In the news
A look back at a few of the stories that were reported from 1976 to 1999 in the Inland Northwest

Compiled by
Kyp Graber

January 6, 1976
Paper gives 1976 predictions
The bicentennial year of 1976 is a year of promise, a newspaper commentary states. The opening of the Alcoa plant at Addy, Wash., and brighter prospects for a second Bacon Siphon Tunnel in the Columbia Basin offer optimistic commercial notes for the region. Though completion of Spokane's centerpiece Riverfront Park is not scheduled until 1977, much of the area will take shape this year. Community development will begin to swing into high gear, and neighborhood groups will enhance residential areas. Quality of life will continue to count as an important aspect to residents here, the commentary says. While problems remain in transit and housing, the flag-waving year of 1976 begins with more pluses than minuses.

February 2, 1977
Zoo study in final stages
The clouds surrounding the status of the Spokane zoo were lifted a bit by a zoo consultant. Spokane, being relatively isolated, would fare best with a general range of animals as a "popular zoo." A popular zoo is self-supporting. Project consultant Jack Jones feels the city should take advantage of natural settings. Jones says the current site, in the Valley near Mirabeau Park, "is the best zoo site our group has ever seen." Jones also says that to make a go of it, the zoo must be backed by the local government and a "good, strong, nonprofit association."

October 15, 1977
Drought slows economy
The Inland Empire economy has slowed due to the worst drought in 50 years. Retail establishments say receipts are low as shoppers must keep their money for ever-increasing power bills. Area ski resorts, closed during most of the 1977 season due to lack of snow, hope to open in November this year. Area farmers, bitten hard by the lack of rain, will likely spend much less time and money in Spokane this winter. Crops were scarce and cattle a little more on the lean side this year as water was hard to find. Farmers say they'll spend the winter fixing old machinery instead of purchasing new machines, and praying for snow to shield their crops from arctic winds and to provide moisture in the spring. With power scarce, Kaiser Aluminum laid off hundreds of workers and cut production nearly in half.

March 1, 1979
Rumors spread about sect
Luxury cars, expensive clothes and jewelry, a nightclublike church and an affluent congregation from a Chicago suburb make up the tax-exempt C.E. Hobbs Foundation of Religious Training and Education. The foundation's church is part of a $900,000 compound called Springhaven, located on 10 acres five miles north of Newport, Wash. Pastor Clifford E. Hobbs, 56, is the steelworker-turned-pastor of the church, which is under public scrutiny here. The church claims it is being victimized by unfounded rumors of missing people and children being held against their will. Hobbs originally purchased land just north of Spokane, but water problems forced him into Pend Oreille County. His reception there has been frigid as his life has been threatened, and the church has been vandalized and allegedly targeted for bombing. Some in the area view Hobbs as another Jim Jones, and Springhaven another possible Jonestown.

February 20, 1980
Idahoan deeply concerned for hostages
Two months of hiding in strife-torn Iran have deeply affected Lee Schatz. The Post Falls man, 31, was among six Americans spirited out of Iran in late January by Canadians while 50 other Americans remained hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Schatz, the Department of Agriculture's chief official to Iran, is concerned for the remaining hostages. He says the United States should not upset the militant students, who are apt to execute their "Satanic" American hostages. Schatz returned to the United States Jan. 31 after hiding in the Canadian Embassy and using a fake Canadian passport to exit Iran. He doesn't consider himself the hero the press is making him out to be.

March 2, 1980
Firefighter killed in Zukor blaze
Investigators continued sifting through the smoking remains of the Zukor Building at Riverside and Wall today to determine if the four-alarm fire was arson. Fire Capt. Bob Hanna, 47, was killed and another firefighter injured when the north wall of the six-story building suddenly collapsed and struck the snorkel truck bucket they were suspended in. The pair were hosing down second- and third-story windows when the wall toppled. The fire had been contained and the men were part of a relief crew sent to the scene not 15 minutes before the tragedy. Hannah's son, Robert, also a firefighter at the scene, accompanied his father to the hospital. A 30-minute resuscitation effort failed.

January 2, 1981
Rapist foiled on South Side
A 32-year-old Spokane woman foiled a rape attempt when she sprayed her attacker with tear gas. The assailant's description was similar to that reported in other South Side rapes and rape attempts. The woman was walking near 10th and Jefferson at 10 p.m. when a man wearing a jogging suit ran toward her, grabbed her by the throat and dragged her off the street. She was able to free one hand to spray her attacker with tear gas. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound man screamed and ran. The suspect is said to be in his late 20s with sandy-colored, shoulder-length hair. Attacks by this man have been going on for the past 18 months, but police have few leads.

