Idaho bighorn sheep auction tag sells for $100,000
BOISE - An online bidder paid $100,000 for Idaho's bighorn sheep auction tag.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said the amount bid Sunday at the Wild Sheep Foundation Sheep Show in Reno, Nev., is the fifth highest winning bid since Idaho started auctioning bighorn tags in 1988.
The permit is valid in all open bighorn sheep hunt areas in 2015 throughout Idaho.
Money raised through auction is used for bighorn sheep research and management.
The agency didn't release the name of the winning bidder.
Prosecutor: Arrest warrant for 9-year-old a mistake
POST FALLS, Idaho - A northern Idaho prosecutor said he made a mistake requesting an arrest warrant for a 9-year-old boy accused of stealing a pack of gum.
Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh in a statement Monday said his office should have instead sought a child protection investigation. He said that would have resulted in more information and a better-informed decision.
First Judicial District Judge Lansing Haynes authorized the warrant after the boy twice failed to show up in court.
Post Falls Police Chief Scott Haug said the child missed court because relatives had no way of getting him to the courthouse.
The boy was arrested Jan. 6 and held at a juvenile detention center, then released Friday after a court hearing.
Idaho game officers rescue deer from Snake River
TWIN FALLS - Idaho fish and game officers not only rescued some deer trapped in a diversion of the Snake River in southern Idaho, they also warmed up an adult doe and her fawn by wrapping them in blankets with warm water bottles placed around them.
The fawn also spent some time enjoying the heater in the cab of a truck.
KTVB reported that it took two officers more than five hours last weekend to get the deer out and warm them up.
A Fish and Game post said the deer had been in the water for several hours as air temperatures hovered around freezing.
Another fawn couldn't be saved.
Two other deer eventually wandered into the brush.
Spokane to tow cars of prostitution customers
SPOKANE - The Spokane City Council passed an ordinance Monday night to fight prostitution.
The ordinance gives police authority to impound and tow away the cars of people who pick up prostitutes.
KXLY reported the new ordinance goes into effect next month.
Gresham man pleads guilty to killing mom's cat
PORTLAND, Ore. - A Gresham man has pleaded guilty to accusations he responded to being kicked out of the house by killing his mother's cat.
The Oregonian reported 27-year-old Jonathan F. Wagner faces up to five years for animal abuse, up to 20 for burglary.
Authorities said Wagner's behavior was threatening, so his mother boxed up some of his possessions in July.
While she was at work, police said, Wagner vandalized the house and slit the throat of the cat, Tom, putting the body on his mother's bed.
At the time, Wagner said he was off medications for depression and psychotic episodes. His mother said he hadn't been diagnosed with mental illness.
He entered the pleas Tuesday. Other charges were dismissed. Sentencing is March 9, after a psychological exam.
Liquefaction cited in study of deadly Oso mudslide
EVERETT, Wash. - A study of the Oso landslide that killed 43 people in March says the amount of water that saturated a hillside made it especially destructive when it gave way.
The soil lost its coherence and flowed like a liquid in a process called liquefaction.
The Daily Herald reported the study was published last week by U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Richard Iverson, who is based at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.
Although the slide occurred on a dry day, it had been one of the wettest winters on record in the area.
Man re-arrested in laser shining case
TACOMA - A Tacoma man accused of shining a laser into the cockpit of a Washington State Patrol plane has been re-arrested after prosecutors said he missed a court hearing.
Pierce County prosecutors issued a warrant in December for 27-year-old Aaron Huffman after he missed a court date in the case.
The News Tribune reported Huffman has already pleaded not guilty to unlawful discharge of a laser.
Huffman was booked into jail Monday. At a Tuesday hearing, a judge set bail at $10,000.
The plane was patrolling for drunken drivers in August when two troopers noticed the laser flashing across the cockpit. They directed troopers on the ground to Huffman's home.
Pet wallaby missing from Arlington farm
ARLINGTON, Wash. - The operators of Outback Kangaroo Farm near Arlington are hoping someone sees a pet wallaby that escaped Friday as it was being moved.
It was still missing Tuesday.
Joey Strom, who owns the farm with her husband Ray Strom, said they're worried the tame animal could become prey for a cougar or bear.
The Daily Herald reported the lost wallaby is a pet named Bella, owned by Gayle Van Alstyne of Maple Valley. She was moving Bella at the farm Friday when it broke away. Feet and tail impressions were tracked to the banks of the Stillaguamish River.
The 6-year-old wallaby is about 21/2 feet tall and weighs 35 pounds. It has golden brown fur and a white belly.
The farm is home to about 40 wallabies and kangaroos.
Associated Press
