Alison Boggs

For white supremacists who have made North Idaho home over the years hoping the region would one day become a white homeland, Tony Stewart has this message: Sorry, but just the opposite is happening. When Idaho’s most recent U.S. Census numbers came out, Stewart, a retired North Idaho College political science instructor, crunched the numbers dating back to 1990. He came up with results that bolster his greatest passion – human rights. The co-founder of the 30-year-old Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations says his results show the increasing diversification of one of the country’s whitest regions.

Groups of Idaho students walked through the forest in Careywood on Thursday identifying damage done to trees by animals, insects and parasitic plants. One birch tree had mushroom-like growths called heart rot protruding from the bark. A small grand fir had been rubbed raw by a bull elk. Other trees had been damaged by wood bores, root disease and dwarf mistletoe.

North Idaho is going gray faster than the rest of the state, numbers released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau show. The median age in each of Idaho’s five northern counties rose much more over the past 10 years than did the statewide average.

The North Idaho AIDS Coalition recently received one of the largest grants in the nonprofit organization’s history, a $72,000 award through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program that’s likely to be repeated annually for four years. It’s double what the organization has received from the grant program in the past, said Amy Dreps, the coalition’s executive director. Dreps, who took over two months ago, said that money will translate into better services for the organization’s 52 clients living with HIV and AIDS in Idaho’s five northern counties. Of those clients, 13 are female, 39 are male and most are in their 40s. An estimated 147 people are living with HIV and AIDS in the five northern counties, out of 1,254 statewide.

The North Idaho AIDS Coalition recently received one of the largest grants in the nonprofit organization’s history, a $72,000 award through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program that’s likely to be repeated annually for four years. It’s double what the organization has received from the grant program in the past, said Amy Dreps, the coalition’s executive director.

Inland Northwest skiers knew it would be a good day if they woke to hear Sam Wormington yodeling on the radio during his regular ski reports. “Schweitzer Sam” Wormington, the first general manager of Schweitzer Basin ski area, now Schweitzer Mountain Resort, died April 5 at age 90.

Lisa Fehling’s second-graders were practically quivering with excitement Thursday as they tried to listen patiently to instructions before dashing to their desks to begin poking, prodding and squishing octopi through their hands. Giggling, the students picked up the small, slimy cephalopods by their round heads, called “mantles,” and stretched out their long tentacles to measure them.

No docks will be built on Sanders Beach. That’s part of the resolution of six lawsuits dating back to 1998 between the city of Coeur d’Alene and the owners of eight homes on a Lake Coeur d’Alene beach that also offers public access.

No docks will be built on Sanders Beach. That’s part of the resolution of six lawsuits dating back to 1998 between the city of Coeur d’Alene and the owners of eight homes on a Lake Coeur d’Alene beach that also offers public access. “For the first time, there’s some certainty among the homeowners and the public about public access on Sanders Beach,” said Mike Haman, an attorney for the city. “That’s important because summer is coming and the public will know what they can and can’t do.”

MULLAN, Idaho – Longtime Silver Valley miners said if Larry “Pete” Marek survived the Friday night rockfall that trapped him 6,150 feet underground, his hydraulic drill could supply him with the air and water he needs to keep him alive. Hecla Mining Co. officials said that Marek, 53, was working in a 152-foot-long tunnel at the Lucky Friday Mine and that the rockfall occurred 75 feet from the entrance. That leaves 77 feet that might be partly or wholly filled with rock; no one knows at this point.

The Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene race is in 10 weeks and Tom Aylward hasn’t been able to run for a month. The 62-year-old, who has been training for the grueling race for nearly two years, has a nagging nerve irritation in his left foot. He got two cortisone shots last week to relieve the pain and plans to get another in a few weeks.

Two fighter jets from the U.S. Marines’ famed Black Sheep Squadron landed Friday at the Coeur d’Alene Airport/Pappy Boyington Field, coming at long last to recognize the airport’s renaming in honor of their most famous member. When executive officer Maj. Toby Moore and Capt. Dave Caribardi zoomed over in their gray AV-8B Harriers, it was the final acknowledgement for dozens of veterans on the ground who lobbied for more than a year to get their airport renamed for Boyington, a Coeur d’Alene native.

Two fighter jets from the U.S. Marines’ famed Black Sheep squadron landed today at the Coeur d’Alene Airport/Pappy Boyington Field, coming at long last to recognize the airport’s renaming in honor of their most famous member. When executive officer Maj. Toby Moore and Capt. Dave Caribardi zoomed over in their gray AV-8B Harriers, it was the final acknowledgement for dozens of veterans on the ground who lobbied the Kootenai County commissioners for more than a year to get their airport renamed for Boyington, a Coeur d’Alene native.

Visitors to North Idaho almost were deprived of a popular tourist attraction this summer – a Mississippi sternwheeler replica that offers cruises on the Spokane River from June through September. The River Queen cruise boat is owned by Red Lion Hotels and almost was docked for good this year after extensive rusting was discovered on its hull during routine maintenance inspections in the fall, said Pam Scott, the company’s director of corporate communications. Scott said Red Lion decided the cruises were too popular to end and is paying $35,000 to have the boat repaired.

The Inland Northwest’s five ski resorts will end regular operations Sunday, bidding farewell to a season that delivered above-average snowfall and increased business from skiers and snowboarders. “It’s been powder day after powder day after powder day,” said Sean Briggs, spokesman for Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint, which still has more than 14 feet of snow on its peaks.