July 19, 1983
Officer shot at stakeout
A 38-year-old veteran police officer was shot in the head last night during a stakeout. Brian Orchard was one of several detectives trying to break an extortion plot to sell back weapons stolen from a Wenatchee-area resident last month. Guests in the dining room of the Holiday Inn on Sixth Street heard the shots and watched the ensuing gunfire from the motel's large windows. One suspect was found an hour later huddling in the bushes behind the motel. A blood trail indicated there may have been a second suspect. A weapon was retrieved, and police searched for the car driven by the shooter. Orchard, in extremely poor condition today, was not expected to live.

January 1, 1985
N-arms fight continues
A war protester cited for trespassing when a train believed loaded with nuclear warheads passed through Spokane plans to continue his campaign of civil disobedience now that charges against him have been dropped. Dana Visalli of Winthrop, Wash., said his pacifist beliefs compel him to protest the continued buildup of nuclear arms by the United States. Visalli and David Sabold were arrested July 27 when the White Train passed through Spokane. They stood on the tracks at Second and Maple attempting to stop the train. The White Train is indeed white and is believed loaded with hydrogen warheads. It passes through Spokane once or twice yearly on its way to Bangor (Wash.) Submarine Naval Base. The alleged warheads are thought to be for the Trident submarines at the base.

May 4, 1986
Hagadone's resort finally opens
Controversial developer and publisher Duane Hagadone has unveiled his masterpiece Ñ the $60 million Coeur d'Alene Resort. Built on the site of the former Northshore Motel, The Coeur d'Alene has been touted as the finest destination resort in the Pacific Northwest. Many locals decried the construction of the multistoried tower because they felt it blocked the public's view of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Hagadone feels the benefits to the city will quickly dissolve any bad feelings. The hotel, modern and upscale in every way, boasts the $1,500-per-night Hagadone Suite. It also has several restaurants, a spa and recreation center, private docks and a 25,000-square-foot conference center. The resort is expected to bring millions of dollars in revenues and hundreds of jobs to the Lake City.

September 16, 1986
Aryan foe's home bombed
A pipe bomb exploded at the Coeur d'Alene home of the Rev. Bill Wassmuth just before midnight last night. No one was hurt, but the blast shook the neighborhood and sent pieces of shrapnel and a garbage can high into the air. Wassmuth is pastor of St. Pius X Church and openly combats the presence of the Aryan Nations here. Wassmuth was sitting in a beanbag chair talking on the phone in his living room when the bomb exploded 20 feet away. Still in shock, Wassmuth said toay the bombing was "senseless violence" and admits it was "scary." He has his suspicions about who his would-be executioners are. The Rev. Richard Butler, pastor of the Aryan Nations church, says he doesn't condone the bombing and added, "I didn't know we had any terrorists in the area." There are no suspects as of today.

April 29, 1988
Suspect arrested in carrier's killing
Spokane police today arrested a suspect in the brutal killing last year of a newspaper carrier for The Spokesman-Review. Gregory Allen Rowley, 26, a cement laborer, was identified by a new fingerprint computer system that went online yesterday in the county. Rowley was arrested just after midnight while working a runway project at Fairchild Air Force Base and booked on first-degree murder charges. He is accused of beating to death David L. Ritchey, 32, whose partially naked and bloodied body was found in a Rogers High School parking lot Feb. 24, 1987, just after he'd finished his paper route. Rowley was living with his mother only 100 yards from the scene, and his home was on Ritchey's paper route. His trial is set for October.

September 5, 1988
Donor fights for privacy in AIDS case
A Spokane man known as "John Doe X," accused of donating blood tainted with the AIDS virus, is fighting to keep his identity secret. The real name of John Doe X is being sought by attorneys for Virgil T. Howell of Spokane. Howell, 70, filed a lawsuit in December claiming he was infused with AIDS-tainted blood during knee surgery four years ago. Howell says the blood bank didn't notify him until nearly a year after it learned he had been infected. The blood bank, a defendant in the suit, did not start testing blood for AIDS until five months after Howell's surgery. John Doe X is said to be a native of Harrington, Wash., a WSU alums and family man. His lawyer says he is in perfect health and is not a "Typhoid Mary" out infecting anyone he can. John Doe X gave blood routinely at civic blood drives.

February 15, 1989
NorthTown booms with Sabey
NorthTown Mall owner David Sabey announced this morning that as many as 100 more smaller stores will surround four new anchor tenants when the expansion of NorthTown Mall is completed at the end of 1990. The project will also double the mall's parking capacity with two new parking garages, bringing the number of spaces on the site to 5,000. Sears and Frederick & Nelson now serve as anchors at the shopping center, and 91 smaller merchants share mall concourses. Sabey did not announce who the new anchors would be. NorthTown will be shaped like a figure 8 when completed.

