Zoe Keliher, NTSB Air Safety Investigator, along with Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, right, and Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan, left, addresses media about the plane crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton, at Boise Airport today in Boise. Stories below. (AP/Statesman: Katherine Jones)

• Statesman Appleton 5-fer: Micron CEO dies in plane crash, and: Micron names No. 2 Durcan as interim leader, and: Micron impact: Appleton was company's czar, and: Bio: Competitive CEO, tennis player, daredevil, and: When the boss dies unexpectedly, an issue that now confronts Micron
• Shareholders file suit against Hecla/Spokesman-Review
• Kootenai County fire & rescue gets new chief/Coeur d'Alene Press
• 2 Benewah County inmates try to escape through hole in jail wall/KREM
• Poll shows most Idahoans favorable to liquor privatization/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Shoshone County risks losing 48% of roads budget/Kelsey Saintz, Shoshone N-P
• WSU sorority loses school recognition after hazing, under-age drinking claims/KREM

Idaho Statesman editorial for Saturday: Micron Technology Inc. was unquestionably Steve Appleton’s company. “It was ruled by one guy,” former Micron employees and Boise semiconductor analyst Mike Howard said. For the years that have coincided closely with Appleton’s time and corporate climb at Micron, this has also been Boise’s company. The Treasure Valley’s connection to the global and fiercely competitive computer chip sector, Micron has been one of the Valley’s largest private employers. On Friday, Appleton left a void at Micron, and in a Valley he supported with his generosity and philanthropy. He died suddenly and too soon while pursuing one of his off-hours passions: flying. Appleton died at age 51 — too young for someone who, as Gov. Butch Otter said Friday, “lived life to the fullest”/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here. (2005 AP file photo of Steve Appleton)

Reaction?

Emergency personnel look over the wreckage of a Lancair aircraft that crashed at the Boise Airport Friday morning in Boise, killing Steve Appleton, the chief executive and chairman of Micron, the company said. He was 51. Officials at the airport say the experimental aircraft crashed between two runways. (AP/Statesman photo: Joe Jaszewski)

Fire crews are investigating a small plane crash at the Boise Airport that resulted in the death of Micron CEO Steve Appleton around 9 a.m. Friday. Appleton was the only person in the plane, according to Boise Airport reports and Micron reports. A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Ada County dispatchers say reports came in of a small plane, with one person on board, on fire before it landed near an airport runway. The plane, a Lancair experimental aircraft, went down between two runways. The Lancair is a single-engine prop plane/Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP file photo: Steve Appleton checks on components of the engine that ran a stunt jet airplane in Boise in December 2005)

• Idaho delegation reacts to Steve Appleton's death/Kevin Richert, Statesman
• Idaho Statesman photo gallery in memory of Steve Appleton
• 2008 Idaho Press Tribune feature on Appleton: 'I don't have any regrets'/Brenda Ceja

Reaction?

Micron Technology, the state’s largest private employer, announced today that it’ll phase out manufacturing of 200 mm wafers at its Boise plant, meaning 500 layoffs “in the near term” and “as many as 2,000 positions by the end of the company’s fiscal year.” In a press release, Steve Appleton, Micron chairman and CEO, said, “We remained hopeful that the demand for these products would stabilize in the marketplace and start to improve as we moved into the spring. Unfortunately, a better environment has not materialized, and we are at a point where we wanted to let our employees and the community know in advance what will occur later this summer”/MamaJD. More here.

• House Tax Chairman Lake taken to hospital
• One House member not convinced
• Put off again
• Hitting retirees ‘kinda hard’