Spokane7
58°
University of Idaho freshman with wavy blond hair, he had walked all night, straying several miles from the heart of Moscow, Idaho, out into the open hills beyond. With a starry sky against the distant mountains, he wandered the endless stubblefields until cold and exhaustion caught up with him. Alone, he eventually came to rest beneath a small bridge, leaving a bright life unfinished and a trail of questions. In the days since, local authorities and loved ones have struggled to understand what drove him out into the unknown. Witnesses say he was drinking, but others thought him lucid. Investigators continue to reconstruct his path, piecing together cell phone calls, brief encounters and his final footsteps/Jacob Jones, Inlander.
Regan addressed his controversial anecdote about President Obama – a remark some have denounced as racist – by using a little levity and taking a swipe at Vice President Joe Biden. “It’s been said that wisdom is that thing you get immediately after needing it desperately. … I had one of those moments. I was in a heated debate and I had little Joe Biden pop up on my shoulder – ‘Hey, say this!’ – and the little guy with a halo on the other shoulder, he was having a coffee break or something.” He added, “I did it, I’m sorry for it and I’m living with the results.” At the end of the meeting Regan addressed the issue again in response to a question from the audience: “We’re all human. I’m human. I make mistakes. The good news is, I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’ve learned from every one of them. … I messed up, and I freely admit it, and I’m sorry to the people that were hurt by that.”
fraud. According to the citizen she had been called numerous times today from a male stating he was an agent of the FBI; the caller was saying that she had won $600,000 from Publisher’s Clearing House in 2009, but the money had been stolen and was now in Mexico. The victim was told that she would be receiving more calls from him. About 30 minutes later, the “agent” called the victim back and said he was able to get her money and would call back with more details. About 30 minutes later, she received another call from a male identifying himself as “Sheriff Ben Wolfinger”/Kootenai County Sheriff's Office news release. 
their members who speak out “are taking a lot of crap” from people who sit back and snipe. “The reality is it has nothing to do with something we’ve done bad or anything we’ve said bad. It has everything to do with the fact that they don’t like us participating. They don’t like the nerds on campus. Because what’s happened in the last four years in this community is the powers that be have found that the nerds have started finding their own and they’ve started electing people to office. … They don’t like the fact that those people with principle and those people who want to tell the truth are crashing their party. And I think it’s very important today, and I think especially considering our speaker (School Board Trustee Brent Regan) today, that we stick together like the nerds in the movie. … We’ll be attacked for our principle, we’ll be attacked for telling the truth, and we’ll suffer for it. But we don’t care, because we’re looking for something better.”
Fenton S. Roskelley, who covered the outdoors for the Spokane Chronicle and The Spokesman-Review for 60 years, died today (Jan. 30) at the age of 96 with his family at his bedside, said his son, John Roskelley in Spokane. Fenton was a 1938 University of Idaho graduate in journalism, a World War II veteran, and a fly fisher to the core. He was the editor for the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club's book,
than 20 years I’ve weekly walked the store’s aisles. I’m confident I could find my way around it blindfolded. I know the cashiers, and they know me. They’ve watched my grocery store purchases evolve from diapers and baby food to cartloads of meat and potatoes. The tellers at the Chase Bank branch call me by name when I enter. My banking habits are so familiar to them, I’m in and out within minutes/Cindy Hval, SR Front Porch. 
century BC, wrote that “a good reputation is more valuable than money.” Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca Inc., has taken that axiom to heart in filing a defamation lawsuit against Mother Jones magazine over a Feb. 6, 2012, article. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Seventh District Court in Idaho Falls, alleges the magazine caused national criticism of VanderSloot in depicting the multimillionaire as a “gay-basher.” The lawsuit asks for up to $74,999 in damages, even though VanderSloot said the falsehoods in the article have cost Melaleuca millions in lost business. The suit is centered on the article, “Pyramid-Like Company Ponies Up $1 million for Mitt Romney,” as well as a pair of Twitter posts that promoted the article. (Wikipedia photo of Mother Jones cover)
100 citizens to the Coeur d'Alene Public Library. Amy Evans, president of the Coeur d'Alene Education Partnership, said she was “thrilled” with the number of people who came out to listen to Coeur d'Alene School District central office administrators provide information about the district's upcoming levy, its multi-school construction project, the Common Core Standards Initiative, and the district's efforts to increase school and building safety. The forum format included several brief, moderated written question-and-answer periods.
rear-ended the detective while both officers were off duty, resulting in injuries that ended the detective's law enforcement career. Tracy L. Martin retired from the police department last Dec. 5 due to medical complications from the Feb. 1, 2011, accident on Kathleen Avenue near the police station.
Idaho senator has sent out a mass email and posted a message on Twitter comparing the role of insurance companies to “the Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps,” saying the federal government is using private insurers and in the future will “pull the trigger” on them. Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, (pictured) defends her analogy. “I just want people to hear the truth and to be aware that what is being presented before us is a socialistic program,” Nuxoll said Wednesday. “There is no disrespect for any group or people with the analogy/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. 
