At his perch above Sherman Avenue/NW Blvd, Don Sausser snapped this photo this morning of a worker repairing the roof on the Coeur d'Alene Resort. Don reports that there's been cranes at the resort all week. And that it looks like a major roofing project going on.

Question: How often do you visit the Coeur d'Alene Resort in a given year?

On her Idaho Scenic Images Facebook wall, Linda Lantzy provides this streetscape of Sherman Avenue in downtown Coeur d'Alene from Wednesday night. See Linda's Facebook wall & photos here.

Kootenai Environmental Alliance board members Janet and Wes set up their “park(ing) day” spot in front of Art  Spirit Gallery on Sherman Avenue. KEA photo: Janet Torline and Wes Hanson at Art Spirit Gallery (above) and KEA staffer Adrienne Cronebaugh (inset below). More KEA photos here.

(Today) you will see parking spots in downtown Coeur d’Alene transformed into temporary public open space… one parking spot at a time. PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. So again this year, with the generous good humor of the City of Coeur d’Alene, KEA will be participating in the annual global Park(ing) Day event calling for a reclamation of parking places for the benefit of people and parks.  We will reclaim a few downtown spaces on Friday to make our point. Admittedly, downtown Coeur d’Alene is probably the most walkable and appealing destination in our entire region. But it’s not because of parking.  In fact, much of the plan for renovating McEuen Park is motivated by removing a dreadful mistake of a parking lot from what is an extraordinary lakeside location. Full news release here.

Question: KEA brings up an excellent point today. One of the worst mistakes ever made by city of Coeur d'Alene forefathers and foremothers was constructing a five-acre parking lot on the lip of McEuen Field. I'd like opponents of McEuen Field changes discuss what they would like to see done with the 3rd Street parking lot.

If you’re looking for a commercial property in downtown Coeur d’Alene, now might be the time as there are a half dozen vacant properties along Sherman Avenue.The reason for so many vacancies? Over the last year, some entrepreneurs have been forced out of business because of the economy. Others have moved locations because of a spike in rent that doesn’t reflect today’s market.Whatever the case, there are plenty of vacant commercial properties on Sherman Avenue/Tania Dall, SR. More here.

Question: Which Sherman Avenue place do you frequent most?

An interesting item this morning in the Coeur d’Alene Press tells how a change in city ordinances and more police on patrol have made downtown Coeur d’Alene safer in the evenings and nights. This, after the two high-profile gun incidents last winter punctuated an increasing deterioration of the night life downtown. Reporter Tom Hasslinger quotes Police Chief Wayne Longo as saying: “It’s not a passing fad; it’s not a seasonal thing. I think we’re seeing a change in our city and you can’t sit back and not adapt. You have to change with it.” The rest of the story here.

Question: Do you consider downtown Coeur d’Alene, Independence Point, and the city  waterfront safer now than it was six months or a year ago?

At Get Out! North Idaho’s Facebook page, OrangeTV posts this 1986 photo from inside the old Cafe Coeur d’Alene @ 4th & Sherman (maybe where the Pita Pit is now). Tom Taggart, I believe, had a restaurant in the building for awhile before he beat incumbent Shirley Deitz to become county clerk and, of course, before he became county administrator.

Question: Which bygone, local restaurant from the 1980s do you miss most?

Don Sausser saw this strange site from his vantage point high above Sherman Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Wedneday. In the first photo, a green-costumed character accompanied by a friend shaped like a giant, green eraser walked eat on Sherman Avenue, around Independence Point ending at Bonsai’s parking lot. In the second photo, they’re crossing 1st Street at the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce building. Then, the eraser disrobed in the Bonsai parking lot and smashed his costume into a Bonsai Dumpster.

Question: Can you provide a back story for these two characters?

Color me freaked out. Watched two people get shot in what appeared to be a random drive by on Sherman Ave. tonight in front of Titos, half a block from where I was standing. No details, sorry.  Story here.

Meghann Cuniiff’s story here.

Hat tip MKS.

Irish author and notorious wit Oscar Wilde once observed “Who, being loved, is poor?” In this long cold winter of recession, even with your sweetheart to keep you warm, the quick answer to that question is, well, just about everybody. Still, it’s Valentine’s Day and you want to do something special to show your true love exactly how much they put your gizzy in a twirl without going too far in the red. You sent away for a Gold Kit envelope, and returned it filled with the tacky jewelry you inherited from your great Aunt Fanny. The local Coin Star machine repairman knows you on a first name basis. You cut off your long, gorgeous hair and sold it on the black market to a drag queen in desperate need of a weave. Now you’ve finally got some cash together, but how can you take your sweetie on a whirlwind trip to the moon for $187? Why not stay right here in Coeur d’Alene and have a Romantic East Sherman Valentine’s Day getaway?/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.

Question: Do you frequent any East Sherman Avenue business?

Visitors entering town via east Sherman Avenue will likely have a new impression of the Lake City next year. The Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission is soliciting bids from artists to ensure a creative, colorful display greets guests coming into town from Interstate 90. … The piece will be featured on the southeast corner of 23rd Street and Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive adjacent St. Thomas Cemetery. Artists from Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Utah have until May 15 to submit proposals for the $100,000 project/Tom Hasslinger, CDA Press. More here.

Question: Do you support a $100,000 public arts project to upgrade the eastern entrance to Coeur d’Alene?

Emma Burke, 12, and Jessica Fortis, 13, ski down the sidewalks on Sherman Ave. in Coeur d’Alene Thursday, as snow continued to fall from the massive snowstorm that blanked the region.  Though it was only eight days until Christmas, few shoppers braved the conditions in downtown Coeur d’Alene.  JESSE TINSLEY The Spokesman-Review.