Idaho Voices

The Post Falls Parks and Recreation Department currently has discounted lift tickets to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. A limited number of tickets available are $50 for adults and $39 for juniors, ages 7 to 17. Tickets may be used during the 2008-2009 season.

Today COUNTRY JAM SESSION – 8 p.m., Crickets, 424 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene, 765-1990.

Bigger is better when it comes to accessory buildings. According to Kootenai County records, nearly 300 residential (meaning noncommercial) pole buildings were built in the county last year, and just over 300 the year before. That means about 600 local men talked their wives – or maybe just themselves – into a new accessory building on their property in the past two years. And you can bet they built those buildings just as big as they possibly could.

This week Grace for All Nations Ministry International Conference – Held Friday-Monday at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second St. Nightly sessions held at 7 p.m. and a breakfast on Saturday at 8 a.m. Special music by anointed psalmist Betty Symons. No registration necessary, free will offering accepted. $20/breakfast fee. (425) 251-8400.

Post Falls and Lakeland School Districts lunch menus for the week of Jan. 19-23. Post Falls School District

Devastation hit Bayview in the last few weeks, as at least six boats, up to 39 feet long, sank at their moorages, from various snow and ice causes. To trump that, one of the barges with cranes that was used to raise most of them, broke loose during the Dec. 29 storm, ripping the mooring lines and setting sail across Lake Pend Oreille. When it finally stopped, the barge was at Lakeview, sans crane. Somewhere out in that 1,150-foot deep lake, sits a 40-ton crane that used to sit on the barge. Charley Kramer, owner of Kramer’s Tug and Barge, said, “Well, it’s worth between $40-$50,000 and we’ll try to recover it.”

Several years ago, it became apparent that using my home phone as a business phone wasn’t going to work. I missed calls because my kids were on the phone, and on one memorable occasion a child woke me at midnight to say, “I forgot to tell you. Your editor called this afternoon. It’s urgent – he wants you to call him back right away.”

Although the theme for this year’s Sandpoint Winter Carnival was chosen long ago, it could not be more appropriate given the weather that has hit this area since mid December. The theme – “For the Love of Snow” – is a reflection of all that Sandpoint has to offer for outdoor enthusiasts. But even if you are not a fan of the snow that has taken over the region for a second year in a row, the upcoming Winter Carnival will offer both outdoor and indoor activities.

Filings from Dec. 1-11

Coeur d’Alene

Firefighters are family. They live together, cook together, spend birthdays and holidays together and in the line of duty they risk their lives together. And like traditional families, when one member of the family is struggling, it affects everyone. “Firefighting is not your typical 9-to-5 job. They (the firefighters) work for 48 hours at a time and have to work through all the typical things that occur in a family,” said Sagle Fire Chief Rob Goodyear.

As winter progresses Idaho roads become more and more treacherous. To help prevent further accidents and keep drivers safe, Idaho State Police will hold the sixth annual Road Safe driving class next Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Idaho State Police Region Office, 602 W. Prairie Ave., in Coeur d’Alene.

Rick Cooper of Coronado Classics dusts off the same story whenever someone asks him what life is like in the Lake City. Years ago, when his shop was on Sherman Avenue and open seven days a week during decent weather, he saw a fella nab his Sunday paper, jump in his car, and drive off. Rick wrote down the fella’s license number – and called the cops because he’d had several papers stolen. A CPD Blue showed up five minutes later and knew who the thief was. At that point, the guy was facing a night in jail because he couldn’t see a judge until Monday. Reasonably, Rick thought that was harsh punishment for a newspaper. Instead, he agreed to talk to the guy. Who happened to be a young, unemployed father who didn’t have the money for food and a paper. Rick told the thief whom he still has labeled as “Newspaper Thief” in his Rolodex that he could work off his crime. Which he did. Afterward, he asked: “Are we even now?” Rick responded, “Not yet.” And handed him a $100 bill. Concludes Rick: “How many police departments would even take a report on a stolen newspaper? And would work it out so lessons were learned by all parties. If anybody asks me what it is like living in CdA, I often tell that story. They get the picture.” Memory lane

BOISE – Sandpoint Sen. Shawn Keough said she wasn’t expecting it when she got a call from Gov. Butch Otter on Christmas Eve, asking whether she’d consider an appointment as lieutenant governor. The sixth-term Republican was one of about 30 people Otter talked to about the job, before this week appointing Sen. Brad Little, R-Emmett, to the post. “I think the governor made a great choice and that Brad will do an excellent job,” Keough said.

As if the struggling economy wasn’t enough to cause stress for those in the retail business this holiday season, the forced temporary closure of more than a dozen Sandpoint shops cut short their busiest season of the year. On Dec. 22, merchants in the Cedar Street Bridge Public Market in downtown Sandpoint were forced to close their businesses due to water damage on the enclosed bridge which was formerly home to Sandpoint’s Coldwater Creek retail store.