Park was turned loose by state wildlife officials, but the National Park Service employee who discovered the animal and reported it to game wardens was caught the following day when he sprang a second trap in the same area. The seasonal employee discovered the trapped mountain lion Jan. 19 along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River just outside of the park boundary, which is defined by the high-water mark on the north side of the river. The park employee was conducting wildlife research and reported the trapped cougar to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials/Tristan Scott, Missoulian. 
year. According to the AKC top 10 list released today, the German Shepherd still commands the No. 2 spot. The Golden Retriever has nosed out the Beagle for the No. 3 rung. AKC spokeswoman Lisa Peterson says larger breeds dominate the “pint-sized, portable pooch.” But there are still some loveable lightweights on the list. The Beagle is now fourth. The rest of the pack: Bulldog, Yorkshire Terrier, Boxer, Poodle, Rottweiler and Dachshund/Associated Press.
Companies of Idaho has picked the U.S. Highway 95 realignment project as the first-place winner for the 2013 Engineering Excellence Awards competition for transportation. 
fraud, against a Spokane developer largely blamed for the complicated legal and financial mess of the Ridpath Hotel. Gregory D. Jeffreys, 53, is currently being held in the Spokane County Jail. Also charged is his wife, 53-year-old Kimberly Jeffreys, who faces 25 federal charges. The 51-page indictment also lists 29 counts against Shannon Stiltner, 51, who worked with Jeffreys and was previously described in court records as Gregory Jeffreys’ girlfriend. All three are expected to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno after the indictment was unsealed this morning/Thomas Clouse, SR. 
“Oh, how we love Idaho,” declared Rep. Linden Bateman, R-Idaho Falls, as he began presenting HCR 5 in the House this morning, his resolution to name the Capitol Auditorium the “Abraham Lincoln Auditorium,” and marking March 4 as the 150th anniversary of the creation of Idaho Territory by President Lincoln. Bateman, a retired history teacher and a Lincoln buff, told of how a reporter asked Ernest Hemingway why he loved Idaho, and the author responded, “It’s the only place they haven’t changed”/AP via Eye on Boise. 
and void. The petition was sent to the Shoshone County Commission and the state attorney general. On Dec. 31, the commission voted to approve the swap 2-1 with Commissioner Larry Yergler dissenting. Outgoing Commissioners Vince Rinaldi and Jon Cantamessa voted to approve the deal, which transferred 40 acres of land to (long-time Benewah County Commissioner) Jack Buell (pictured) in exchange for another 40 acres. St. Joe River Valley residents came to a Dec. 24 meeting with the then-commissioners to request that the land swap be postponed. The 40-acre swap included a former county dump, half-acre in size, surrounded by land owned by Buell located east of Calder. That land was swapped for what the petitioners say is steep logged-over land that is unusable and fairly inaccessible/Caleb Soptelean, Shoshone News Press. 
to the current agreement, instituted by former Sheriff Bob Kirts. Tribal officers acting as county deputies will use the county frequency for radio communication. Second, the tribal police will share reports generated about an incident in which the county is involved.
school district's upcoming maintenance and operations levy. Tony Stewart and Norm Gissel, founding members of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, and task force board president Christie Wood met with members of the media Tuesday at the Human Rights Education Institute and issued a statement denouncing a comment made by Regan (pictured) last weekend when he participated in a public forum in Post Falls.
attacks,” according to the Idaho Education Association. On Tuesday, the House Education Committee printed three bills containing elements of Proposition 1, the collective bargaining law rejected by voters on Nov. 6. This came one day after the Senate Education Committee introduced four collective bargaining bills. The next step: stakeholder meetings. Representatives of several education groups — including the IEA and the Idaho School Boards Association, which is sponsoring the bills — are slated to meet this afternoon with Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde and House Education Committee Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, according to 
He knew little English and even less about football. Eleven years later, Iupati, called “a gentle giant” by center Jonathan Goodwin, is an All-Pro guard for the 49ers. In contrast to his violent, brute-force style of blocking, Iupati (6-foot-5, 331 pounds) has a cultural predisposition toward kindness and humility. “A lot of people say I have a big heart, but that’s just a part of me,” Iupati said. “I care about others, and I want them to have what I have, experience what I have now. That’s how I see it”/Jerry Mcdonald, Oakland Tribune. 
hard to keep track of what is, and what is not, racist. Brent Regan is here to help. Regan, a member of the Coeur d’Alene school board, has recently gone public to reassure us all that it is not racist to say Obama is black and scary-looking. Nothing could be further from racist than saying Obama is – like an assault rifle – black and scary-looking. If you think it’s racist to say Obama is black and scary-looking, it might be that you’re actually a racist yourself. Regan recently made the following comment at a forum on God-given assault-rifle rights in Coeur d’Alene, referring to supporters of gun control: “My wife and I were having this conversation and I said, ‘They can’t figure out what an assault weapon is – it’s just black and it looks scary. And she looks at me and says, ‘Well, so is Obama.’ ” Ha! In addition to being hilarious, this, Regan assures us, is not racist/Shawn Vestal, SR. 
