Amy Cannata

Falls Park teems with wildlife. On a recent morning an osprey preened on its Ponderosa Pine perch as a mother duck led her ducklings across the pond and onto the grass in search of bugs. Nearby a turtle sunned itself on a rock and two Canada geese parents escorted their adolescent goslings around the water. Swallows dipped and darted across the pond's surface in search of breakfast.

In an age of computers and mobile phones, it's easy to forget about homegrown ways to reach out to people around the country and the world, but a dedicated group of ham operators continues to man the public airwaves seeking each other out. Local hams will show how they do it this weekend as part of the national annual Amateur Radio Field Day. The hope is to attract new devotees to the hobby.

Landscaping company owner Greg Monk makes the three-hour drive from Florence, Mont., to Stateline Speedway in Post Falls each summer Friday to pursue his dream of racing stock cars. Competitive Edge Racing School is the only racing school Monk has attended where he is actually taught and allowed to race other drivers rather than to just follow an instructor's car around the track. He said he loves the thrills racing provides.

Opponents of the proposed 618-acre Hayden Canyon development north of Hayden are vowing to take their fight to the Hayden City Council after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended annexation of the property. "We're going to continue. We'll never give up," said Philip Clements.

The figurine is the image of a small, tow-headed girl, boxing glove-bedecked hands raised above her head. The inscription underneath: "Life is worth fighting for." It was a gift from then 26-year-old Jenny Meyer to her mother, shortly after Meyer was diagnosed in 2000 with breast cancer.

TimberRock Winery inhabits a picturesque, forested 30-acre Post Falls location, but the winding, narrow road leading to it doesn't offer quite the access that its owners wanted to provide to existing and future fans of their wines. "It's a glorious place to live, but it's not a particularly good place for a retail business," said TimberRock owner Kevin Rogers.

Seeing pounds and pounds of farm fresh produce land in compost piles was too much for Korrine Kreilkamp. Kreilkamp knew there were so many mouths that could benefit from wholesome, local vegetables and fruit, so last year she found a way to get farmers' market and backyard gardeners' extra harvests to Kootenai County soup kitchens and food banks.

The T-shirts depict a man's face emerging from a baseball like a phoenix reborn from the burning Capone's logo depicted underneath. On the back, the phrase: "Our competition burns with envy."

POST FALLS – A two-year dispute between a Post Falls property owner and city officials over a neighboring development appears to be getting more acrimonious. Jim Guindon has grown increasingly critical of city planning and engineering staff work regarding a planned development adjacent to his home. The property, on the southeast corner of Poleline Avenue and Greensferry Road, was once used as a dump for construction and other debris, and Guindon contends that material has not been adequately removed, making the fill on the land unsuitable for homes.

POST FALLS – City workers are already moving into their new digs in the brand-new Post Falls City Hall at Fourth Avenue and Spokane Street. Community Development employees moved in last week and the last of city workers will cart boxes and files over to their offices on Friday when City Hall will temporarily be closed.

Carol Muzik calls Lucy's May 2004 appearance a gift. Muzik was inside her Rockford Bay home overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene when she heard husband, Nick, calling from outside.