In brief: Hayden Lake project gets second hearing

The Kootenai County commission is continuing a public hearing tonight on a controversial gated residential development overlooking Hayden Lake that could include a 36-slip community dock.

The 6 p.m. hearing is a continuation of the June 14 meeting on Timber Creek – a proposal by Oregon-based McDougal Brothers Investments to build 46 lots on a basalt bluff overlooking the north side of the lake off English Point Road.

The commission has toured the 57 acres, and the company invited University of Idaho geological engineering professor Stan Miller and Hayden Lake Recreational Water and Sewer District members also to take the tour.

Neighbors, organized as the Hayden Lake Protective Association, oppose the development because of increased traffic and concern that the luxury development could set a bad precedent since a homeowners association, instead of individual property owners, would control the waterfront.

The hearing is at the Kootenai County Administration Building, 451 Government Way. For more information, call (208) 446-1600.

– Erica Curless

Car seat inspections offered Saturday

Parents and other caregivers can learn if their children’s car seats are safe during a free inspection Saturday in Coeur d’Alene.

Kootenai Medical Center’s certified car seat technicians will be at Brian Goetz’s State Farm Insurance Agency, 840 W. Kathleen Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Inspections take 20 to 30 minutes.

Four of five car seats on the road today are being used incorrectly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“We want to make sure parents, grandparents and anyone else driving children around understands how to keep them safe,” Lauren Corcoran, community outreach coordinator for the hospital, said in a statement. “Our goal is to help reduce auto related injuries for the children in our area.”

Clowns from the Smile Squad and the State Farm mascot, “Good NeighBear,” will entertain and hand out prizes to children.

Free car seat inspections also are offered at Kootenai Medical Center every Thursday, 1 to 3:30 p.m. Appointments are required for those inspections. Call Kootenai’s Educational Services Department at (208) 666-2030. For more information, visit www.kmc.org/carseats.

– From staff reports