In brief: Coeur d’Alene recall attempt falling short

The recall attempt against Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem and three City Council members apparently has failed.

With 98 percent of the recall petitions checked, Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes said Saturday that 24 percent of the signatures had been disqualified for various reasons. Bloem and the three council members – Deanna Goodlander, Woody McEvers and Mike Kennedy – needed a disqualification rate of around 20 percent to survive the recall attempt that was triggered by their decision to upgrade McEuen Field in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Supporters of the recall needed 4,311 valid signatures to trigger a recall election. If the percent of disqualifications remains around 24 percent, Bloem will survive the recall attempt by about 225 signatures. The three council members will survive the recall attempt by about 300 signatures.

City Clerk Susan Weather has said that she will release the results of the recall attempt at 5 p.m. Tuesday, the end of the 75-day period provided by Idaho law to collect and verify signatures.

Man found dead near runners path

A National Guardsman from Fairchild Air Force Base died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Saturday afternoon next to the path of a public race on West Government Way, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities received a call around 2:15 p.m. from a family member of the deceased man warning that he sounded distraught and might kill himself.

Minutes later, police showed up outside Fort George Wright Cemetery, where the man was already deceased, according to the sheriff’s office. Police did not specify whether the man was in the cemetery or just outside.

A charity fundraiser called the Dirty Dash took place at the time of the shooting. Participants passed the cemetery on the last mile of the race, but police said no runners appeared to have heard the gunshot.

The man’s identity has not been released.