Love letters, smuggled gifts and sex in jail has put an Airway Heights Corrections Center counselor in the crosshairs of Airway Heights police who want her charged with felony misconduct after she admitted to having sex with an inmate.

On April 4, a female corrections officer noticed the counselor and inmate, both with their pants unzipped, in a small prison classroom. On Monday it was learned that this wasn't a spontaneous event but first involved a secret stash of love letters and smuggled-in gifts.

The counselor told investigators, "I was witnessed by another officer being inappropriate, my shirt was up and my bra was showing."

However when confronted by detectives, both eventually admitted they were having sex and corrections officials say the blame lies with the staff member.

"Being raped in prison is never to be part of an offender's sentence," Risa Kleme at Airway Heights Corrections Center said. "They are never to be victimized. We are their custodians and we're here to provide their safety and security while they are incarcerated."

The owner of a husky-mix found wandering Deer Park with a collar embedded in his neck has been charged with second-degree animal cruelty and confinement in an unsafe manner Tuesday.

The dog, Nanook, was found Friday, Jan. 25 with a wound around its neck “consistent with a collar or cable being embedded over a long period of time,” according to Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service. Nancy Hill, executive director for SCRAPS, believes that Nanook was tied around the neck outside “most of the time,” indicating it was unlikely he was hardly ever let off of the tether.

Nanook's owner, Ray L. Lafountain claimed the dog and released it to SCRAPS. Nanook has been adopted by a Spokane resident who reached out through SCRAPS' volunteer network. Hill said Nanook's new owner “can work with the dog's special medical needs.”

“We encourage everyone to fence their yard rather than tethering a dog so this kind of injury doesn't happen,” Hill said.

I spent my Thursday evening of last week with Trooper Paul Wanzenried as we patrolled Lincoln County via Highway 2 and Spokane County through I-90. A quiet evening, but we wrote three speeding tickets and initiated one sobriety test of a driver on the interstate westbound near the Altamont exit.

During the four hour ride-along, we responded to nine incidents including five traffic stops, one courtesy ride and three disabled vehicles. One newsworthy quality about Thursday’s ride was Tpr. Wanzenried got to show off his brand new Crown Vic, one of the last off the production line and the last one issued by Washington State Patrol.

Below is a timeline of events as they happened. We were tweeting the incidents last night as well. To read the tweets as they happened, read our Storify for “Tweet-Cap: A ride-along with Washington State Patrol”. Includes photos, tweets and questions from those following along last week.

6:30 p.m. - Arrival to WSP’s district office just off of the interstate near Geiger. Another media outlet is on the scene to also talk to Wanzenried about his new car.

The vehicle, one of the last Crown Victoria Police Interceptors off the manufacturing line, doesn’t have a “name”, but the trooper cherishes this vehicle as a tool to protect him during his job and serve as a mobile office. He was issued the vehicle in June and says he did not expect the amount of media attention he’s receiving.

The trooper poses with his new car. It doesn’t have that new car smell anymore, but a new car smell air freshener hangs just behind the front passenger seat.