NorthwestMarch 20, 2013

Associated Press

Idaho's hospital price inflation

ranks sixth in nation

BOISE - A new report says Idaho ranks sixth among states for rising hospital prices.

The America's Health Insurance Plans' report said Idaho's annual inpatient price inflation averages 7.9 percent a year.

The trade association said health-care consolidation is a significant contributor in the rising cost of hospital care. The group said when hospitals consolidate, they have greater negotiating strength and competition is limited.

The Federal Trade Commission and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden are suing St. Luke's Health System and the Nampa-based Saltzer Medical Group that St. Luke's bought last year.

Their lawsuit alleges the buyout violates laws that protect market competition.

St. Luke's spokesman Ken Day told the

Idaho Statesman Idahoans still have some of the lowest prices in the country.

Sea-Tac security breach disrupts airport

SEATAC, Wash. - Officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said a security breach caused when a passenger entered a secure area through an exit Tuesday night prompted authorities to clear several concourses until the passenger was located.

That meant other passengers in those concourses had to leave the area and later be rescreened through security checkpoints.

Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper said police and Transportation Security Administration officials located the errant passenger about 9:30 p.m. Cooper told KOMO-TV the man was questioned and released. The spokesman said the security breach involved a misunderstanding.

After the man was cleared, passengers began the rescreening process.

Cooper said it's up to each airline when flights leave.

KING-TV reported many of the affected planes were held so passengers could catch their flights.

Nampa man held on $250,000

bond in sex-abuse case

NAMPA - A Nampa man who held police at bay in a four-hour standoff before being arrested on child sex-abuse charges is being held on $250,000 bond.

Magistrate Judge James Schiller set bond Monday for 52-year-old Patrick Michael Massie on charges of lewd conduct and sexual abuse of a minor.

Massie told the judge during his video arraignment that he is a "stand-up guy" who made a bad choice.

Prosecutors said in court documents the alleged victim said Massie inappropriately touched her between 2009 and early this year, and that she had become pregnant.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reported the girl told investigators that Massie purchased pills to terminate the pregnancy.

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The court documents say Massie denies ordering the pills and says there was no sexual contact besides some inappropriate touching.

Man arrested in beating

of Tacoma daycare worker

TACOMA - Tacoma police have arrested a man they say severely beat a woman at a child daycare on Monday.

The News Tribune said police identified the man as Andrake Morris. He appeared in Pierce County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon and was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bond.

Police said the victim was inside Tender Heart Learning Center about 6:40 a.m. Monday when a man knocked on the door. He asked about enrolling a child, so the worker let him inside.

The attack was interrupted by another employee arriving for work. The attacker fled on foot.

Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said evidence collected from the daycare suggested a violent sexual assault had occurred. Police believe he is responsible for other violent, sexual crimes.

Man arrested for wife's slaying in Marsing

MARSING, Idaho - A 37-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in his wife's death, which was initially believed to be an accident.

Trina Bibbey's body was found pinned under her car outside her home near Marsing on April 4, 2012.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reported her husband, Rodney Bibbey, told police at the time that a jack had slipped and the car fell while his 35-year-old wife was changing the oil.

Idaho State police found evidence that led them to believe Trina Bibbey was the victim of a homicide.

A grand jury indicted Rodney Bibbey, who appeared in 3rd District Court on Monday.

He was to be booked into the Owyhee County Jail.

Woman sentenced for writing

threatening letters from jail

POCATELLO - A woman has been sentenced to a year in prison for mailing threatening letters while she was an inmate at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center.

The Idaho State Journal reported 54-year-old Linda Joyce Jakes pleaded guilty in November to writing six of the letters from 2010 to 2012.

Federal prosecutors said the letters contained threats to injure and kill a man from her past.

The newspaper reported Jakes continued to send the letters even after being told to stop, and that she told FBI officials that she wanted to kill the man in question.

Jakes was sentenced Monday. The man's relationship to her was not immediately clear.

Associated Press

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