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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Becky Kramer

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News >  Spokane

‘Mom, you can’t cancel the Christmas Eve service’

By Wednesday morning, the Rev. Andrea CastroLang considered canceling the Christmas Eve service at Westminster Congregational Church. The soloist already had bowed out. TV news was full of footage of cars sliding off roadways, and up to 10 more inches of snow was forecast for that night. Would it be safe or responsible, she wondered, to hold the Service of Carols and Candles?
News >  Spokane

Residents take holiday challenges in stride

By Wednesday morning, Rev. Andrea CastroLang considered canceling the Christmas Eve service at Westminster Congregational Church. The soloist already had bowed out. TV news was full of footage of cars sliding off roadways, and up to 10 more inches of snow was forecast for that night. Would it be safe or responsible, she wondered, to hold the Service of Carols and Candles?
News >  Idaho

Avista to pay tribe for land use

Avista Corp. will pay as much as $168 million over the next half-century to compensate the Coeur d’Alene Tribe for storing water for hydropower generation on the tribe’s submerged land in Lake Coeur d’Alene. The storage allows Avista to regulate the flow of water through the utility’s six Spokane River dams.
News >  Business

Mine to close as zinc prices fall

Zinc prices tumbled from $1 per pound to less than 50 cents over the past six months. The fallout has repercussions for Northeast Washington, where 165 employees at the Pend Oreille Mine will lose their jobs in mid-February. The underground mine produced about 60,000 tons of zinc concentrate last year. Both the automobile and construction industries consume large amounts of zinc, which is used to rust-proof steel.
News >  Idaho

Forest to fairways

For decades, the hills overlooking Cindy Oswald’s 120-acre horse ranch grew trees for North Idaho’s timber industry. The next crop could be 477 trophy homes and an 18-hole golf course. Stimson Lumber Co. plans to sell 1,500 acres of commercial forestland near Farragut State Park to a California developer who wants to rezone the property for resort development. With lumber markets in a steep decline, it’s a trend that rural residents like Oswald fear they’ll see again and again.
News >  Idaho

Proposal for a ‘sudden city’

A forested tract in North Idaho could someday become Clagstone Meadows, a residential community with 1,100 luxury homes, condos and RV lots; two 18-hole golf courses; equestrian facilities; and a 150-acre natural lake. Stimson Lumber Co. proposes the development on 12,000 acres it owns halfway between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint. According to the numbers in an economic analysis on file at the Bonner County Planning Department, Clagstone Meadows could be worth $1.5 billion at build-out, generate $69 million in construction wages, and provide 200 ongoing service jobs.
News >  Idaho

EPA, Ecology delay permits

New permits to reduce the flow of phosphorus into the Spokane River are still at least a year away, federal officials reiterated Thursday. “We are mindful of the urgency factor,” said Christine Psyk, associate director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water.
News >  Idaho

Two Idaho ski spots to open

Schweitzer Mountain Resort will open Friday with a manmade snowpack, while other Inland Northwest ski resort are counting on the coming storm to pad their slopes for weekend opening dates.
News >  Idaho

Forest Service proposes keeping some roads closed

After winter storms dropped 20 inches of snow and rain in the Lightning Creek drainage in late 2006, flooding devoured millions of dollars worth of backcountry roads. The roads provided access to popular recreation spots near Sandpoint for huckleberry picking, hunting, hiking, and horseback and ATV riding. But given the area’s history of blowout floods, the Forest Service plans to reopen only a portion of the roads.
News >  Idaho

Pests, climate change put whitebark pine at risk

Ravaged by an introduced pest and facing threats from climate change, stands of whitebark pine are disappearing so quickly from the Western landscape that the species needs federal protection, conservation groups say. On Tuesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add whitebark pines to the Endangered Species List.
News >  Idaho

Some roads to stay closed

After winter storms dropped 20 inches of snow and rain in the Lightning Creek drainage in late 2006, flooding devoured millions of dollars worth of backcountry roads. The roads provided access to popular recreation spots near Sandpoint for huckleberry picking, hunting, hiking, and horseback and ATV riding. But given the area’s history of blowout floods, the Forest Service plans to reopen only a portion of the roads.
News >  Idaho

Court voids water discharge permit for mine

The Rock Creek Mine’s plan to pump wastewater into the Clark Fork River needs a higher level of scrutiny, the Montana Supreme Court said in a ruling Thursday that voids the mine’s discharge permit. The proposed silver-copper mine is expected to produce 3.3 million gallons of wastewater daily that likely will be tainted with arsenic, ammonia, nitrates and heavy metals, the ruling said. Revett Minerals, the mine’s operator, planned to treat the water before pumping it into the Clark Fork, which flows into Lake Pend Oreille.
News >  Idaho