September 6, 1990
Families of Desert Shield unite
For the wives of Fairchild Air Force Base men sent off to Operation Desert Shield, the worst part is not knowing Ñ not knowing he was going until just before he left, where he is, or when he's coming back. Fairchild is doing its best for families left behind when aircraft crews, maintenance workers and weapons specialists were sent to the Persian Gulf. Overstressed moms who are part of the Fairchild Absent Spouse Torch 'Til The Return group asked base commanders for a weekly activity for kids to give them a break until their husbands are home. They also asked for someone to help take children trick-or-treating on Halloween. Yellow ribbons adorn not only trees, doors and car antennas, but lapels throughout the Spokane area.

January 4, 1991
Zoo wins praise from Parade
Plenty has changed in the 22 months since Parade magazine named Walk in the Wild one of the 10 worst zoos in the nation. The zoo has a new director, its first animal curator and nearly twice the staff it had when featured in the March 26, 1989, issue. Spokane's zoo has a newly completed $200,000 exhibition hall, its first indoor public restroom, Bengal tigers and Alaskan brown bears. Last spring, it had a display of motorized dinosaurs, courtesy of the Pacific Science Center, and this spring it will sport motorized whales. Parade magazine is calling Walk in the Wild "one of the four most improved" of the top 10 worst zoos in America.

March 11, 1991
Gulf War POW Storr is home
Stepping off a plane and onto U.S. soil Sunday was "like a dream come true" for former prisoner of war Richard Dale Storr of Spokane. There were times in a Baghdad prison when the Air Force pilot, 29, wondered if this day would ever come. "You're never really sure if you will get home," he said. "But I thought as long as I'm alive, I'm going to get there." Storr and 20 other prisoners landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where they were hailed as heroes by top military brass and embraced by waiting families. "It was just a great feeling, seeing the American flag waving. I hadn't seen that all those weeks in captivity," Storr said. Storr's ordeal began Feb. 2 when his A-10 Warthog went down in Kuwait. "The titanium armor under the cockpit saved my life," he said. He ejected and parachuted into the Iraqi troops he'd been bombing. Storr was kept in solitary confinement for 18 days and heard allied bombing nightly.

October 16, 1991
Firestorm ignites local tinderbox
With no rain in the area for the past 42 days, Spokane is a tinderbox Ñ even drier than in 1987, when the Hangman Hills fire destroyed 22 homes. High winds knocked down power lines, sparking blazes that race across the region. Nine major blazes around Spokane force hundreds to flee with little more than the clothes on their backs. Fifty homes, including a mobile home park near Chattaroy, are destroyed. One woman is killed while fleeing flames, and two dozen homes near Nine Mile are damaged. Twelve homes in the Ponderosa area are reduced to smoking rubble. Flames claim a second victim in North Idaho, where a heavy equipment operator is overcome while fighting a fire north of Coeur d'Alene. Makeshift shelters fill with hundreds of people seeking refuge on cots while their neighborhoods are reduced to ashes. All told, 100 homes are damaged or destroyed in the area. Another 41 fires are reported in the region, stretching through Lincoln, Adams, Stevens, Pend Oreille and Whitman counties.

January 27, 1992
Rypien named Super Bowl MVP
Mark Rypien, a Shadle Park High School graduate and alumnus of Washington State University, fought his way out of a crowded and crazy Washington Redskins locker room and began screaming into the hallway. "Yo Adrian, yo Adrian," he yelled. He was calling his wife, with whom he wanted to share the pinnacle of his career. Never mind that her name is Annette. Rypien was imitating Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky" Ñ the story of a guy who comes from nowhere to make the most of his shot at greatness. Considering what he's been through and where he stands now as the most valuable player of Super Bowl XXVI, Rypien seems just like Rocky. Drafted low, often criticized and called a "bloody idiot" by his team owner, Rypien completed 18 of 33 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns in the Redskins' 37-24 rout of the Buffalo Bills.

July 31, 1992
Chronicle folds
After 111 years of bringing Spokane the news, the Spokane Daily Chronicle has published its last headline. It's a tough day for many on staff. The paper sports a special 16-page keepsake edition that presents many front pages from the past. The staff at the Chronicle called it like they saw it over the years, putting to bed over 26,000 editions filled with war, peace, life, death and plenty of everything else. The Chronicle is owned by Cowles Publishing, which also owns The Spokesman-Review. The morning paper will continue to be published.

