Becky Kramer

Avista Corp. reported a profit of $38.4 million for the first quarter, slightly down from last year’s first quarter profit of $41.9 million.

Potlatch, Idaho, a former timber town tucked up against the Clearwater National Forest, hopes to use its history and culture to recruit a new kind of business: gun manufacturers. The city plans to advertise its old mill site as an ideal location for firearms-related manufacturing and other outdoor recreation companies. There’s even room for gun- or hunting-themed shops and residential development.

Potlatch, Idaho – a former timber town tucked up against the Clearwater National Forest – hopes to use its history and culture to recruit a new kind of business: gun manufacturers.

A law firm that successfully argued a North Idaho couple’s wetlands dispute with the federal government before the U.S. Supreme Court has been retained by Bonner County to petition for a delisting of woodland caribou. The petition will argue that the remaining 40-some caribou in the South Selkirk herd don’t qualify for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

After four layoffs in three years, Dan Serna was looking for steady work. His wife encouraged him to become a truck driver and put that skill to use in North Dakota’s oil patch. Serna is enrolled in Sage Truck Driving Schools in Coeur d’Alene. He’ll graduate with a commercial driver’s license and hopes to land a job soon afterward. But Serna plans to get employment and housing lined up before he heads to North Dakota.

The leader of an effort to recall Coeur d’Alene’s mayor and half of the City Council characterized his differences with the council as an ideological dispute over their vision for Coeur d’Alene, including how much public money should be spent on downtown improvement. “There’s an inordinate focus on downtown business interests. … There’s a feeling that downtown is getting more than its share of attention,” said Frank Orzell, a retired management consultant who is leading the recall effort.

The leader of an effort to recall Coeur d’Alene’s mayor and half of the City Council characterized his differences with the council as an ideological dispute over their vision for Coeur d’Alene, including how much public money should be spent on downtown improvement.

Washington residents eat more fish than the national average – probably no surprise for a state whose borders include the Pacific Ocean and the lower Columbia River. From salmon and steelhead to walleye and lake trout, fish is a staple of many residents’ diets.

Two business organizations and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe announced Thursday that their leadership opposes a recall effort launched against the city of Coeur d’Alene’s mayor and three council members, saying it could hurt the city’s image and derail efforts to attract new businesses. Mayor Sandi Bloem and council members Mike Kennedy, Deanna Goodlander and Woody McEvers are targets of the recall campaign, whose members are collecting signatures in an effort to get the recall on the ballot later this year.

The Colville Tribes and the state of Washington won a victory in a pre-trial phase of a lawsuit against Teck Resources for dumping millions of tons of smelter slag into the upper Columbia River.

Hecla names new manager for Lucky Friday Mine

Avista Utilities has asked Washington regulators for permission to raise electric and natural gas rates.

After a violent rock burst at the Lucky Friday Mine on Nov. 16, federal inspectors ordered mine managers to conduct twice-daily monitoring to check if stress was building up in the rocks. The rock burst had registered as a 2.8-magnitude quake on seismographs. No one was in the mine when it occurred, but residents as far away as Wallace reported feeling the earth rumble.

Idaho officials want to modify a ban that prohibits farmers from burning their fields on weekends and holidays. They also recommend allowing burning when ozone readings are higher than current rules permit. The changes are being proposed to help farmers in Southern Idaho, where the majority of the state’s 65,000 acres of fields are torched each year. Many Southern Idaho growers are “weekend” farmers, who must take a day off from their full-time jobs to burn crop stubble during the week, said Mary Anderson, the Department of Environmental Quality’s smoke manager program coordinator.

Idaho officials want to modify a ban that prohibits farmers from burning their fields on weekends and holidays. They also recommend allowing burning when ozone readings are higher than current rules permit.

KELLOGG – Steve Blahunka used to bow hunt in Idaho’s St. Joe region, but he switched his hunting grounds after he and his buddies saw fewer and fewer elk. Wolves are having an impact on North Idaho’s elk herds, and Blahunka isn’t happy about it.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort will reopen its first floor to the public at noon today after a two-month remodel.

A recent Forest Service study indicates that trees are losing ground in many U.S cities, but Spokane appears to be an exception. Researchers used aerial photographs to analyze tree canopies in 20 different urban communities. The overall trend was less tree cover – 17 cities had statistically significant net reductions in tree canopies over the past decade, the study found. In Spokane, however, the urban tree canopy appeared relatively stable.