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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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News >  Idaho Voices

Music and arts

Today Bill Reid (Jazz) – 1 p.m., Di Luna’s Café, 207 Cedar St., Sandpoint, (208) 263-0846.
News >  Idaho Voices

Perfect conditions for mushrooms

This has been the year for mushrooms. Homeowners have had them popping up all over yards and gardens and have been flooding garden centers and the Master Gardener Plant Clinic with questions about what they are and how to deal with them. To “deal with” mushrooms, we need to understand just what they are. The mushrooms we see above ground are really the fruiting body of a larger mass of fungi underground. The fungi we can’t see are one of nature’s most prolific and efficient soil builders. They are the beginning of the decomposition cycle that eventually breaks down all the raw organic material that accumulates around us.
News >  Idaho Voices

Proposed free bus system would become asset to city

Soon both residents and visitors in the Sandpoint area may be able to park their cars and rely on free public transportation to shuttle them to and from areas in and around Bonner County. But it all depends upon the results at the polls in the small town of Ponderay on Nov. 2.
News >  Idaho Voices

Sandwich chain brings CdA ‘perfect’ bread, two names

You have to admire the way Jimmy John’s started. A 19-year-old lad with two first names, Jimmy John Liautaud, decided to create the world’s greatest gourmet sandwich in 1983 in Champaign, Ill. He checked out cookbooks from a library, baked “perfect” bread, tested four sandwiches on family and friends, took to the streets with armfuls of free sandwiches, rented a tiny shop and delivered his creations to University of Illinois students.
News >  Idaho Voices

Silverwood shifts

Forget what you know about Silverwood Theme Park. As the Scarywood Haunted Nights moves in for one last fright-filled week, the park’s family fun reputation makes way for thrill-seekers scared stiff.
News >  Idaho Voices

We’re overdue for stormy weather

We knew it couldn’t last forever. The first three weeks of October turned out warmer than average (by about 3.3 degrees F), with some nice long stretches of mild, sunny days. The first widespread freeze occurred about 11 days later than average, giving gardeners a few extra days to harvest those frost sensitive veggies. However computer forecast models are finally showing a significant change in the weather pattern, from the ridge we’ve been enjoying, to a stormier pattern of cold troughs. Snow levels will be dropping, with a good chance we’ll start seeing some white in the mountains. As far as lower elevations snows, Coeur d’Alene only averages 0.2 inches of snow for the month of October. In Spokane, average October snow is only 0.4 inches.
News >  Idaho Voices

When you don’t feel like getting out, call for pizza

For just this week I’m changing the name of this column from “Get Out!” to “Stay In!” and covering something I rarely get a chance to talk about: pizza delivery. It’s the perfect solution to lunch or dinner during times of inclement weather or times when you just plain can’t muster enough get-up-and-go to fix your wig and make a public appearance. Our area has no shortage of pizza places that will come knocking on your door in (hopefully) speedy fashion with a (hopefully) piping-hot pizza pie for a (hopefully) relatively small amount of cash.
News >  Idaho Voices

CdA making recycling easier

The Lake City is aiming to become a less wasteful city. The city of Coeur d’Alene’s recycling program is expanding through a system that is sweeping the nation. New 64-gallon blue bins recently began showing up curbside at 14,000 homes, ushering in the start this week of single-stream recycling. With five times the capacity of the old crates, the carts boost the amount of collectables accepted from seven to more than 15.
News >  Idaho Voices

Church events

Weekly Events Mindshifters Study Group – Workshops focus on the connection between mind/body/emotion and overall health and relationships. Mondays, 7-9 p.m., Unity Center, 4465 N. 15th St., Coeur d’Alene. (208) 660-7687.
News >  Idaho Voices

Education notes: Students stage ‘Twelfth Night’

Students in the Lake City High School Theatre drama company, Troupe de Wolfe, will kick off their theatrical season with “Twelfth Night,” a performance that is said be the greatest of Shakespearian romantic comedies, on Thursday in the high school auditorium at 7 p.m. A “meet the company” dessert reception will follow the opening night performance. The entertaining production is a Shakespearian twist on the original comic plotline of maniacal events surrounding the mixed up and mistaken identities of twins. In this rendition, Shakespeare mixes up the gender of the twins, too.
Opinion >  Column