February 11, 1994
Letters suggest porn contacts
Letters that investigators believe were sent by a Davenport (Wash.) High School counselor accused of child sexual exploitation refer to contacts he had in Spokane. The three letters were sent to a girl enticed into making pornographic videos and were turned over to authorities by her parents. They reportedly were written by Charles "CJ" Jungblom, who is accused of paying several high school girls to disrobe for sexually explicit videos. The letters were signed "CJ" and "Your Agent." Jungblom allegedly got troubled girls to make videos for him by giving them pamphlets on how to become a model. The girls received hundreds of dollars for their "modeling contracts" for the sexual videos that authorities think were sent overseas. The letters refer to "contacts" and "my people in Spokane."

June 21, 1994
Gunman kills 4 at Fairchild
In less than 10 minutes, a gunman killed four people and wounded at least 21 as he opened fire at Fairchild Air Force Base Hospital yesterday. The rampage ended when a military police officer shot and killed Dean Mellberg, who had been ousted from the Air Force one month ago for mental problems. The psychologist who recommended his discharge was the first to die. The supposedly secure area turned into a war zone as Mellberg turned his AK-47 on men, women and children in the hospital waiting room. As he left the building, he fired on anyone moving in the parking lot. He was shot dead in the parking lot, firing until the end. Mellberg, a Michigan native, had been stationed at Fairchild since 1993.

January 1, 1995
'Do not forget Felicia'
Through chokes, sobs and heaving sighs, Ken Whitehall asked more than 500 people at Felicia Ann Reese's memorial service to not forget his fiancee. "Her heart was with God. That's the way we need to live our lives," he said. Reese, 22, was shot in the head in what authorities described as an apparent random killing. Her body was found in the grass along Upriver Drive, about a half-mile from her abandoned car. Police arrested a local teen, Kevin Boot, in connection with the murder. Boot's cousin, allegedly present at the crime, says Reese prayed and sang songs to God as Kevin shot her execution-style.

February 3, 1996
3 killed in Moses Lake rampage
A 14-year-old boy opened fire in a Moses Lake classroom Friday, killing a teacher and two students with a high-powered rifle in apparent retaliation for a student's teasing. Killed were teacher Leona Caires, 49, formerly of Coeur d'Alene; Manuel Vela, 14; and Arnold Fritz, 15. Caires was the wife of school Vice Principal Steve Caires. The three died on the floor of their ninth-grade math class at Frontier Junior High. A fourth victim, 13-year-old Natalie Hintz, was in surgery Friday with wounds to an arm and bullet fragments in her liver. Barry Loukaitas, a Frontier student, was arrested at the scene. Though police did not reveal a motive, a student at Moses Lake High School said several of his friends believe Loukaitas may have been retaliating against Vela for picking on him. One classmate said Vela, a popular, athletic ninth-grader, teased the boy, who was described as a straight-A student and a "nerd."

February 14, 1996
AIDS victim's family vs. Amend
Relatives of a man who died from AIDS complications filed a $2 million claim against Spokane County, saying Coroner Dexter Amend left them emotionally traumatized. Amend delayed Curtis Babcock's cremation and memorial service while trying to arrange an autopsy to link his death to sodomy, says the family's attorney, David Miller. The lawyer says the autopsy wasn't needed because Babcock's doctor already determined he'd died from AIDS-related complications. "The coroner's trying to spend our county money to appease his deviant interest in gay people," Miller added. Amend refused to comment. Forensic pathologist George Lindholm, who does the autopsies, refused Amend's request to do the procedure and focus on the rectal area, saying there was no valid scientific reason to do so.

November 21, 1996
Ice storm a cold reality
The buzz of chain saws replaced the screams of sirens as residents began cleaning up after Ice Storm '96. Residents are doing what they can to remove tree branches that threaten power lines, life and property. Neighbors are pitching in to clear branch-ridden streets so cars can pass to buy emergency supplies. Schools and most businesses remain closed today. While more than 30,000 homes have had power restored, nearly 70,000 Washington Water Power customers are preparing for another cold night inside dark houses. Sandwiches, battery-powered radios and candles are their only comfort. WWP officials at first said power would be restored within three days, but they immediately amended the deadline to five days. Workers feel it could be weeks. Electrical crews from Western Washington are being called in to help.

July 2, 1997
City settles with Gypsy family
The city of Spokane pay a Gypsy family $1.43 million to end the bitter civil rights fight over police searches 11 years ago. By settling out of court, the city will avoid additional legal costs and any possibility of a larger jury award, Mayor Jack Geraghty said. Members of the Marks family had sought a total of $59 million. Gypsy leader Jimmy Marks, lighting a cigar with a fake $1 million bill, said he and his family are satisfied with the payment. While the court said police were justified in getting warrants to search two Marks family homes, it ruled police went too far in searching some individuals who weren't targets of a stolen property investigation. In secret negotiations that ended last Friday, the plaintiffs demanded an apology from the city for police conduct during the June 18, 1986, searches. "The apology is the check, and this is what we expected," Jimmy Marks said.

