In brief: CdA gateway plans open for discussion

Changes envisioned for Coeur d’Alene’s western gateway are up for public review and comment.

Conceptual plans for the city-sponsored Four Corners/BLM Corridor Master Plan will be posted today on the city’s website, cdaid.org. Click on the “Four Corners” tab at the top of the homepage.

The study encompasses Independence Point, parking near the Museum of North Idaho, Mullan Avenue, Memorial Field and Bureau of Land Management property that extends from River Avenue to Riverstone.

The conceptual plans are based on public input from city parks and recreation meetings last year, design team meetings in recent months, and input from stakeholders and a steering committee.

More than 120 people attended an open house Wednesday night to consider and comment on the conceptual plans, and a second public open house is planned as Welch Comer Engineers moves forward with master planning efforts. The master plan will be presented to the City Council next April.

‘Skeletal remains’ found near Newport

A body was found Tuesday on private property west of Newport, the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office report.

The “skeletal remains” likely have been in the location for an extended period, the office said in a news release. They were found by a man who leases the property where it was found, near U.S. Highway 2.

Preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play, the news release said. Transients have been known to use the property.

The remains have been taken to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office for further examination.

Vending owners accused of EBT fraud

A Spokane couple have been accused by state officials and local police of buying snacks and soda with food stamps to stock vending machines.

The Washington Department of Health and Welfare announced in a news release that it believed that Kathleen A. Hagy, 68, and Charles A. Hagy, 71, purchased electronic benefit cards from those who qualified for the federal food benefits and used them to buy items to sell in vending machines. Charles Hagy is listed as the owner of Keystone Vending, 1325 N. Howard St., in state business records.

A search warrant was served on the business on Thursday, the news release said. The potential fraud came to light after the Spokane Police Department held training last summer for local retailers about spotting benefits fraud. Soon after, the department got a tip from a store’s loss prevention investigator, the news release said.

Police and state investigators believe that the couple spent several thousand dollars in benefits using 20 electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards at one local retailer, the news release said.

Talks don’t resolve UO assistants’ strike

EUGENE – A daylong mediation session has failed to resolve a strike by graduate teaching assistants at the University of Oregon.

The Register-Guard reported that Thursday’s session ended after 11 1/2 hours. The newspaper said talks may resume today.

Members of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation went on strike Tuesday after contract talks stalled over medical and maternity leave benefits.

Union spokesman Gus Skorburg said support on the picket line remains strong.

The strike comes near the end of the fall term.

University administrators have been making plans to enter grades for undergraduate students who are taught by the striking graduate teachers.

Wyoming pressing Oregon on terminal

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The state of Wyoming continues to try to pressure Oregon to permit a coal terminal on the Columbia River that could allow export of coal to Asia.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Thursday announced the state has filed a petition with Oregon seeking to participate in a contested case hearing over the proposed Coyote Island Terminal. Oregon this summer rejected the proposal to build the terminal at the Port of Morrow.

Oregon ruled building the terminal would threaten its water resources. It later rejected an appeal from Wyoming, ruling the state lacked standing.

Wyoming is the nation’s leading coal-producing state and is eager to reach Asian markets as new federal air quality rules reduce demand from domestic coal-fired power plants. Mead claims Oregon is stifling interstate commerce.