Becky Kramer

What is slag? A byproduct of the smelting process, which extracts metals from ore. Molten slag is mixed with water, producing a black, glassy, sand-like material.

A study of pollutants in the Upper Columbia River will include a detailed survey of members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The survey will query tribal members about their diet across four seasons, including fish consumption. It will ask about medicinal and ceremonial use of plants and the gathering of other traditional resources, such as reeds for basket making. The survey also includes questions about the use of river water in sweat lodges and recreational use of the river.

Avista Corp. has received a new 50-year license for five hydropower dams on the Spokane River.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe is embarking on a $75 million expansion of its casino near Worley, Idaho, that will add 105 hotel rooms, new restaurants and a luxury spa. Tribal leaders said the expansion will give the casino the cachet of destination resort, while addressing an urgent need for additional hotel rooms.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is investigating the shooting of a grizzly bear near Rose Lake, Idaho. The 300-pound male grizzly was shot dead late Sunday by the operator of an elk farm who told game officers that he mistook the grizzly for a black bear.

A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a $1.1 billion payout that would resolve Asarco LLC’s environmental claims in multiple states, including the company’s role in creating a Superfund site in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin. “It’s a relatively significant step toward resolving Asarco’s bankruptcy,” said Darrell Arly, an Idaho deputy attorney general.

Members of the public had plenty of opportunity to comment on a hazardous-waste repository near Old Mission State Park, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General concluded. But stricter controls may be needed at the repository to keep heavy metals from leaching into the groundwater, according to the inspection report, which was released this week.

Nearly $10 million of federal stimulus funding will help the Idaho Panhandle National Forests address a multiyear backlog of road repairs and bridge work. The grants will fix or obliterate eroding roads and update antiquated wooden bridges and will help maintain public access to popular hunting, picnicking and huckleberry-foraging areas, Forest Service officials said.

Nearly $10 million of federal stimulus funding will help the Idaho Panhandle National Forests address a multi-year backlog of road repairs and bridge work.

Nationally, Waste Management Inc. has seen a 14 percent drop in the volume of trash brought to the company’s network of 273 landfills. But at the Graham Road landfill near Medical Lake, volumes are only down 1 percent, said Ken Gimpel, Waste Management’s municipal relations manager.

The Spokane River between Plese Flats and the Nine Mile Dam remains closed to boaters and swimmers.

Avista Corp. is rewarding stockholders with higher quarterly cash dividends. Dividends for common stock will go up by 3 cents a share, or 17 percent, for a total of 21 cents a share. The next payment is June 15.