October 23, 1997
Incinerator study questioned
Spokane Engineering Director Phil Williams admits having had an affair with the lead scientist working on a $300,000 study of Spokane's trash incinerator. Williams' estranged wife, Nancy Konn, names Kathryn Kelly in court documents as the woman responsible for breaking up her six-year marriage. State officials are concerned by the potential conflict of interest, and the city is promising an internal investigation. Since 1990, Williams has supervised the work of toxicologist Kelly on the unfinished state-mandated study of the incinerator's environmental impacts. State officials recently criticized the research methods used in the study, which is two years overdue.

November 5, 1997
Bombers/bank robbers sentenced
Two anti-government terrorists who say they follow only God's law each received mandatory life sentences from U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen on Tuesday. Charles Barbee and Robert Berry were convicted for three bombings and two bank robberies in the Spokane Valley. Their co-defendant, Verne Jay Merrell, was ordered to two life terms without parole last week. All three maintain their innocence. A pipe bomb exploded April 1, 1996, at the Valley office of The Spokesman-Review. Moments later, another bomb went off during a robbery at the U.S. Bank at Sprague and Mullan. On July 12, a bomb heavily damaged a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Valley before the same bank was robbed again. The three men were arrested on Oct. 8, 1996, on information from an informant.

January 6, 1998
Police link murders of 4 women
A task force investigating the murders of 18 women has linked four of the homicides, suggesting a serial killer is at work in Spokane, an official said. "We're putting some parts of it together," sheriff's Capt. Doug Silver said. "We're linking some of them." Evidence shows connections between four of the seven most recent victims whose bodies have been discovered during the past six months. The seven, ranging in age from 16 to 39, were shot to death. Most had been prostitutes, abused drugs or both. Silver did not say which cases are linked, but at least two of the bodies discovered were in the same overgrown gravel pit on the same day. The bodies of Laurie Wason and Shawn McClenahan were found near 14th and Carnahan on Dec. 26.

September 30, 1998
Steelworkers hit picket lines
Late on the day their contract expired, Kaiser Aluminum Corp. workers picked up picket signs and headed for the gates to begin the second strike in the company's 52-year history. The contract covered 1,128 hourly employees at the Trentwood rolling mill and 977 workers at the Mead smelter, as well as workers at plants in Tacoma, Gramercy, La., and Newark, Ohio. The company plans to keep the plants running with the help of temporary labor, salaried workers and retirees. Earlier in the evening, presidents of the five United Steelworkers union locals rejected Kaiser's 11th-hour offer. For the union, key issues include wages and benefits along with increased outsourcing of work by the company. Kaiser seeks more flexibility in scheduling overtime and the ability to contract out more work.

January 4, 1999
Meth labs an epidemic
Kootenai County is a major hub in methamphetamine manufacturing. "We've got a major epidemic going on and no fingers in the dike," says drug counselor Gerald Brouillette. The five northern counties of North Idaho account for more than 40 percent of the meth labs busted statewide last year. The drug-making surge has swamped counselors, social workers, attorneys and police. Families of meth users have been left to absorb much of the impact. Parents often make meth at home with their children present. Kids are increasingly in harm's way, as fires and high meth users threaten their safety.

February 12, 1999
Father 'a person of interest'
The body of a missing Spokane Valley boy was found dumped down an embankment Thursday, and detectives believe his father may have been involved in his death. Authorities don't know how 11-year-old Christopher Wood died or how his body got so far from home, but they are treating the case as a homicide. The boy's father, Robert J. Wood, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on an unrelated theft charge Thursday. Investigators also are treating the 43-year-old Wood as a "person of interest" in his son's death. The news rattled Newman Lake residents, who had rallied to find Christopher after a fire had destroyed the family home Tuesday. Robert Wood, a former roofing contractor, lived in the house with his son and daughter.

May 28, 1999
Embattled police chief quits
Spokane Police Chief Alan Chertok resigned Thursday, accepting a buyout of $65,000 after just nine months in office. His term had been filled with turmoil. Chertok had been under fire by police union officials who criticized him as an ineffective leader, and he was under investigation by sheriff's detectives for comments he made to a high school class about Spokane's serial killer investigation. Chertok also has received a harsh job evaluation from City Manager Bill Pupo. Some community leaders said Chertok had been forced out unfairly.

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