News that Coeur d'Alene will not be receiving a federal grant which would have allowed the hire of three additional police officers has city officials exploring other means of generating funds. The city was pursuing a grant through the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services program. The COPS grant would have provided as much as 75 percent of the new officers' salaries and benefits for three years. The grant process was extremely competitive, said Interim City Administrator Troy Tymesen. "There were a lot of requests for those dollars," Tymesen said. The grants were awarded on a needs basis, Tymesen said, making it likely that the funds went to the towns hit hardest by the Great Recession, where there were significant layoffs/Keith Cousins, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Somewhere, Councilman Steve Adams is smiling. Thoughts?