Becky Kramer

At the bottom of Lake Coeur d'Alene, divers frequently encounter iridescent colors in the mud – glowing reds and oranges that point to the presence of iron oxide. These are the lake's toxic hot spots. A century of mining pollution from Idaho's Silver Valley bonded to the iron oxide and washed into the lake, creating deposits of lead, zinc, cadmium and arsenic.

Water will cascade more lavishly over the Spokane River's waterfalls in years to come. Even during dry years, at least 300 cubic feet of water a second will flow over the north channel of Upper Falls Dam in downtown Spokane, the Washington Department of Ecology announced Tuesday. The flows – equivalent to about 2,250 gallons per second – are required from 10 a.m. to a half-hour after sunset from Memorial Day through the end of September. In the past, the channel dried up completely during hot summers when the water was diverted through the dam's powerhouse for electric generation.

In 1807, explorer David Thompson watched salmon spawn at Columbia Lake in what is now British Columbia. The fish were so abundant that his clerk speared them at night by torchlight. But the mighty runs disappeared in the 1930s with the construction Grand Coulee Dam. An engineering marvel of the Great Depression, the dam 90 miles west of Spokane rises 550 feet above the Columbia River – too tall for fish ladders. The dam blocked salmon, a staple for indigenous people, from the upper Columbia.

SILVERTON, Idaho – A dozen years after being banned from gasoline, lead is making a comeback. Prices are near record highs. China can't get enough of the ubiquitous gray metal. And in Great Britain, ancient churches are losing lead roofs to thieves, who filch the metal to sell for scrap. Thefts have become so brazen that insurance companies have started putting traceable compounds in replacement roofs. It's all good news for Galena Mine near Silverton, Idaho, which will produce about 12 1/2 million pounds of lead this year.

"Street Law," the sign in Riverfront Park advertised. "Talk to a lawyer for free today." People did. Within an hour and a half, the three attorneys fielding questions at the outdoor clinic had given legal advice to 15 people.

CATALDO, Idaho – After spotting Jet Skiers cresting waves on the Coeur d'Alene River, emergency management officials are warning people to stay out of the water. The flood-stage river might tempt thrill seekers. But it's a thrill that could be dangerous, officials said.

Sawmills create their own industrial symphony, and Joe Hoesche has a keen ear for it. From his office, the maintenance supervisor listens to the rumble and shriek of machinery and knows whether the DeArmond mill's equipment is working in harmony.

Americans are so addicted to their comfortable lifestyles that even $120 per barrel oil is unlikely to change their behavior, Shell Oil Co.'s president said Tuesday. "Who wants to sit in a mega-mansion at 75 degrees when you have the ability to turn the air conditioner to 72 degrees?" John Hofmeister said during an appearance in Coeur d'Alene.

Bull trout, a native fish that's extremely sensitive to changes in water quality, will retain its "threatened" status under the Endangered Species Act, federal officials announced Tuesday. Over the next year, scientists will also take a closer look at bull trout populations in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Nevada to determine whether some need additional protections.

Redband trout are the Spokane River's signature native fish, spotted beauties with a stripe that glows brick red during spawning season and a feisty attitude prized by sport anglers. Scientists at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife suspected the population was in decline. It wasn't until October that they realized how much.

Western forests are vulnerable to attack from same beetles that chewed their way through interior British Columbia, infesting an area more than four times the size of Vancouver Island, a University of Idaho professor says. Jeffrey Hicke's research concludes that roughly 46 percent, or 7 million acres, of lodgepole pine forest in the Cascades and Rocky Mountains is highly susceptible to the mountain pine beetle. The beetles burrow under the bark, girdling the trees.