Improvements could allow Farragut range to reopen

Farragut State Park’s shooting range could reopen next year with soundproofing designed to muffle the whine of rifle shots and safety barriers to block errant bullets. The range, which dates to Farragut’s days as a World War II naval training station, was closed by a 2007 court order. Neighbors challenged a $3.6 million range expansion proposed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, arguing that the current range failed to meet safety standards. Nearby residents testified that bullets whizzed overhead and struck their homes. They also complained about noise.
News >  Idaho

Former Oregon governor on list for Interior job

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber spoke out in favor of removing the four Lower Snake River Dams to restore Northwest salmon runs. Now the former emergency room doctor – a veteran of resource battles in his home state – is a candidate to lead the U.S. Department of Interior. Kitzhaber is on a short list for Interior secretary in the Obama administration. Three fellow Westerners’ names also appear on the list: U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.; U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.; and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona.
News >  Business

Avista to put wind farm on hold

Avista Corp. will delay building a wind farm south of Reardan by at least two years, citing the high cost of the wind turbines. “This stuff is really expensive,” said Hugh Imhof, a spokesman for the Spokane-based utility. “Why build a $125 million wind farm if we don’t need it for another two years?”
News >  Idaho

A bargain hunter’s day

Shoppers thronged local retail stores Friday morning, snapping up bargains on electronics, toys and jewelry. Parking lots were crowded and checkout lines were long. But while Inland Northwest consumers turned out in force for Black Friday – the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season – many spent cautiously.
News >  Idaho

Cut your own tree for $5

For a bargain Christmas tree, try the federal government. With a $5 permit, millions of evergreens are available for the choosing from the Inland Northwest’s national forests.
News >  Idaho

ORV use limited in Ferry County

Off-road vehicles have lost their free ride on Ferry County’s roadways. Two ordinances that allowed off-road vehicle traffic on many of the northeastern Washington county’s rural roads were overturned by a Spokane County Superior Court judge. In a ruling last week, Judge Michael Price said some of the roads opened to ORV use failed to meet the state’s criteria: They didn’t create direct routes between cities of less than 3,000 people and designed off-road recreation areas.
News >  Idaho

ORV use repealed in Ferry County

Off-road vehicles have lost their free ride on Ferry County’s roadways. Two ordinances that allowed off-road vehicle traffic on many of the northeastern Washington county’s rural roads were overturned by a Spokane County Superior Court judge. In a ruling last week, Judge Michael Price said some of the roads opened to ORV use failed to meet the state’s criteria: They didn’t create direct routes between cities of less than 3,000 people and designed off-road recreation areas.
News >  Idaho

Zonolite deal offers cash for cleanup

A Spokane attorney has helped negotiate a tentative $140 million class-action settlement with W.R. Grace & Co. over Zonolite Attic Insulation, an asbestos-tainted product installed in millions of U.S. homes. The settlement would require W.R. Grace to pay as much as $140 million to settle Zonolite claims over the next 25 years, attorney Darrell Scott said Tuesday. The money would go into a trust fund that property owners could tap for 55 percent of the cost of Zonolite removal or related remediation. Most payouts would be capped at $4,125.
News >  Idaho

Zonolite deal would offer cash for repairs

A Spokane attorney has helped negotiate a tentative $140 million class-action settlement with W.R. Grace & Co. over Zonolite Attic Insulation, an asbestos-tainted product installed in millions of U.S. homes. The settlement would require W.R. Grace to pay as much as $140 million to settle Zonolite claims over the next 25 years, attorney Darrell Scott said Tuesday. The money would go into a trust fund that property owners could tap for 55 percent of the cost of Zonolite removal or related remediation. Most payouts would be capped at $4,125.
News >  Idaho

Low-cost windmill turning heads at GU

A small windmill built from 50-gallon plastic barrels and other junkyard castoffs will help solve energy needs and lead to better living standards in Kitale, Kenya. The clunky-looking structure, designed for a single African home, produces electricity at wind speeds of 10 mph and is just one of several sustainable technology projects designed by Gonzaga University engineering students. This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rewarded their efforts with a $10,000 grant.
News >  Idaho

Clear-cut policy

RICE, Wash. – Connie Bergstrom has spent three decades roaming northeast Washington’s Huckleberry Mountains. The retired biology teacher knows which seeps hold enough water to quench the thirst of a horse and a dog during a dusty, August trail ride. She knows where to spot signs of bears. She knows which watering holes to avoid at dusk, because cougars linger there.
News >  Business

Ponderay Newsprint drops suit

Ponderay Newsprint Co., which buys 90 percent of the power generated by the Box Canyon Dam, has withdrawn a lawsuit against the dam’s owner, the Pend Oreille County Public Utility District. “We dropped the suit so that we could open up dialogue with the utility district,” Tom Garrett, human resources manager for the newsprint plant, said this week.