Suspected Spokane bomb turns out to be package

SPOKANE - The Spokane police bomb squad was called to the home of a federal judge Friday morning to look at a suspicious item left on his front porch, but it turned out to be a package from Federal Express.

The bomb squad went to the home of U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley, and the South Hill neighborhood where he lives was briefly evacuated.

The bomb squad discovered it was not an explosive device, but a FedEx package that had been dropped off by the judge's housekeeper.

Government officials have been on alert since late March, when an actual bomb was found outside the Federal Building in Spokane.