News briefs
Blaze engulfs trailer
PABLO — A man was treated for minor injuries when his trailer home caught fire Sunday in Pablo.
The Ronan Fire Department recieved a call at 6:55 p.m. indicating that a person was trapped inside the blaze. A total of 18 fireman, two engines, two water tenders and a heavy rescue unit arrived on scene at 7:02 p.m. to find the Northwood Trailer Park home completely engulfed in flames, Chief Mark Clary said.
Crews searched for more than two hours for the woman who they thought was inside the residence, but she eventually showed up at St. Luke Hospital in Ronan unharmed.
The trailer was fully destroyed and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The male owner of the residence was arrested on an unrelated warrant later that evening, LCSO det. Dan Yonkin said.
-reporter Ali Bronsdon
Committee names three
LAKE COUNTY — Lake and Flathead Counties Republican Central Committee has named three potential candidates to fill the state Senate District 6 seat vacated by Sen. John Brueggeman, of Polson, on Nov. 29. before the 2011 legislature begins Jan. 3.
Rep. Janna Taylor, Darold Schaffer and Rory Horning have all been submitted to the Flathead and Lake County commissioners who will have 15 days to notify the secretary of state of their decision.
-reporter Ali Bronsdon
Rollins man pleads innocent in bank caper
KALISPELL — The Rollins man arrested after he allegedly joked about robbing a Lakeside bank pleaded innocent to criminal endangerment Wednesday in Flathead County District Court.
Ross Marlin Tetachuk, 48, is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center with bail set at $16,185.
He was arrested by Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies shortly after he allegedly walked into Glacier Bank on U.S. 93 on Dec. 1, reached toward his waistband and said: “I’m going to rob you, I have gun.”
The same bank was robbed less than a month earlier on Nov. 10 when a man wearing a helmet displayed a weapon, demanded money and a fled on a motorcycle with an undisclosed amount of cash.
According to court documents, Tetachuk said he was joking after bank employees — who recognized him as a customer — asked him to leave.
Tetachuk insisted on making a withdrawal, and told employees they needed to “toughen up,” according to court documents.
After completing the transaction, Tetachuk left and employees locked the doors and secured the building.
The Flathead County Attorney’s Office charged him with felony criminal endangerment after the Sheriff’s Office initially recommended a charge of attempted robbery.
Criminal endangerment is punishable by up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of $50,000.
Judge Stewart Stadler scheduled the next hearing on the matter for Jan. 19; a trial is expected to begin sometime in March.
-Daily Inter Lake
National stalking awareness month
LAKE COUNTY — January is National Stalking Awareness Month, a time to focus on a crime that affects 3.4 million victims a year. This year’s theme: “Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It”, challenges the nation to fight this dangerous crime by learning more about it.
Stalking is a crime in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, yet many victims and criminal justice professionals underestimate its seriousness and impact. In one of five cases, stalkers use weapons to harm or threaten victims, and stalking is one of the significant risk factors for femicide (homicide of women) in abusive relationships. Victims suffer anxiety, social dysfunction and severe depression at much higher rates than the general population, and many lose time from work or have to move as a result of their victimization.
Stalking is difficult to recognize, investigate and prosecute. Unlike other crimes, stalking is not a single, easily identifiable crime but a series of acts, a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause that person fear. Stalking may take many forms, such as assaults, threats, vandalism, burglary, or animal abuse as well as unwanted cards, calls, gifts, or visits. One in four victims reports that the stalker uses technology, such as computers, global positioning system devices or hidden cameras to track the victim’s daily activities. Stalkers fit no standard psychological profile and many stalkers follow their victims from one jurisdiction to another, making it difficult for authorities to investigate and prosecute their crimes.
Communities that understand stalking, however, can support victims and combat the crime. “If more people learn to recognize stalking,” Jenifer Blumberg, Executive Director of DOVES, said, “we have a better chance to protect victims and prevent tragedies.”
DOVES is a nonprofit organization that serves Lake County and the Flathead Indian Reservation. Advocates from DOVES and its sister organization, the CSKT Victim Assistance Program, are available to promote awareness and public education about stalking, and to work directly with victims of stalking. The staff of DOVES:
• Provides culturally sensitive services, free of charge, including advocacy and support to victims and their children who are in abusive situations.
• Offers encouragement, support, and options that allow victims and survivors of domestic, sexual assault and other violent crimes to make informed decisions about their lives.
• Strives to enhance the self-esteem of those we serve, and to encourage self determinations by providing a respectful, supportive and encouraging environment with positive role models.
• Offers public education on the dynamics and prevention of domestic and sexual violence as well as stalking.
For additional resources to help promote National Stalking Awareness Month, please visit http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org and www.doveslakecounty.org.
-courtesy of Jenifer Blumberg