Idaho Voices

BOISE – After House Education Chairman Bob Nonini declared on the floor of the House that Gov. Butch Otter‘s executive order for new accountability measures at the Idaho Transportation Department was “not worth the piece of paper it was printed on,” there was much speculation that Otter would veto a bill that Nonini insisted on at the end of the legislative session. But last week, Otter signed the measure into law.

As one of Idaho’s fastest-growing communities, Post Falls is looking to the future with a focus on the design of future development rather than use. The city has adopted “SmartCode,” with a few details to be worked out such as putting the code into ordinance form. Colin Coles, senior planner, said Post Falls is the first community in the Northwest to adopt SmartCode, a method of developing land that he said is similar to a planned unit development (like Riverstone in Coeur d’Alene), but with less commercial use.

It’s the ruling that made a typically domestic operation take on tones of a back-ally smuggler’s ring. Since the ban on high-phosphate dishwater detergent in Spokane County went into effect last July, unknown numbers of otherwise-honest Washingtonians became state-hopping smugglers in pursuit of spot-free dishes. But at least it’s made a difference in one important place – the area water supply.

Friday kicked off the official start of summer in this North Idaho community. With the announcement of the 2009 performers for the Festival at Sandpoint, people begin to strategically plan which concerts they will attend, put in requests at work for specific vacation days so they can stand in line to secure a close-up seat, and line up those high-in-demand baby sitters.

There was rarely a dull moment or a dull pair of Fiskars growing up in a home with a woman who has deservedly earned herself the title “Queen of Crafts.” For as far back as memory serves, my mother dabbled in nearly every arts and crafts trend to cross the cultural radar in the last four decades. While doll-making was a constant over the years, there were different craft epochs in our household. First there was the dark, hairy Precambrian age of Macramé, when rope-art owls with big beady eyes ruled the sunken den and ivies entwined themselves around dusty rust-colored plant hangers.

Filings from April 14-23. Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Items and foods that have been discontinued, outdated or packaged in irregular containers are the inventory of Bargain Foods & Treasures. The discount store opened last week at 811 N. Fourth St. The 4,100-square-foot building had been the home of the Idaho Youth Ranch Thrift Store, which moved up the street half a block.

The Coeur d’Alene School District honored teachers and staff last week at the annual retirement/recognition dinner at the Coeur d’Alene Inn. Erik Karns, a science teacher at Coeur d’Alene High School, was named Educator of the Year. According to a press release from the district, Karns said he holds his students to high expectations. “Every day, I enjoy the great feeling that my work is paying off in the lives of my students. Regardless of their grade, they both enjoy and understand science better,” he said. He has been on staff at CHS since 2004.

Beginning today from noon to 4 p.m. the community will have an opportunity to walk through the grand prize home in the North Idaho College Foundation’s Really BIG Raffle. Open houses will be held every Sunday through June 14. One free raffle ticket will be given away to a current raffle ticket holder at each open house. The $300,000, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home has a full, unfinished basement and is located at 1909 Teanaway Drive in Post Falls. It includes granite kitchen counters, a dual-sided gas fireplace, central air conditioning, a skylight, a three-car garage, fully landscaped corner lot, and a covered deck.

Coeur d’Alene

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – “I am amazed,” responded one of the judges at the First Lego League Children’s Climate Call after hearing a panel of Lakeland School District fifth-graders present their idea of sequestering CO2 emissions from idling school buses for beneficial use. “Are you all going to quit school and just go on (solving problems)?” he joked, acknowledging the Lakeland Super Seven’s polished, thought-provoking presentation during the competition held May 1-3.

BOISE – Even though it fell short by one day of matching the record for the longest-ever legislative session in Idaho history, this year’s Idaho legislative session actually did set a record: It ran longer into the spring than any previous session. The record 118-day session in 2003 ended on May 3. But this year’s 117-day session ended on May 8. The reason: Because of a quirk of the calendar, this year’s started later. Idaho lawmakers, by law, convene each year on the Monday on or closest to Jan. 9. This year, that was Jan. 12. In 2003, it was Jan. 6.

The Inland Northwest has been dealing with a potpourri of interesting weather over the last couple of weeks. On May 6, a rare tornado was confirmed in Lincoln County, Wash., just northeast of Davenport. The tornado produced intermittent damage in a four-mile path from near Davenport toward Lake Roosevelt. The tornado was rated a 0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which assigns a rating based on estimated wind speeds and related damage. The scale ranges from EF0 to EF5, with associated three-second wind gust speeds ranging from 65-85 mph on the low end to over 200 mph on the high end. On average, both Washington and Idaho see only one to two tornadoes each year, and the ones that do occur tend to be on weak side of the EF scale resulting in only minor damage. In addition to producing a tornado, that same storm evolved into what’s called a “bow echo” as it moved into Stevens County. The name bow echo comes from the fact that the storm takes on a bowed shape on the radar image (whereas a tornado is associated with what’s called a “hook echo” on radar). Storms that evolve into this bowed shape have the potential to produce damaging straight-line winds with speeds of 100 mph or more. In northern Spokane County, just south of Deer Park, a narrow six-mile swath of roof damage and uprooted trees was reported.

Today “BIG RIVER” (MUSICAL) – 2 p.m., Lake City Playhouse, 1320 E. Garden Ave., Coeur d’Alene, 667-1323.

With the spring rains, fairy rings are making their annual return to our lawns. Fairy ring mushrooms are the fruiting body created by any one of dozens of fungi that live on rotting woody material in the soil. They are one of the oldest life forms and their simple biology has enabled them to survive millions of years of change. As a result, getting them out of your lawn isn’t going to be easy. Sorry, folks, there is no quick fix here.