Alison Boggs

Three generations of Michelle Parkin’s family have taken the bus to Coeur d’Alene schools from the same Wolf Lodge area bus stop, until this year. Cutbacks forced the district to look for savings in its transportation budget and three rural bus routes were trimmed – in Wolf Lodge, the north side of Hayden Lake and Cougar Gulch – with service consolidated in those areas.

A teenage brother and sister from Coeur d’Alene recovered former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe’s stolen mountain bike.

A teenaged brother and sister from Coeur d'Alene recovered former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe's stolen mountain bike.

Before they dove into discussions about technology updates and special education, administrators and principals in the Coeur d’Alene School District began a Wednesday morning management retreat with training in suicide-prevention techniques. The session was a grim reminder of four suicides by district students within the past 15 months. Two were by juniors at Lake City High School who died within about three weeks of each other. Another, last June, was by a middle school student. The fourth, this past June, was by a student who had recently withdrawn from a district middle school.

Joey Bonacci is only 5 years old, but he’s training for his second triathlon. He asks his baby sitter to time him as he sprints across his Hayden lawn. He took swimming lessons this winter so he’d be more comfortable in the water. And he packs milk in his lunch because it’s better “fuel” than soda.

Kootenai County commissioners are proposing a 2012 budget almost $3 million higher than this year’s, but they say property taxes won’t increase because $4 million will be used from reserve funds. Several county reserve funds have risen to levels well beyond what is needed, said Commissioner Dan Green, who took office in January. “We are going to draw them down to prudent levels,” Green said. “Right now we have extra money.”

By the time Nicole Behar slid behind the wheel of her No. 38 Ford Mustang on a recent Wednesday night, her family was getting a little nervous. Three other top racers at Stateline Speedway had turned in strong performances during time trials. The time to beat was 15.399 seconds, and Behar had been running closer to 15.60 on the quarter-mile track.

Blaine Hahn, of Hayden, officially began dreaming again this week. He enrolled at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene in hopes of becoming a mechanical engineer. After dropping out of high school in ninth grade due to bullying, the 19-year-old studied on his own but never thought he’d be able to attend college.

A baby boy is fighting for his life in a Spokane hospital and his 19-year-old Coeur d’Alene father is accused of causing the bleeding in the infant’s brain by repeatedly handling him too roughly. James Blanchard has been charged with felony injury to a child. Bond was set Monday at $100,000 during Blanchard’s first appearance before Kootenai County magistrate Judge Clark Peterson. A preliminary hearing is expected within 14 days.

Landscapers on Monday were planting maple trees outside Idaho’s first residential Hospice House in anticipation of a community dedication of the Coeur d’Alene facility tonight. Following a year of construction, Hospice House at Hummingbird Fields will welcome its first patients in mid-August. The 14,000-square-foot building at 2290 W. Prairie Ave. offers 14 patient rooms, two of which adjoin other rooms and can be used by family members wishing to stay with loved ones.

A baby boy is fighting for his life in a Spokane hospital and his 19-year-old Coeur d'Alene father is accused of causing the bleeding in the infant’s brain by repeatedly handling him too roughly.

Joe and Lydia Sokol say it might be nice to visit downtown Coeur d’Alene from time to time to do a little shopping, then sit outside and have a snack. It’s not far – only about three to four miles from the Coeur d’Alene home they share with their daughter and son-in-law – but it may as well be 100 miles away. At 82 and 91, respectively, Joe and Lydia no longer drive due to health problems. Family members help out, but the Sokols hate to impose.

A convicted burglar who escaped Friday from Benewah County Jail has been recaptured, thanks in part to Kootenai County’s cross-deputization agreement with the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police. Tribal officers made the arrest working with Plummer city police and the Benewah County Sheriff’s Office, authorities said Wednesday.