Becky Kramer

Flood insurance premiums for Coeur d’Alene’s Fort Ground neighborhood could rise astronomically if the city doesn’t cut down the trees growing on the dike road levee, the city’s engineer warned Monday. Thwarting the Army Corps of Engineers’ order to remove the trees could result in the Fort Grounds being classified as within the 100-year flood plain, City Engineer Gordon Dobler said Monday. If that happened, homeowners would have to pay thousands of dollars each year for flood insurance, he said. In addition, Coeur d’Alene would have difficulty insuring its wastewater treatment plant and North Idaho College couldn’t insure its campus at face value, Dobler said.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission will take up to six months to consider Avista Utilities’ request for higher electric and natural gas rates, officials announced last week. Avista had hoped for a decision by Aug. 5, but the three-member commission said it needed more time for its staff of auditors, engineers and attorneys to thoroughly review the company’s rate request.

Paving U.S. roadways with solar panels could wean the nation off of coal-fired power plants and provide other benefits, too, says a North Idaho electrical engineer. Scott Brusaw has spent 5 ½ years working on the concept of “intelligent pavement” that generates electricity, acts like a power grid and even melts snow and ice.

The owner of the historic Sunshine Mine near Kellogg, plans to raise up to $250 million through an initial public offering of its shares. Sunshine Silver Mines Corp. said it would use part of the money to study the cost of reopening the mine, according to company documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Some of the money would also be spent on the company’s Mexican silver properties.

Two environmental groups are threatening to sue the federal government over what they say are flaws in a long-awaited Spokane River cleanup plan. The Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy on Monday filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over pollution discharge permits for the river, saying the permits failed to set limits for cancer-causing PCBs.

Idaho’s upcoming wolf hunt will be managed like other big game seasons, with no statewide quota on the number of wolves that can be killed, state officials said Friday. About 1,000 wolves inhabit the state’s forests and grasslands. Wildlife managers said they want to reduce that number to relieve “social and biological” conflicts from wolf predation on elk herds and livestock.

To protect the rugged character of the Colville National Forest’s special places, more of them should be federally designated wilderness areas, forest officials say. The Colville’s managers proposed adding 101,000 acres of new wilderness to the 1.1-million acre Northeast Washington forest in a recent forest plan revision.

Avista Corp. is asking Idaho regulators for permission to raise rates for electricity and natural gas. The Spokane-based utility says it would use the additional revenue to replace aging electrical equipment and to pay for higher operating costs for its natural gas service.

Avista Corp. is asking Idaho regulators for permission to charge more for electricity and natural gas.

Wages for Avista Corp.’s rank-and-file workers grew by an average of 2.5 to 3 percent this year. The workers also collected about $8.4 million in bonuses through a program that rewards all Avista employees when the company achieves set goals related to customer service, operational efficiency and cost savings.

A North Idaho couple’s fight with the federal government over whether their Priest Lake property has wetlands will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. On Tuesday, Supreme Court justices added Sackett v. EPA to their caseload for the coming fall term. National property rights groups are watching the case, saying it could give landowners the ability to challenge federal wetland designations.

An environmental group is challenging the Washington State Park and Recreation Commission’s decision to reclassify part of Mount Spokane State Park’s undeveloped terrain as suitable for a ski area expansion. The commission’s May 19 decision cleared the way for Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park to expand into 279 acres of an 850-acre area recognized as one of the largest unbroken tracts of subalpine habitat left in Spokane County. The nonprofit ski area proposes to develop a new lift and seven runs on the mountain’s northwest face.

An environmental group is challenging the Washington State Park and Recreation Commission’s decision to reclassify part of Mount Spokane State Park’s undeveloped terrain as suitable for a ski area expansion.

The owner of Idaho’s oldest operating silver mine agreed to pay $263.4 million plus interest to clean up historic mine waste in the Coeur d’Alene Basin, resolving one of the nation’s largest Superfund lawsuits. Hecla Mining Co. reached the settlement Monday with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the state of Idaho. The settlement ranks among the top 10 cash awards in Superfund history, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A federal grand jury has indicted a Twisp, Wash., man for illegally killing two wolves near his property and trying to ship one of the pelts to Canada. After Tom D. White shot the wolves, his father told a Canadian tanner that he had “a really big coyote” skin for processing, according to the indictment.

A federal grand jury has indicted a Twisp, Wash., man for illegally killing two wolves near his property and trying to ship one of the pelts to Canada.

Tests done on reusable shopping bags in Washington showed that most are within state limits for heavy metals. Thirty-one reusable bags from name brand retailers were tested in the state and in Iowa. In Washington, the liner in a Sears bag and a wine carrier for Western Washington grocer Top Foods exceeded lead limits of 100 parts per million. In Iowa, the insert in one reusable bag also failed to meet the threshold for heavy metals.