Becky Kramer

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department wants to open a substation on East Sherman Avenue as part of a community policing effort in the downtown neighborhood known for its visible homeless population and high number of calls for police assistance. Last year, police responded to 429 incidents in the neighborhood east of Eighth Street that borders Sherman Avenue and includes Sanders Beach. Drug violations, simple assault and vandalism were three of the most common offenses, said Sgt. Christie Wood, the department’s spokeswoman.

When Melissa DeMotte started thinking about opening a bookstore in Coeur d’Alene, she knew she needed a savvy business plan. The avid reader had a soft spot for independent bookstores, but her finance background made her a realist. Studies indicate that only a small percentage of Americans regularly buy books. And many of those purchases are made online.

WELLPINIT, Wash. – Members of the Spokane Tribe gathered near the Midnite Mine on Sunday to offer prayers and songs for the healing of the defunct uranium mine. As the sound of drums and the smell of sweetgrass filled the meadow, they also remembered friends and relatives who worked at the mine, especially those who later died of cancer.

WORLEY, Idaho – The Coeur d’Alene Casino is ready to shuffle up and deal. The casino is advertising a May 2 opening date for its new poker room, with executives saying that Idaho’s constitutional ban on poker games doesn’t apply to the tribal-owned casino.

VANTAGE, Wash. – Mud, lots of mud, with a river flowing through it. Anja Reynolds gaped at an unfamiliar Columbia last week as her husband, Dave, and their three kids stretched their legs at a park near the river’s edge. The Shelton, Wash., family had stopped for a break on the six-hour drive to Spokane.

Three conservation groups plan to sue the state of Idaho over its trapping regulations, saying they don’t do enough to prevent incidental trapping of federally protected Canada lynx. Surging prices for bobcat pelts, driven by demand for fur in Asia, have led to an increase in recreational trapping in the state, according to the 60-day notice of intent to sue filed Monday by the conservation groups.

The bumblebee moving from flower to flower by the shores of Lake Pend Oreille had a distinctive white patch on its rear. So a wildlife technician snapped a picture, documenting a sighting of a Western bumblebee in Bonner County.

SAGLE, Idaho – The calendar says it’s spring, but Dave Ross and Patty Earnest are still digging out from under their winter heating bills. Medical bills for Ross, who has congestive heart failure and lung disease, put the couple behind on their Avista Utilities payments last fall and winter. After making minimal payments through the winter, their past due balance ballooned to $1,442 in February.

There’s good news for folks who enjoy strolling through the filtered light from towering pines along Coeur d’Alene’s Rosenberry Drive. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has changed its policy related to trees on flood-control levees, saying the trees’ presence won’t jeopardize a community’s ability to qualify for disaster relief funds.

NORTH OF BONNERS FERRY – Three sets of bleached rib cages lie in the grass at the edge of U.S. Highway 95. Shards of chrome and plastic are scattered nearby, evidence that this 2-mile stretch of highway is dangerous for both deer and drivers. In the past five years, 75 percent of the reported accidents here were wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Chemicals found in peaches inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells and lessen the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body, a Washington State University researcher has found. Giuliana Noratto worked with colleagues at Texas A&M University for research on polyphenols, chemicals that are found in the flesh and skin of peaches.

Nearly 70 years after William Bell flew combat missions during World War II, the former Marine has received his medals. Bell was a 21-year-old pilot during the Philippines’ liberation from Japanese forces in 1945, flying more than 60 combat strike missions. In the space of four months, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross three times for courage, flight skills and devotion to duty in the face of enemy fire.

Hundreds of tundra swans suddenly rose off of a marsh, the strokes of their powerful wings making a whistling sound as they flew. They landed a short distance away at another marsh, where other tundra swans were gliding over the water like a flotilla of toy sailboats.

The Coeur d’Alene River ran hard and muddy Tuesday in Rose Lake, engulfing beaches, claiming low-lying fields and pushing deep into the floodplain. But the churning waters created ideal conditions for scientists studying how heavy metals move through the river system and into Lake Coeur d’Alene. Three contractors for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent the day chasing the pulse of water downstream, collecting sediment samples along the way.