Husband gets probation for abuse in wife’s death

Reward offered in killing of elk along Arizona 87

FLAGSTAFF — State wildlife officials are offering a reward of up to $1,500 for help in solving an elk-poaching case in the Coconino National Forest this month.

The carcass of a spike bull elk was found Nov. 9 off Arizona 87 at Milepost 305.5, south of Winslow, according to a statement from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Elk were not in season when the poaching took place.

The elk’s carcass was found intact and “was left to waste when it could have been salvaged and the meat donated to a local food bank or shelter,” said Garrett Fabian, department wildlife manager.

A reward, which ranges from $500 to $1,500, is being of- fered for information that can help lead authorities to an arrest and/or conviction.

The penalties for poaching an elk can include the revocation of hunting, fishing and trapping rights for up to five years, multiple fines, community service, and hunter-education classes.

PHOENIX — A man who admitted abuse in his wife’s death in the back of a filthy van carrying 35 emaciated animals has been sentenced to two years of probation.

Alva Conrad Stout was the first three family members who will be sentenced for abuse in the July 14 death of 73-year-old Lola Mae Stout.

Alva Stout was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Warren Granville of Maricopa County Superior Court.

Alva and his two adult sons told investigators they were traveling from Quartzsite to Phoenix when Lola collapsed as she was being loaded into a van.

Three didn’t seek medical care and instead drove to Phoenix, where Lola was pronounced dead.

She had health issues, including earlier strokes, high blood pressure and schizophrenia. Public Safety identified those killed asRebecca Simpson Stryker, 60; James Lee Stryker, 56; and Travis Stryker, 16.

A twin brother of the teenager, Austin Stryker, was seriously injured and hospitalized in Flagstaff.

The DPS said a car that crossed the center line first collided with a earlier car before it collided with the Strykers’ van.

Officers said two people in the car that crossed the center line also were injured.

The accident occurred on U.S. 89A near the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. where medical-marijuana dispensaries can be located.

Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon’s recent ruling supplements one he issued last month when he overturned the county’s zoning ordinance for marijuana dispensaries.

Since then, the state Court of Appeals issued an order saying that a case involving a planned dispensary in Sun City remains with the jurisdiction of Gordon’s court through Dec. 31.

Gordon’s latest ruling said that means the only restriction on dispensaries in the county’s unincorporated areas is a state law barring them from being within 500 feet of schools.

His Oct. 14 ruling said the county’s zoning ordinance on dispensaries appeared to be an attempt to thwart the medicalmarijuana law.