Betsy Z. Russell

1. Jeff Cilek, vice president of The Peregrine Fund, with a male peregrine falcon at their Boise headquarters. Photo by Betsy Russell/The Spokesman-Review 2. The peregrine falcon can swoop down on prey at speeds of up to 200 mph.

Companies that pollute are immune from prosecution if they voluntarily file secret reports with the state on their environmental violations and clear them up promptly. Idaho's "environmental audits" law, passed during the last legislative session, officially took effect in July. But state agencies had until this week to adopt rules laying out how the new law will work.

When the Harpers furniture manufacturer moved to Post Falls, the state of Idaho contributed $150,000 toward a worker training program. But state Commerce Director Jim Hawkins said if the Legislature hadn't been in session at the time, he might not have been able to get the money. As it was, he had to go in and plead for it.

Thirty years ago, Post Falls didn't generate a lot of sales tax. That's changed today in a big way. But the formula the state uses to distribute a large chunk of the sales tax money to cities, counties, fire districts and the like is based on 1965 business inventories. That's back before there was a Factory Outlet mall and other businesses generating millions in sales each year in Post Falls.

North Idaho's Kootenai Tribe may get its long-sought sales tax exemption - but only if it loses its successful gambling operation at the Kootenai River Inn. A legislative committee voted 5-4 Wednesday to endorse the tribe's proposal, after committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Thorne said he'd add a provision when it came to the Legislature.

Down here, you don't have to wait until Christmas time to see a giant, brightly lit display of Christian faith. All year-round, a huge, white cross shines from the top of Table Rock, the landmark flat mountain that stands at Boise's northeast tip. Even a full moon sometimes doesn't seem to shine as brightly.

Chenoweth

After developers missed a fall deadline, the Idaho State Liquor Dispensary canceled a permit for a controversial private liquor store at Ross Point in Post Falls. "They'd had enough time," Dyke Nally, liquor dispensary chief, said Monday. "It was more than a reasonable length of time to establish a business there."

Bill Hall learned "informal" dress in Washington, D.C. doesn't mean sneakers.

With a $5 million property tax cut for Kootenai County hanging in the balance, a legislative committee debated community college funding for four hours Friday, but couldn't agree to do anything. "I'm surprised at the resistance on the committee," said Rep. Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, the House majority leader.

Welfare recipients should be taught the work ethic, Gov. Phil Batt said Tuesday as he enthusiastically endorsed a sweeping plan for remaking Idaho's welfare system. "I want to create a means by which pride and dignity can be regained through self-sufficiency," Batt said. "It gives people pride when there is a connection between services performed and a paycheck."

Gov. Phil Batt is likely to endorse most of a sweeping welfare reform plan when it's presented to him Tuesday. Batt's Welfare Reform Advisory Council, which held extensive public hearings around the state, will formally present its 44-point plan for remaking welfare to Batt. The governor, at a news conference in his office, is expected to signal how much of the plan he wants to see enacted. Batt spokeswoman Amy Kleiner said the governor has only limited concerns about a few of the provisions. "You'll probably see that he'll be supporting the package almost entirely." The plan focuses on turning welfare into a temporary program that pushes people to work. Many of the sweeping changes, from limiting benefits to two years to requiring all recipients to work or learn basic job skills, can be made without passing new laws. However, Batt still will consult lawmakers on the program, and some legislation will be required. State lawmakers also review all agency rules, so they'll be able to oversee the changes even if they don't involve new laws. "He would feel pretty comfortable in making the changes because the proposals have had a pretty good public airing," said Kleiner. "People who are opposed to them have had ample opportunity to come forward." State welfare administrator Judy Brooks said there may be some advantage in going with rules rather than laws, to make sure the state can comply with whatever new rules come from Congress on welfare later in the year. So far, congressional welfare reform programs match up well with Idaho's plans. "We think it's real compatible," Brooks said. Batt plans to meet with lawmakers to discuss the plan Dec. 12, and he may travel around the state to talk with citizens about it later this month, Kleiner said. If enacted, the welfare plan would take effect on or before Jan. 1, 1997.

School officials statewide are wondering whether the coming legislative session will bring any fixes for crowded and crumbling school buildings. Gov. Phil Batt had hinted for months that he might consider some change in the two-thirds vote now required to pass a school construction bond.

A Twin Falls lawmaker's proposal to replace local property taxes that fund community colleges with an additional statewide liquor tax is drawing good reviews in North Idaho. "This is something that should have been done years ago," said Ron Rankin, president of the Idaho State Property Owners Association and an anti-property-tax activist.

Democrats filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission Tuesday over a $40,000 loan to U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth's campaign. Chenoweth, who said she took out the loan from West One Bank to cover expenses between the election and the start of her term, maintains that there was nothing improper about the loan. "I'm confident I'll be cleared," she said Tuesday.

1. Nothing fancy: The medium-security prison gives inmates a place to relax and exercise. Photo by Betsy Z. Russell/The Spokesman-Review 2. Warden Joe Klauser Photo by Betsy Z. Russell/The Spokesman-Review 3. Inmates put together a puzzle in the day room at the Idaho State Correctional Institution. Photo by Betsy Z. Russell/The Spokesman-Review

A skier plows through the powder at Whitewater Ski Area near Nelson, British Columbia. Photo by Larry W. Earl/The Spokesman-Review

Kootenai County Commissioner Dick Compton told a statewide audience this week that Idaho's counties are getting innovative because they must. "Taxpayers are mad as hell," Compton said. "And the feds aren't going to give us more money."

Gov. Phil Batt doesn't like impact fees or local-option taxes, but he said Wednesday he might support them if the Legislature makes a good case. "I'd like to see the impetus for that demonstrated in the Legislature," Batt told the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho annual conference. "I never see it. I'm willing to talk about it."

Gov. Phil Batt said Tuesday he's received half a dozen letters from Priest Lake cabin owners who oppose any move by the state to sell off or exchange the land their cabins occupy. "I haven't seen any favorable," Batt said.

Idaho will ban smoking in its prisons in one year, and all new prison buildings will be smoke-free immediately. The state Board of Corrections made that decision Nov. 3, sending ripples of dismay through Idaho's prison population.

To thousands of skiers across the country, his voice means winter's coming. Warren Miller has produced a major ski film every year for nearly 50 years, just in time to set snowflakes dancing in skiers' eyes as the autumn weather turns cool. Now 71, the sharp-witted, fun-loving Miller sold his film company to his son Kurt six years ago. But he still writes the script each year and serves as the movie's narrator.

Gov. Phil Batt said Tuesday he has received half a dozen letters from Priest Lake cabin owners who oppose any move by the state to sell or exchange the land their cabins occupy. "I haven't seen any favorable," Batt said.

North Idaho taxpayers will pay 3.1 percent less in property tax this year than last. A Spokesman-Review analysis of Idaho State Tax Commission figures shows that total taxes are falling in all five northern counties, despite substantial new growth. Some taxpayers still could see an increase, cautioned Henry Nagel, a Tax Commission division administrator. "It depends on what happened to their (property) value compared to the typical change in value for everyone else," he said.