doctor ruled out arthritis, thyroid problems and other potential causes of her fatigue and pain. Meanwhile, in an ongoing struggle to lose weight, the Coeur d’Alene woman zeroed in on gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. “I wasn’t even thinking about the pain in my hands. I was thinking, ‘Well, what if I went gluten-free? Maybe that would help me lose weight.’ ” It didn’t. But, slowly, she began to notice other changes. “I could sleep again through the night, and it wasn’t bad sleep,” Troye said. “I didn’t feel as tired – I started exercising. And the pain wasn’t there anymore”/Adrian Rogers, SR.
Aryan Nations, called on the four other members of the Coeur d'Alene School Board “to publicly express their own views regarding the recent public comments by their fellow trustee.” In a short, prepared statement, Gissel noted that he has served on the North Idaho College Board of Trustees and on the board of the Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy. Said Gissel: “Serving a public education institution as a trustee is serious business heretofore reserved for serious people. School District 271 trustees have wanted our attention for some time. Now they have it.” 
new study finds. According to the research, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 billion and 20.7 billion small mammals, such as meadow voles and chipmunks. Though it's hard to know exactly how many birds live in the United States, the staggering number of bird deaths may account for as much as 15 percent of the total bird population, said study co-author Pete Marra, an animal ecologist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute/Tia Ghose, CBS News. 
And act they did. Yesterday Idaho School Boards Association Director Karen Echeverria introduced four of seven labor-related bills to the Senate Education Committee. Committee Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, acknowledged the challenge of resurrecting ideas rejected by voters. But he also questioned the merits of doing nothing to improve the public school system. “I don't think anyone believes the status quo is where we need to stay with schools.” 
more provisions from the voter-rejected Proposition 1: Requiring that teacher contract negotiations be conducted in public, and allowing school districts to unilaterally impose contract terms if an agreement isn’t reached in negotiations with local teachers unions by a June 10 deadline. The panel's three Democrats opposed the move. Rep. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, (pictured) said, “It bothers me that this particular bill was basically on the ballot and our constituents, voters spoke about this. I don’t think I had a real problem with the public negotiations. But it seems to me that when you’re negotiating and one side can enforce the last best offer at a given point, it kind of puts all the marbles on that person’s side”/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. 
conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to condemn the offensive anti-Obama “joke” made by School Trustee Brent Regan at a legislative forum Saturday. The press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Human Rights Education Institute building, Northwest Boulevard and Garden. Tony Stewart (pictured in SR file photo), secretary of the task force, issued this brief statement moments ago re: subject of the press conference: “Addressing a disturbing public statement regarding racism attributed to a member of the Coeur d’Alene School Board made last Saturday at a town hall meeting of Idaho State Legislatures. The KCTFHR Board will issue a formal statement and take questions from the media.”
d’Alene School District’s newest trustee, contributed to a discussion about federal gun control measures being explored by the Obama Administration.
“The Raven” is a 
on gay participants. A number of conservative pundits were quick to condemn the BSA's Jan. 28 announcement. The 
Brent Regan, a Coeur d'Alene School District board member, told the legislators and audience that gun rights are God-given, and that many gun owners take that to heart. Malek assured Regan he's already seen three pieces of legislation being developed to protect gun rights.”What is a mental health issue has become a gun issue, and that's just not right,” Malek said. “It's just a reaction that has nothing to do with the cause of what we were seeing (with recent mass shootings).” Malek added, “More people are killed with hammers than they are with assault rifles in the United States, but for some reason we're going after assault rifles.” 
Who's up for some free movie tickets? If you take a crack at this week's news quiz, you and a guest could be going to an area cinema on us. And if you finish atop the leaderboard, a $50 gift card to the Davenport Hotel could be yours. Good luck! 
Festival? One of the short films on Sunday’s agenda was a story about two young Australians who made a trip, unsupported, from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, traveling on skis while pulling sleds. It was an amazing documentary! 
confirm. I am sure that if we got to know each other that you would also come to that conclusion. 
Board, which puts him directly in the crosshairs of many at the Teachers Union and the (Coeur d'Alene) Press. Souza claims that the Press went out of its way to paint Regan as a racist for his comments at the legislative forum in Post Falls Saturday comparing President Obama to an assault rifle. Quoth Mary: ” Brent relayed a personal story about a comment his wife made, which he deemed to be humorous, and the Press went all out to make look racist. He is not. But the Union wants to paint everyone on the current conservative School Board as being radical, racist, hicks-from-the-sticks.” Actually, Press reporter David Cole mentioned Regan's comment at the bottom of a long story about the legislative forum. If anything, Cole went out of his way not to highlight the quote. 
