Becky Kramer

A Silver Valley miner was injured early Friday morning in a blasting accident at the Galena Mine. Ken Parker, 23, was peppered with rock chips in the 12:52 a.m. accident. He was taken to Kootenai Medical Center, where he had surgery to have the shards removed. A few splinters that are close to his retina will have to work themselves out on their own, said Parker's mother-in-law, Leonarda Sabey.

The plight of tenants at a Bayview, Idaho, mobile home park underscores the challenges that arise when smaller, older parks close for redevelopment. A year ago, the owner of View of the Bay Mobile Home Park sent out notices, alerting residents that the 36-lot park would close on Sept. 30. Though most the park's residents have moved on, a handful of families remain, saying they can't afford to move.

Dennis Pence will retire from day-to-day operations at Coldwater Creek Inc. but will continue to lead the women's apparel retailer as chairman of the board of directors. Pence, 57, has not returned to work since suffering a mild heart attack in mid-September. His doctors expect Pence to make a full recovery, but after reflecting and talking to his family, Pence decided to retire from his role as chief executive officer, said Mel Dick, Coldwater Creek's director of investor relations.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given approval to a $90 million highway project that will route U.S. 95 traffic away from Sandpoint's city streets. The draft permit, released late Friday, is one of the final hurdles for the long-awaited Sand Creek Byway project, which was first proposed by state engineers in the 1950s.

Silver prices have shaken off a 15-year depression to trade in the $12 to $14 per ounce range, and prices could reach as high as $20 per ounce within the next 15 months, a metals analyst said Thursday. Jeffrey Christian, managing director of CPM Group, a metals research firm in New York City, gave the bullish assessment at the fourth annual Silver Summit in Coeur d'Alene. The conference attracts silver producers and investors.

Potlatch Corp. is buying up $215 million worth of timberland near the resort community of McCall, Idaho. The 179,000 acres of fir and pine trees once fed sawmills in the region, but the land is increasingly valued for its real estate potential. Potlatch will evaluate the acreage, deciding what to keep for timber production and what to sell for second homes.

Coldwater Creek Inc. has started construction on a four-level building at 745 Hanley Ave. that will expand the company's Coeur d'Alene campus. The 100,000-square-foot building will contain two levels of parking topped by two floors of office space. Coldwater Creek is also adding 18,000-square feet to an adjacent building for an employee fitness center, plus a larger cafeteria area, loading dock and storage space.

One of the nation's largest operators of nursing homes and assisted living facilities is building a $50 million complex in Post Falls. Life Care Centers of America has started construction on a 120-bed skilled nursing facility at 2800 E. Mullan Ave., near Wal-Mart, which will be ready in about a year. Later this year, Life Care will begin building the project's second phase – 104 assisted living units and 153 independent living units.

HAYDEN – Brandon Lee built a $10 million marketing company after observing his wife's devotion to dusty stacks of home-decorating magazines. Her refusal to part with back issues of Better Homes and Gardens, Sunset Magazine and Southern Living became the genesis for Home by Design – a home decor magazine that Realtors use as a marketing tool. Agents buy subscriptions to the magazines, which are personalized with their picture on the cover, and send them to real estate clients to build loyalty and generate referrals. The magazines' long shelf lives make them great marketing pieces, said Lee, who launched Home by Design in late 2002 from his basement.

Kootenai County's unemployment rate hit an all-time low of 2.5 percent in July. "It reminds me of the Limbo," said Regional Economist Kathryn Tacke, referring to the Caribbean dance where participants shimmy under horizontal sticks held closer and closer to the ground. "How low can we go?"

An employee was killed Monday in an underground accident that has shut down the Troy Mine in northwest Montana. Two other employees injured in the rockfall walked away and were later released from a hospital, said Carson Rife, vice president of operations for Revett Minerals, the Spokane Valley company that is majority owner of the mine.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is close to signing a five-year contract with the Department of Defense to produce fuel storage units for U.S. military operations. The multi-year contract could ultimately generate $250 million to $500 million in sales for Berg Integrated Systems, a tribal-owned enterprise in Plummer, Idaho, said Chief Allan, chairman of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.