Briefs
• Free doughnuts available today
Today is the 77th annual National Donut Day. To celebrate in Kootenai County, the Salvation Army Kroc Center has partnered with Matt Gross, owner of The Donut House, 8761 N. Government Way, Hayden.
Gross will be handing out free doughnuts today from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"We are grateful to The Donut House for raising awareness about the Salvation Army's proud heritage and outreach efforts," said Major Ben Markham, Executive Director of The Kroc Center and a 35-year veteran of the Salvation Army.
Started as a Salvation Army fundraiser during the Great Depression, National Donut Day honors military veterans while commemorating the work of Salvation Army volunteers who used the tasty confection to comfort American soldiers in France and Germany during World War I.
These female volunteers, earning the nickname "Donut Lassies" fried the doughnuts in soldiers' helmets, and served countless treats to grateful troops. The doughnut has since been a long-standing symbol of the services and comfort the Salvation Army provides.
To this day, the Salvation Army continues to provide comfort with coffee and doughnuts to survivors and emergency responders who need support on the scene of disaster, including those suffering from the landslide in Oso, Wash.
• Rollover crash causes injuries
KELLOGG - Two adults were ejected from an SUV that rolled over Thursday afternoon on the Interstate 90 off-ramp of exit 50 in Kellogg.
Three other passengers, all children, also were injured in the crash.
Idaho State Police reported a Mercedes ML 320 driven by Robin Harold, 50, of Great Falls, Mont., was traveling eastbound on I-90 at 3:01 p.m.
As his vehicle approached exit 50, Harold lost control and drove through the median between the highway and the off-ramp, police reported. The vehicle rolled multiple times and ejected Harold and passenger Christal Chavirs, 47, also of Great Falls.
Harold was air-transported to Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene, police reported, while Chavirs was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Three children - Takrah Duncan, 14, Anthony Clark, 11, and Dekorean Deanthony, 5 - were taken to Shoshone Medical Center with injuries, police reported.
The children were wearing seat belts, but the adults were not, police reported.
Idaho State Police Trooper Jim Hall was on scene. He said there were two witnesses to the accident, one of whom reported seeing the vehicle roll three times before finally coming to a stop.
Hall said the prevailing theory for the cause of the crash is that the driver missed the exit, but swerved in a last-second attempt to make the ramp.
Skid marks were visible at the exit ramp. Debris was flung from the car and scattered along the majority of the exit ramp. Emergency responders recovered as many of the family's belongings as possible.
The accident is still under investigation.