Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.
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McCALL — The McCall man suspected of shooting and killing his wife amid a domestic violence dispute in February 2023 pleaded guilty to murder last week at the Valley County Courthouse in Cascade.
Mark Dooley, 56, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement with Valley County Prosecutor Brian Naugle.
Naugle agreed not to seek a life sentence with no chance for parole in exchange for Dooley’s pleading guilty last Friday in front of Fourth Judicial District Judge Jason Scott.
Scott will sentence Dooley on Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. at the Valley County Courthouse.
Dooley is facing a minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison with no parole. He could also receive up to $50,000 in fines and a $5,000 civil penalty.
Dooley told Scott last Friday that he shot Lynne Dooley, 52, after the married couple got into an argument at the home they owned in McCall’s Rio Vista neighborhood.
Dooley admitted that he had consumed a lot of alcohol the day of the shooting.
Shots were fired in the home on Eagles Shores Court as the McCall Police Department was en route to respond to reports of a domestic violence incident.
Lynne Dooley was found dead in the home from gunshot wounds to the back and chest, while Mark Dooley was taken to St. Luke’s McCall with undisclosed injuries and later transferred to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.
Dooley was arrested on Feb. 27 after being released from the hospital.
Dooley had a history of heavy drinking and domestic violence, according to online court records and police reports.
He was charged with misdemeanor battery against a household member following an Aug. 23, 2020, incident, but the charge was later dismissed in Valley County Magistrate Court.
Police arrived at the house at about 6:36 p.m. to find Dooley cleaning up chairs that were knocked over, broken picture frames, dishes and other items, according to a police report for the incident.
Mark Dooley also was charged with assault and battery against a police officer in connection with an Oct. 22, 2021, incident, but later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disturbing the peace charge.
Police found Dooley “very intoxicated and confrontational” that night after being called to the home for a verbal domestic dispute at about 11:30 p.m., according to a police report for the incident.
At one point, Dooley wiped blood from his nose on a McCall police officer’s shirt, resulting in the battery against a police officer charge.
Dooley was ordered to complete an alcohol education class and was on probation because of that incident at the time of the murder.
— Maxfield Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
MVSD students learn hazards of vaping
GRANGEVILLE — Thanks to a program through Idaho Public Health-District 2, Mountain View School District 244 students were recently schooled on the hazards of vaping.
Participating in the three-day, three-hour national “Catch My Breath” workshops and activities were 44 fifth- and sixth-grade students at Clearwater Valley Elementary School in Kooskia, 69 students at Clearwater Valley Junior-Senior High School (seventh and eighth graders, as well as high school health class students); and 252 fifth- through eighth-graders at Grangeville Elementary Middle School students.
“We also plan to get to Elk City in early May and present this, as well, to the students at Elk City School,” MVSD 244 nurse Erin Blinn said.
“This is a great program and elementary school is the place to start with it,” Idaho Public Health presenter Anna Velasquez said.
Velasquez interacted with students through video clips, asking them group questions, having them write in a workbook and giving them tools to #BeVapeFree, a national social media campaign.
The sessions not only talked about the hazards of vaping, but also the dangers of sharing prescription medication, illegal drug use, other tobacco use, and went over carcinogens, heavy metals and other volatile organic compounds.
“If it’s illegal for kids, then why are the companies trying to get kids to buy their products (through advertising specific flavors or using mascots)?” one student at GEMS questioned.
“And why, if people are dying and ruining their lives, do some people keep doing it?” another student chimed in.
“Those are great questions and I don’t have all the answers,” Velasquez said. “We’re here giving you all the information, all the tools to say no, and counting on you to make the right decisions.”
— Lorie Palmer, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