“Where were you? Do you not support the Constitution which you were sworn to uphold?” On Thursday, Wolfinger provided a measured response. Of the proposals laid out by President Barack Obama to rein in gun violence, Wolfinger said: “Personally, I oppose many of them and will watch and see if the courts rule on the constitutionality of them. However, some of the proposals I don’t disagree with.” Wolfinger supports expanding background checks for firearms sales and keeping firearms out of the hands of “the wrong people,” like the mentally ill and convicted felons. Anything short of total agreement with the National Rifle Association, of course, will fail to appease gun activists. However, 68 percent of my Huckleberries blog (spokesman.com/hbo) readers agreed with Wolfinger’s decision to stay clear of the rally/DFO, SR Huckleberries. 
wants to come forward and be featured, the press should, and I feel has a duty to oblige, run a story about how this is an unnecessary action. I read a plaque once that said “Your darkest hour is only 60 minutes long” and have heard the quote “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” As someone who has dealt with dark times in my life and, dare I say contemplated such a permanent solution at least twice (once at the age of 18 as I was contemplating my sexuality), its not worth it. It always gets better. I just feel fortunate enough I have friends I know I can reach out to, 24/7, to sit with me, hold me, listen to me rant, cry, whatever should I ever need it.
wants them to get rid of the personal property tax that his business friends hate with a passion. But where can they find $140 million to pay for the revenue lost if they do what he asks? Let me do the arithmetic: amount collected in 2012 from business personal property tax = $140,000,000; amount in governor’s budget to replace business personal property tax = $20,000,000; deficit with no revenue source = minus $120,000,000. The governor’s business friends, especially those in the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI) are exceedingly powerful and persuasive. They complain about the time it takes to prepare personal property tax reports/Mary Lou Reed, Inlander. 
night before. Joseph Wiederrick, 18, (pictured) was found dead under a bridge along Paradise Creek two miles north of Moscow on Mountain View Road on Monday after a nearly two-day search. It started when his roommate reported he never returned to their Theophilus Tower dorm room after they had gone to visit a friend at the SAE house Saturday night.
last month are the result of lingering effects of her health problems, a Clinton aide confirms. “She'll be wearing these glasses instead of her contacts for a period of time because of lingering issues stemming from her concussion,” said spokesman Philippe Reines. “With them on she sees just fine.” During more than five hours of testimony before Congress Clinton could be seen wearing glasses that appeared to have a thick left lens with lines across it. Reines did not specify what type of lens the secretary was wearing, but medical experts say a fresnel prism is common in cases like these/ABC News. 
chain faced widespread criticism last week after a man posted a photo online showing a “Footlong” next to a tape measure that showed it to be just 11 inches. Subway said Friday that it's redoubling efforts to “ensure consistency and correct length” in all its sandwiches. The company had already noted last week that bread length could vary when franchisees don't bake to its exact specifications and that it would reinforce policies to ensure consistency/Associated Press.
small Idaho county (Power County) if Gov. Butch Otter's reckless push to eliminate personal property taxes is approved by the Legislature. Messick interviews Power County Hospital Administrator Dallas Clinger (shown in StateImpact photo). Here's Clinger's response to one question: “Here’s the bind Power County Hospital is in: local taxpayers help keep it afloat. An unusually large amount of the total taxable property in Power County is personal property. If that personal property is suddenly exempt, 40 percent of the tax base that brings revenue to Clinger’s hospital will vanish. A break-even budget will fall into the red.” 
semester. I was so angry that I lifted my little brown winter coat up over my head and threw it at least a meter to the floor in front of me,thereby exposing my two fatal flaws: My handwriting is terrible and I can’t throw very well. Still, being a dutiful student, for a time I managed to turn my signature scrawl into a work of art consisting of stylistic lettersand embellished loops. I made my teachers proud. For a semester, anyway. To this day, I don’t write cursive, except to sign my kids’ school permission slips. And when I’m compelled to do so, my official signature displays all the depth and skill of a sixth grader. I don’t dislike Rep. Linden Batman’s proposal to mandate cursive writing. But I’m not really a fan either/Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation. 
flexible in his response to the Newtown, Conn., massacre. Last week, Boise talk radio host Nate Shelman raised the topic in response to President Obama's plan to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines while also closing the gun show loophole on background checks. “The only thing that I am open to is, I have been thinking a lot about the background checks,” Labrador said. “I need to study that issue a little bit. I need to hear from my constituents on how they feel about it. We can talk about having more effective background checks.” 
members perpetuates a closed-box thinking. After all, knowing human nature, a group is unlikely to invite in new members who don't already think like the group. I don't believe that's representative of the general public and certainly wouldn't present itself as a valid cross section of concerned citizens. I know that some committees seek out new members, but I'm not certain if they all do. A step in the right direction would be the written committee recommendation presented to council. Currently we don't see that. Or I should say, <em>I</em> don't see it because it's not made available in our cubicle. That was one of the issues I discussed with the Mayor. More below
not transform overnight or even in a few years. However, it is the responsibility of our government to push the country in the right direction to change the culture. It’s almost impossible for me to image people smoking on commercial airplanes or teachers smoking in their break rooms but they did. Now people smoking on sidewalks outside strip malls get dirty looks, how dare you infiltrate my space with second hand smoke, that could damage my health. I hope, 25 years from now we will look back and collectively appreciate the reckless culture of firearms we have at this time in our history. That would be success, but it needs to start now.
not all of the Obama administration's proposed gun regulations. “Personally, I oppose many of them and will watch and see if the courts rule on the constitutionality of them,” Wolfinger stated. “However, some of the proposals I don't disagree with.”
