza was driving recklessly and under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. If convicted, she faces more than five years in prison.

From wire service reports