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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — An assault charged has been dismissed against a Washington state man accused in a beating that left a father of two dead. The Spokesman-Review reports detectives are pursuing new leads. A first-degree assault charge was dismissed against Joseph R.W. Riley, who was accused of beating Daniel G. Jarman outside a Spokane Valley bar on Dec. 29. Jarman died in a hospital five days later. Two women who had accompanied Jarman to bars that night identified Riley as the assailant. Riley says he was at home with his wife and children at the time.
BEND, Ore. (AP) — The families of a skier and snowboarder who died on the same day at a central Oregon ski area jointly filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $30 million. The lawsuit filed Thursday contends Mt. Bachelor failed to warn of the risks of tree wells after weeks of snowfall. Tree wells are voids that form beneath trees and can kill people who fall into them. Twenty-four-year-old Alfonso Braun of Bend and 19-year-old Nicole Panet-Raymond of Eugene suffocated in tree wells in separate incidents on the mountain in 2018. Mt. Bachelor President and General Manager John McLeod said those types of incidents caused by natural hazards on the mountain are fortunately rare.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers have rejected legislation raising the legal smoking age to 21. The Idaho Senate rejected the bill with a 22-10 vote on Thursday. President Donald Trump and the Food and Drug Administration approved raising the federal minimum age in December. That makes it illegal for retailers to sell tobacco products to anyone under 21. The Idaho legislation would have outlawed possessing tobacco by anyone 18 to 20. Backers say the law would help prevent young people from becoming addicted to tobacco and its many negative health effects. Opponents said they didn't think it necessary for the state to match federal law.
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A south-central Idaho school district says it will freeze most spending through June due to a $1.4 million budget shortfall. The Twin Falls School District says a drop in student numbers meant less money from the state, and that the district underestimated the cost of a classification of employees that includes custodians and secretaries. Superintendent Brady Dickinson tells The Times-News in a story on Thursday that the district will avoid going into the red by using reserve money and cutting back on supplies, field trips and teacher conferences. Dickinson says school athletics will not be impacted.
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