Notably missing from the article was any discussion about the laws that prohibit these kinds of actions. There are a number of tribal, state and federal laws in place to protect historic and cultural artifacts. Unfortunately, the State Historic Preservation Office made a mistake in their response to the article and incorrectly assumed the gentleman profiled was on private land when in fact he was digging on the bottom of the lake, which is public land. The fact of the matter is removing artifacts from public lands throughout Idaho, including the lake bottom, is against the law. Depending on where in the state you are, there are different laws under which looting is illegal. 
“Firework” began, she started signing the words with white-gloved hands; she moved her body to the music and mouthed the words. Sorensen Magnet School students carrying juggling pins surrounded her and the lights went down. The darkness set off her glowing gloves and the glow-in-the-dark pins, resembling fireworks in the sky. The performance at the Coeur d’Alene elementary school, an arts and humanities magnet school, was intended to showcase student jugglers, but McLaughlin-Orton’s hands stole the show. Three times per year the school has artists in residence. To wrap up a week with two world-class jugglers, the students were asked to come up with an act/Jody Lawrence-Turner, SR. 
Lee Lane. Jessica’s mother said she last saw her daughter at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. At that time, the mother dropped Jessica off near the CitiLink bus stop at Appleway and Government Way. Jessica had told her mother she was just going to ride the bus around for a while because she was bored. Her mother stated Jessica occasionally stays gone overnight but normally calls the family daily. The mother is concerned because Jessica has health issues. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Jessica Lane is asked to call the Coeur d’Alene Police Department at 208-769-2320.
question is somewhat of a moot point in Idaho. That’s because, under existing state law, a school board can authorize a teacher to carry a firearm. “There’s no requirement that the Legislature pass a new law or statute,” state schools superintendent Tom Luna told reporters Thursday morning. Asked whether he considers the existing law adequate, Luna wouldn’t bite. He said he was only pointing out that the law is on the books/Kevin Richert, The EDge. 
behind the rest of the family, we go to work. I have a tendency to fuss and fidget, jumping up from my computer to answer the phone or scan a document or make another cup of tea. He is more quiet. More content. He makes himself comfortable nearby, watching me move around, paying attention to what I’m doing, especially when I wander into the kitchen. He’s always willing to join me in a snack. Occasionally he gets restless and asks to go outside, but for the most part, he’s happy to simply share the space with me. Actually, that’s the way we used to spend our days. Things are changing now. At 14, he’s an old dog/Cheryl-Anne Millsap, Home Planet. 
in Louisiana. Crow’s first day as president and CEO of the Laramie chamber was Feb. 15, 2010. When he leaves at 5 p.m. Feb. 14, he said he will have worked exactly three years. In that time, membership has increased by more than 70 percent, according to a press release. Reflecting on his time at the chamber, Crow said he is most proud of his work with staff and member businesses/Peter Baumann, Laramie Boomerang. 
fairly macho attitude toward sick days. Older workers are more prone to the ailments that can afflict older people in general. Back troubles, heart issues, cancers that inconvenience you but don't kill you. Hillary, 65, looked pretty darn good this morning testifying in front of Congress. Less than a month ago, they were shrinking a clot from her brain. She's tough. This we know. But again, I predict aging boomers in the workplace will be more like Hillary than like the stereotype of older people complaining all the time about their ailments/Rebecca Nappi, End Notes. 
hypothermia early Sunday morning after wandering away from a fraternity party the night before. “We know that he died of hypothermia, but we won’t have the toxicology report back for two to three weeks,” Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said.
aimed at cleaning up the Spokane River. The Post Falls City Council will hold a public hearing on the wastewater funding and improvement plan on a date to be determined, most likely Feb. 19.
Washington Legislature. House Bill 1051 would make it OK to sell the naming rights of bridges, highways, viewpoints, etc., to help fund the upkeep of state roadways. I can see it now. Take that rest stop on the road to Ritzville. For the right amount it could be renamed after a local industry like, say, one of our massage parlors. All that nasty business from last summer’s police raid would have to get worked out first, of course. Once this happens, however, weary drivers would find the “Asian Spa Relaxation Spot” a soothing oasis for a pit stop or cup of joe/Doug Clark, SR. 
soon after the American consulate in Libya was attacked and four U.S. officials were killed in September. Clinton testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning that she “told the American people that 'heavily armed militants assaulted our compound' and vowed to bring them to justice. And I stood with President Obama as he spoke of 'an act of terror.'” That account conflicts with early reports of the attacks, characterized by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as a series of spontaneous attacks that rose in protest to an American-made video that prompted outrage among many Muslim communities. Risch asked whether Clinton was involved in selecting Rice to comment on the attacks to the American media, noting that it came at a “politically charged time”/Kip Hill, SR Washington correspondent. 
