Becky Kramer

METALINE FALLS, Wash. – Michigan’s automobile factories are more than 2,000 miles from the Pend Oreille Mine’s assay lab where Sally Dunn prepares zinc samples for testing. Yet Detroit’s pain is hers, too.

Creditors have filed a flurry of lawsuits against Sterling Mining Co., saying the operators of the historic Sunshine Mine near Big Creek, Idaho, have run up nearly $2 million in debts. Sterling defaulted on a “bridge loan” and owes $1.5 million to the Utah company that arranged the temporary financing, according to a suit recently filed by the firm, Private Capital Group Inc. Other claims are flowing in from contractors, attorneys and suppliers of mining equipment.

Everyone wants their gallon’s worth from the Spokane River. The river and its connecting aquifer slake the thirst of a region of 500,000 people. They provide flows for electrical generation, habitat for 18 native fish species and water for local tribes’ ceremonial use. They also support a fledgling rafting industry and provide a waste receptacle for millions of gallons of treated sewage from local cities. Researchers say all those competing interests make it a prime candidate for a new kind of study.

Following the lead of European nations, Washington state will ban the use of toxic flame retardants in TVs, computers and other household products by 2011. State officials say alternatives have become available to flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. Several other chemical flame retardants meet Washington’s standards for reducing flammability but are safer for human health, according to State Fire Marshal Mike Matlick.

Following the lead of European nations, Washington state will ban the use of toxic flame retardants in TVs, computers and other household products by 2011.

After decades of efforts to curb mackinaw populations and boost kokanee survival in Lake Coeur d'Alene, there's finally some encouraging news. A program to pay commercial fishermen to pull mackinaw from the lake has boosted the survival rate for young kokanee to 30 percent, from single digits.

A dispute over a local mining company’s plans to dump waste into a lake in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest has reached the nation’s highest court. An attorney for Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that the company should be allowed to dump tailings from its Kensington gold mine into a small, subalpine lake. Environmental groups argued that the practice would violate the federal Clean Water Act, turning back the clock to the days of dirty mining practices.

With wholesale prices for natural gas in a steady decline, Avista Corp. is paying out less for the commodity and says it will pass the savings on to utility customers.

By Wednesday morning, the Rev. Andrea CastroLang considered canceling the Christmas Eve service at Westminster Congregational Church. The soloist already had bowed out. TV news was full of footage of cars sliding off roadways, and up to 10 more inches of snow was forecast for that night. Would it be safe or responsible, she wondered, to hold the Service of Carols and Candles?

By Wednesday morning, Rev. Andrea CastroLang considered canceling the Christmas Eve service at Westminster Congregational Church. The soloist already had bowed out. TV news was full of footage of cars sliding off roadways, and up to 10 more inches of snow was forecast for that night. Would it be safe or responsible, she wondered, to hold the Service of Carols and Candles?

Continuing cold temperatures led to record electric use Tuesday evening, Avista Utilities reported.

Zinc prices tumbled from $1 per pound to less than 50 cents over the past six months. The fallout has repercussions for Northeast Washington, where 165 employees at the Pend Oreille Mine will lose their jobs in mid-February. The underground mine produced about 60,000 tons of zinc concentrate last year. Both the automobile and construction industries consume large amounts of zinc, which is used to rust-proof steel.