In brief: No holiday parties at boat launch site
The party’s over at the Cocolalla Lake fishing access site.
From June 28 to July 5, the area will be closed to all activities except boat launching as part of an effort to curb the rowdiness of an impromptu annual Independence Day celebration, said Phil Cooper, spokesman for the Idaho Fish and Game Department.
“The problem has gotten out of hand,” Cooper said. “It’s just a situation that precludes the site from being used by the people who have paid for it: sportsmen.”
Cocolalla Lake is about 25 miles north of Coeur d’Alene along U.S. Highway 95. Each year over the July 4 holiday, a resident on the lake conducts a large fireworks display, which in turn has sparked a viewing party at the boat launch site, Cooper said.
Upward of 150 people have crowded the launch in recent years, leaving behind graffiti, broken bottles, nail-studded burnt embers and other debris.
The site is funded through licensing dollars, but boaters and anglers avoid it because of the party, Cooper said.
The boat ramp will remain open during the closure. The facility will reopen to the public July 6.
Coeur d’Alene
Suspect arrested in theft of wallet
Coeur d’Alene police detectives arrested a man they say stole the wallet of an elderly woman as she walked to an appointment for cancer treatment. Caleb L. Cox, 24, originally from Shoshone County, was arrested for possession of stolen property, possession of a concealed weapon and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Cox allegedly approached the victim Tuesday afternoon as she emerged from her doctor’s office at North Idaho Cancer Center. Police offered this account of what happened: The suspect offered to help the woman and grabbed a wheelchair. She declined the wheelchair, and he offered to take her to radiology. The suspect removed the woman’s purse from her arm and escorted her. He did not seem to know where to go, and she said she wanted to return to her doctor’s office. He gave her purse back and left. The next morning the woman realized her wallet was missing.
Cox was arrested later Tuesday after he was caught allegedly stealing sandals from a resident at the St. Vincent de Paul men’s shelter, police said. On Thursday, detectives linked him to the wallet theft.
Bank accepting donations for girl
The Inland Northwest Bank is taking donations for a seriously ill Coeur d’Alene toddler, Isabella “Izzy” Markhart.
The 19-month-old girl is undergoing hyperbaric chamber treatment and therapy. Because of complications during childbirth, she requires 24-hour care.
Her single mother, Laura Markhart, isn’t working. Her parents and members of the community are organizing fundraisers to pay for the next round of treatments. Deposits for Isabella can be made at any Inland Northwest Bank location.
BOISE
Idaho quarters have been issued
Idaho’s commemorative quarters were issued unannounced June 4, said Michael White, a spokesman for the U.S. Mint.
“We usually meet with each state’s governor’s office and plan an official announcement,” White told the Idaho Statesman. “That hasn’t been done yet, but it will be.”
So far, 550 million Idaho quarters have been minted, but that total could grow, White said. He said it takes about two weeks for newly minted coins to begin circulating in the general population.
The quarter features a peregrine falcon and the outline of the state’s borders.