Who wants to go to the movies? Everyone who enters this week's news quiz can win not only two tickets to area cinemas, but four EWU men's basketball tickets and a $50 gift card to the Davenport Hotel are also up for grabs. Good luck! 
newspapers yesterday and today concerning Dennis Rachunok’s prospecting for historic and prehistoric artifacts along the north shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, near historic Fort Sherman. The Tribe was especially concerned at the reference to arrowhead collecting, as the area in question has been used by them for millennia. … Unfortunately, Idaho is one of the last states in the country without laws protecting its historic heritage. Under these circumstances, an educated and informed citizenry is the best protection available for our fragile past. Mr. Rachunok’s activities are not illegal, but they are damaging and diminishing our collective sense of ourselves as a people, where we’ve been, and where we might be going. However, steps can be taken/Ken Reid, Idaho State Historic Preservation Office.
wall, it stood out on a patch of asphalt between a Taco Time and a music store on Fourth Street in Coeur d’Alene, just north of the freeway. When a sign went up announcing an Italian deli was coming soon, I waited in anticipation. And waited. Soon, the Italian deli sign went down, and the real estate signs went up. And the brand new building sat empty. Then last year, Rob Elder opened Satay Bistro in the unused space, bringing an eclectic collection of “American fusion” dishes to the Coeur d’Alene food scene. It’s a most welcome addition/Carolyn Lamberson, SR. 
in North Idaho, we are crawling toward recovery. When the economists talk about next year, they tend to predict more of the same: slow growth. Media reports – even when noting minuscule changes in the jobless rate or other factors – tend to take a similar line. The glass is not 97 percent empty, in other words. It’s 3 percent full. Two recent evaluations of the local economy – one national and one local – take the opposite view, arguing that there is reason for abundant caution in the cautious optimism/Shawn Vestal, SR.
conclusion. What constitutes official city business? What about the folks that are not getting this commentary? At times, it appears that HBO is the official town hall - why do we need a Facebook page? What a waste of money. I propose that HBO become a regular part of the city agenda. Just get it out there - it is what it is. Let’s have another committee that defines social network etiquette for the city council and then we can really have a great time approving members . Let’s see how that works. The only other option is to let Cindy take the helm and let DFO retire and run for a city council seat - then, DFO could take over the city Facebook page that cost us way too much money, anyway.
Idaho student apparently froze to death Sunday night underneath a rural bridge. “Why was he so disoriented?” David Duke asked Tuesday, one day after Latah County Search and Rescue trackers found the body of Joseph Wiederrick near a farmhouse on North Mountain View Road. “I don't want to speculate on that until we get a lot more information that I can verify.”
invited to speak. Where were you? Do you not support the Constitution which you were sworn to uphold? Sheriffs all around the country are stating they will not enforce any unconstitutional gun laws, including several in Idaho. Why have you not done so? By not attending the rally, and making your position clear, you have cast doubt on your ability to protect the people of Kootenai County. The people of Kootenai County deserve a public statement from you making clear your stance on this issue/Michael Alexander of Athol, letter to the editor, Coeur d'Alene Press. 
the end of 2011 when about $100 billion in federal stimulus funds for education started running out. District 271 has, until now, been able to pull away from the edge by using money from its fund balance reserve, but that revenue option has dried up and the result is a $3 million shortfall school officials have been talking about since last fall.
Monday, according to Moscow police Chief David Duke. Alcohol was involved. Wiederrick and his roommate attended a party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity Saturday night, and Weiderrick left sometime early Sunday morning. Police believe he became disoriented and entered someone’s home just before 3 a.m. Sunday, believing he was at the fraternity, which was actually about two miles north. The resident asked if he was all right, and he said he was and was going home. Then around 4 a.m., he knocked on the door of a second residence, Duke said. The person that answered the door later told police Wiederrick was in a state of disarray, and he asked Wiederrick to leave because he felt threatened/Chelsea Bannach, SR. 
spokesman for Gov. Butch Otter said Monday evening. In his budget presentation Monday, Boise State University President Bob Kustra appealed to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to find the “equity” money, intended to cover enrollment increases. The State Board of Education requested equity funding, including $4.96 million for BSU, but Otter did not include it in his budget proposal. “As we have indicated in other areas of the budget, as the economy continues to recover, we will continue to address this equity issue,” Otter spokesman Jon Hanian said. “But it was not possible to take a $9 million impact to the rest of the budget to address this one issue all at once this year”/Kevin Richert, The EDge, Idaho Education News blog. 
