Man’s body found in campfire
Four volunteer firefighters were hosing down a campfire near Newman Lake on Monday morning when one of them saw a man’s face and arm in the embers.
Sheriff’s detectives said the apparent homicide victim was partially consumed by the fire, but they expected to be able to identify him. An autopsy was scheduled for today, Sgt. Dave Reagan said.
Spokane Valley Fire Department investigators estimated the fire burned for more than two hours before it was discovered, Reagan said.
Two motorists reported the unattended campfire about 9 a.m. to a Newman Lake firefighter. The fire crew called deputies after discovering the body, which was removed about 4 p.m.
The fire was about 50 feet from a gravel road, on private timberland owned by an Idaho man. The site is about a quarter-mile northeast of the intersection of East Lakeview Road and East Lakeview Branch Road, Reagan said.
He asked anyone with information to call 242-TIPS.
– John Craig
Spokane county
Man crushed by tractor
A 58-year-old man was found dead Sunday underneath his overturned tractor.
Larry D. Bettesworth, who lived in the 11300 block of South Freya, was mowing a steep area of his yard when the tractor apparently started sliding downhill, became airborne and landed on top of him, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
Bettesworth’s wife discovered him when she realized she hadn’t heard the tractor for a while and went out looking, Reagan said. She called 911, then she and her 27-year-old son lifted the tractor off Bettesworth.
Paramedics pronounced Bettesworth dead at the scene, Reagan said.
– Jody Lawrence-Turner
Coeur d’Alene
Coeur d’Jazz canceled
Coeur d’Jazz organizers, who hoped to reignite North Idaho’s appetite for jazz, ended up with a canceled festival and $50,000 in debt.
Weak ticket sales and mounting insurance costs led to the decision to cancel “Coeur d’Jazz, A Celebration of Spirits,” said co-producer Carmine Conti, a retired jazz percussionist. Sixteen acts were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the Greyhound Park and Event Center.
A similar festival in the 1980s drew nearly 10,000 people. Conti and his business partner, Chris Martin, hoped to re-create its success and use the profits for grants to high school and college music and arts programs.
As of last week, only a few hundred people had purchased $25 tickets. Tickets can be returned to the outlet where they were purchased for a refund, Conti said.
The men say they may try again next year.
– Becky Kramer
Spokane
Bar’s license suspended
A Spokane bar at which its owner admitted assaulting a patron, among other problems, had its license suspended Monday for 10 days.
The state Liquor Control Board sought a 20-day suspension or an $8,000 fine but compromised when Joe Crosby Jr., owner of Sunset Junction at 1801 W. Sunset Ave., admitted four violations: three by Crosby and one by a bartender.
Although Crosby acknowledged the bartender assaulted a uniformed Spokane police co-op volunteer last fall, the bartender denies wrongdoing. The bartender’s name wasn’t released.
Justin Nordhorn, the Liquor Board’s Eastern Washington enforcement captain, said the bartender allegedly jumped on the police volunteer’s back while trying to keep the volunteer from looking for a witness in the bar.
Crosby’s violations include disorderly conduct and endangering public safety in an incident in which Crosby struck a customer in September 2004, and being drunk on the premises last fall.
– John Craig