Eye on Boise: Spirited debate in race for Secretary of State

BOISE – They may be lower-profile state offices, but there were lively debates last week in the races for Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor. Secretary of State Ben Ysursa faced Democratic challenger Mack Sermon, who championed vote-by-mail, saying Idaho would save “millions,” and called for election reforms. Ysursa said he’s proud of his record, and objected – though only mildly – when Sermon said he thought his current job as a college debate coach was just as complicated as serving as secretary of state.
News >  Idaho Voices

Garden a memorial to beloved son

Little Theo loved life. He loved exploring his world and was just discovering the broader world when he died on his first birthday in early May this year. He left behind his stunned and grieving parents, Keith and Pam Smith, of Deer Park. Theo died of pulmonary hypertension; a condition where the blood vessels around the lungs don’t properly expand when a baby is born, to carry oxygen from the lungs. When Theo was born, he had no indications of the condition.
Opinion >  Column

Huckleberries: Witness served in the end

You may know that Christa Hazel was subpoenaed to testify in the contempt of court case against Bill McCrory (which was dismissed Tuesday), springing from the failed Jim Brannon election lawsuit. But did you know that Christa got her money’s worth from the subpoena server? Literally. Christa received her subpoena on Oct. 8 from a process server with Confidential Investigations. E-mails Christa: “The process server with Confidential Investigations hand-delivered the subpoena to my door but failed to provide the witness fees per Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure. He returned later in the day with a check from the law offices of Arthur Macomber in the amount of $21 and change. I will promptly be endorsing this check and donating it to Mike Kennedy’s legal defense fund.” Wait, there’s more. Later, Christa wrote on her Facebook page: “Witness fee = $20, Mileage to the court house = $1.27, Aggravating the process server by forcing him to make two trips to my house to deliver my witness fee? Priceless. Donating the witness fee to Mike Kennedy’s legal defense fund? The cherry on top.” Pringled
News >  Idaho Voices

In brief: NIC trustees forum will be Tuesday

COEUR D’ALENE – The Associated Students of North Idaho College will hold a board of trustees candidate forum on Tuesday at noon in the Edminster Student Union Building Lake Coeur d’Alene Room. The forum will last one hour and will consist of timed answers to questions for candidates Robert Ketchum, running against incumbent Christie Wood for Seat B, and Ken Howard, running against Ron Nilson for Seat A. Seat A is currently held by Rolly Williams, who is retiring. The questions were gathered from student input and will be followed by questions from attendees.
News >  Idaho Voices

Newly opened Skippers refocuses on seafood quality, service

I’m just going to listen to the experts and pretend I ate a healthfully guilt-free lunch. Dietary experts say that regular consumption of the Omega-3 fatty acids found in many types of seafood can do wonderful things for your body’s well-being, from lowering cholesterol and blood pressure to acting as an anti-inflammatory and possibly helping to prevent cancer. They say Omega-3 can lift you out of a depression, slow the onset of Alzheimer’s and can even make you a better samba dancer.
News >  Idaho Voices

School reunions

Pullman High School Class of 1971 – June 25, 2011, in Pullman. Looking for classmates and faculty and administration from that era. Contact Fred K. Lange, 8994 Scott St., Springfield, VA 22153; (703) 401-7873; or langefk@aol.com. North Central High School Class of 1971 – Aug. 6, 2011, at Red Lion River Inn, 700 N. Division St. Reservations for light appetizers and an appetizer buffet is $40 by May 6, 2011. E-mail sunnyjim57@msn.com for more information.
News >  Idaho Voices

Sculpture uses salvage materials

As you enter Sandpoint, there are signs proclaiming this resort area as a walking town. But this community is quickly evolving into much more than a place where you can stroll safely through the streets; it is also becoming a destination spot that soon will be known for its public art. A few years ago the city established the Sandpoint Arts Commission. The group meets once a month and works with city officials to bring art to public spaces in Sandpoint. The goal: Promote Sandpoint as an artistic town with an emphasis on cultural excellence.