Associated Press reports; AP reporter John Miller reports that Clark’s been hired by Frontier Communications, a Minnesota-based phone company, to help push for a revamp of Idaho’s 2000 law regarding telephone solicitation. Frontier and Louisiana-based Century Link Inc. say the law banning them from cold-calling existing customers is crippling their ability to market high-speed Internet, and things have changed since the days when the law was enacted 13 years ago/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. 
Geneology? Our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence – kids will not be able to read those documents in the original. It disconnects kids from their past – weakens the connection.” Bateman this morning introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the State Board of Education to include cursive handwriting in the new “Common Core” standards for what children should learn in school. Several other states, including California, Massachusetts and Georgia, already have made that move, Bateman said. It comes as kids have less and less cause for cursive writing, often using computers or other devices instead/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise.
Michelle Obama and Jason Wu are a match made in heaven. For her second inaugural ball on Jan. 21, 2013, the First Lady collaborated with the same fashion designer who created her show-stopping look four years earlier. At the Southern Regional Inaugural Ball at the D.C. Armory in January 2009, the 49-year-old mother of two wore a custom one-shoulder, floor-length white chiffon gown by Wu. “I was over the moon,” the then-fledgling designer told The New York Times. “I know I am an unusual choice for a first lady. I didn't think it was my turn yet”/Zach Johnson, Us Weekly. More here.
Question: Were you wowed by the First Lady's dress & style at Inaugural Ball, too?
Baccalaureate Organization advanced learning program in the Coeur d'Alene School District. The war against what Koler sees as a historic trend of turning students into global citizens still remains.
recently approved construction of a luxury apartment building near City Park. Building up rather than out is an urban planning objective for Coeur d’Alene, which is hemmed in on most sides. City leaders also encourage denser residential development in the city’s core to boost the vigor of downtown shopping and night life. “I think it’s a maturing of the community that you’re seeing with these higher-density, high-rise structures,” said Denny Davis, chairman of the Lake City Development Corp., the city’s urban renewal agency. The growing skyline, however, isn’t without controversy/Scott Maben, SR. 
exemplified by the lone protester who showed up at a huge Denver gun show a couple of weeks ago. This means that the following issues will resume their position on the very furthest back burner of Obama's agenda - economic recovery, deficit reduction and entitlement reform. And that' s right where Obama likes them. Because frankly, contrary to his 2008 campaign promises regarding those issues, he has shown absolutely no interest in solving any of those problems.
Idaho state Senate Republican leaders happened Monday in the wake of Idaho voters’ rejection of three school-reform laws last November. Idaho Farm Bureau lobbyist Russ Hendricks requested the legislation from the Senate State Affairs Committee, which is dominated by Republican leaders. Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, (pictured) is the committee chairman and sponsored the measure. The legislation would require signatures from 6 percent of the residents of 22 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts before an initiative or referendum could qualify for the ballot. “The bottom line is just to ensure that there’s broad support across the state for an issue before it qualifies on the ballot,” Hendricks said/Betsy Russell, SR. 
before the start of last year's Ironman Coeur d'Alene on June 24.
Hart and allow them to immediately foreclose on his log home in North Idaho. In a motion filed Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Keneally said there are no disputes over the facts concerning six of the 13 years for which the government believes Hart owes back taxes, so U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge should rule in the government’s favor on that portion of the lawsuit. Keneally’s motion for summary judgment also asks the judge to disallow several categories of deductions that Hart claimed in past returns and find that he’s liable for penalties for filing late and for failing to pay taxes for various years/Rebecca Boone, AP. 
Saturday outside a Coeur d’Alene sporting goods store. It was a strong show of support for the Second Amendment on a cold and sunny day, and it came in response to sweeping new gun control proposals by the Obama administration following the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre last month. Similar “Gun Appreciation Day” and “Guns Across America” gatherings were held in state capitals and at gun shows and shooting ranges across the nation. About 800 supporters of gun rights converged on the statehouse in Boise, and another big crowd showed up outside the Washington Capitol in Olympia/Scott Maben, SR. 
address nodded to ideological inclusiveness but did not repeat his view from four years ago that it was time to end the “recriminations and worn-out dogmas” that characterized Washington battles. This was a president unbound from much of what defined him upon taking office four years ago, a man clearly cognizant of time already running down on his opportunity to make his imprint on the country and on history. 
Seems a 50-something co-worker of Nic’s was carded when she and her husband tried to buy rubber cement at a local Wal-Mart during the New Year’s weekend. Nic laughed when the co-worker told him the story. His colleague and her husband are old enough to be Nic’s parents. She said her husband challenged the clerk who demanded identification: “You mean to tell me that there are crack dealers on the street selling cocaine, and you want to see ID to sell rubber cement?” The cashier responded, “Yes.” But Nic’s co-worker assured him that modern rubber cement has a kick. “Have you smelled this stuff recently?” she said. “I nearly got high just using it for the project I was finishing.” Replied Nic: “Are you kidding me? I sniffed that stuff the whole way through my high school days.” To which the co-worker replied: “That explains a lot.” Badabump. Onward/DFO, SR Huckleberries. 
rages in Washington, D.C. “I’ve been a strong advocate of the Second Amendment and I’m always going to stand up to make sure that those rights are protected,” Wheeler said on Thursday. 
Angeles,” or the 
scandal where many people likely are lying, not just footballl player Manti Te'o. And now Lance Armstrong finally admitting to what everyone knew. He lied and lied and lied and lied and lied. Why does it happen? How can you spot it? Well, those are questions for others, but I do have the simple formula for stopping lies within yourself. (Most all of us have done it, after all, small stretchings of the truth to look better, feel better or spare another's feelings.) Ask yourself: Does the outside story I'm telling the world match the inside story of who I really am and what I know to be true about my life? So the football player likely knew (at some point) the dead girlfriend only lived in his fantasy. And Lance knew that he was injecting himself with crap before every long bike ride/Rebecca Nappi, SR. 
If you’re a band of antigovernment “Patriots” pitching a plan to build a walled city in North Idaho and manufacture handguns and assault rifles there, you might expect raised eyebrows, a little criticism. But potshots from other Patriots? Potshots, indeed, are flying at III Arms Co. and its sister land development company, Citadel Land Development, the firms behind a proposed 2,000- to 3,000-acre III Citadel complex for as many as 7,000 “Patriot” families near St. Maries, in Idaho’s sparsely populated Benewah County. The criticism is sparked by the fact that one of the key players linked to the unlikely-sounding venture is three-time convicted felon Christian Allen Kerodin, a Maryland contractor who has apparently used various aliases and whose birth name was Christian Hyman/Hate Watch, Southern Poverty Law Center. 
camo, testosterone-heavy and snoose a-spittin’, sporting two day old beards and an array of guns to rival any penis-envy competition. And, that’s just the women. Then, they want them packing signs? What, ‘Guns R Us’? Or, “You Can Have My Gun When You Can Pry It From My Cold, Dead Hands”? Now, there’s a challenge. Or, the burned-out hippy with the old weathered sign “Hell No, We Won’t Go”? I can’t wait to see the national coverage of this hick-stick convention. Or, wait, maybe I’ll pack the AK-47 with the twin 30-clip mags and join ‘em. Should be a hoot.” (AP file photo for illustrative purposes)
body scanners from US airports because developers can't write software to make the images less revealing. The scanners, made by OSI Systems Inc, have 
North Division in Spokane, their voices get progressively louder as they talk superhero films. The good ones, the bad ones, the so-so ones. “Look at the movies back in the day that were coming out: Spiderman was OK for back in the 2000s. But Fantastic Four sucked. Daredevil kinda sucked. Electra, Hulk — all those movies sucked,” Freeman, in a bright red Dr. Who shirt and black cat-eye glasses, argues, matter-of-factly. “The Halle Berry Catwoman was TERRIBLE,” Martonik, with short brown hair and sporting a black Transformers shirt, adds. “All those superhero movies that come out in the 2000-ish era were horrible. But now look at the really awesome movies that we have, like Avengers, Captain America, the Batman trilogy,” Freeman says, listing each one louder than the next/Leah Sottile, Inlander. 
than the National Rifle Association – the NRA. As it has accumulated 
morning shows, she often conveys the sense of someone tiptoeing very carefully from word to word. Even as she and her fellow House Republicans tack to starboard harder than Captain Ahab, she loads her verbal cannon cautiously. She was famously stumped on TV earlier this year when asked to provide an example of a program she would cut – after talking about cuts merely forever and ever – and when she took the PR lead in the War on the War on Women, even at her best moments she seemed to teeter fearfully on the edge of putting down a wrong step. … So it was interesting to see her go out on a limb recently on Twitter, when she made this frank and contrary statement: “Proud of the work we’ve done during the 112th Congress!” Proud? Well, sure, Congresswoman – you and 10 percent of the population/Shawn Vestal, SR. 
was surprised and her husband thought it was hilarious. Why might it be funny? First, she's about the same age as my parents. Second, she was buying rubber cement. As she retold the events as they unfolded, she quoted her husband's response: “You mean to tell me that there are crack dealers on the street selling cocaine, and you want to see ID to sell rubber cement” “Yes,” said the cashier. At this point in the tale, I asked her, “Since when did they start carding people buying rubber cement?”/Nic, Rants, Raves & Random Thoughts.
to police that she had just been attacked by a male while walking in the area of West Hubbard Avenue and North College Drive, near North Idaho College. The victim walked from the downtown area to catch a bus that goes to the Hogfish Bar. The victim said a male approached her as he appeared from a construction area to the east. She said he spoke to her and then continued to follow her down the sidewalk. She stated she slowed to look at him, and he grabbed her from behind dragging her down to the ground. The victim said the male attempted to sexually assault her, and she was fighting him off. She said she saw headlights from a vehicle coming from the round-a-bout area and he jumped up and ran away.