Craig Welch

Garwood residents unite against an airstrip they say is too close to their homes. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

A handful of voters on a quiet lane in Hayden have been voting for all the wrong people. Literally.

Old wounds. Steve Brown, Exalted Ruler - and bar manager - of the Wallace Elks Club. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Taxpayers are subsidizing rent on 117 state-owned houses for state workers who earn up to $50,000 a year. The practice bleeds hundreds of thousands of dollars from state coffers in rent, taxes and maintenance costs.

Dick Compton and Rollin Putzier could be mascots for their respective ideologies: The conservative businessman and the liberal working stiff. The two candidates for Kootenai County commissioner are almost exact opposites, with similarities that begin and end with their ages: Compton is 63, Putzier, 65.

(photo of Helen Chenoweth)

If you think Idaho's conservative, imagine what the liberals think. According to Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal advocacy group in Washington, D.C., Idaho's congressional delegation voted more conservatively, more consistently than any state in the country.

Kootenai County voters next month will choose between two men who've lost a combined 12 elections in 15 years. And some residents are none too happy about it.

Bob Macdonald

Mortgage lenders are preparing to foreclose on a home once owned by Kootenai County Clerk Dan English. But English is not liable for the $44,986 debt, according to the lender. "We, quite frankly, don't have anything to do with that property," English said Monday. A newspaper legal notice published Monday listed English as the executor of a deed of trust for a home at 905 E. Garden Ave. The notice states that the homeowner is several months behind on the $600 mortgage payments. The home is scheduled to be auctioned in January unless the owner pays off the loan plus interest. Because English and his wife are the only persons the legal notice names in connection with the property, some county residents apparently assumed English was responsible for the debt. But English sold the home five years ago. It since has been resold. The current owner, according to lender First American Title Co. of Idaho, is several months behind on the mortgage payments. "Mr. English doesn't own this piece of property," said Monine Cole, trust officer for the lender. "Unfortunately, he sold the home to someone who assumed his debt and that person is not making the payments." English, a one-time consumer credit counselor, was angry that the legal notice left the incorrect impression that he may be having trouble managing his personal finances while he campaigns for re-election. English's job description requires him to oversee management of millions in taxpayer dollars. He also is responsible for helping to develop the county's budget. English was appointed last year to fill the seat vacated by Tom Taggart, who was appointed county administrator. English, a Democrat, faces Republican Lee Knowles, 67, in the Nov. 5 general election.

A car belonging to Amber Valero's parents was found below I-90 on the Montana side of Lookout Pass. A girl's body was found nearby. Photo by Matt Friend/Idaho News Observer

If the state had let communities legally adopt impact fees in 1992, Ron Rankin's property-tax limiting initiative wouldn't sound so appealing. That was Kootenai County commissioner candidate Chuck Sheroke's assessment of Rankin's One Percent Initiative Friday, outlined at a weekly Democratic luncheon.

Lake City High School students spend Thursday rebuilding their float for that night's homecoming parade. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Commissioners Bob Macdonald and Dick Panabaker examine the back of a photo of the 1927 construction. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Jim Hawkins, retired commerce secretary, speaks out against One Percent. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

A governor's Medicaid reform council expects to recommend more than 100 ways to cut waste, save money and add flexibility to the program that offers health care to Idaho's poorest residents. The result likely will mean cutbacks in "unnecessary" spending - reimbursement for travel to doctors offices, the end of some adult dental coverage - but allow more and better care for those who really need it, council members said Thursday.

Standing their ground. Murray resident Chuck Reynalds and business owners Lloyd Roath and Frank Grebil, standing near the Bedroom Gold Mine, are concerned about flood danger to the town. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

The City Council tonight will consider awarding a two-month, $5,000 building inspection contract to an architectural firm owned by a city planning commissioner. Two city building inspectors are out with injuries, leading the city to seek a temporary contract with a private firm to inspect new buildings.

Rathdrum city leaders knew eight days ago that trace amounts of bacteria had been found in city water. A second test confirmed the problem Monday.

Five public schools will be closed in Rathdrum, Idaho, today because school leaders could not meet a citywide boil-water recommendation. Trace amounts of bacteria were found in the city's water supply earlier this week, prompting the suggestion from the Panhandle Health District. But Lakeland School Superintendent Bob Jones found out about the problem late Wednesday after receiving a mailed notice from the city of Rathdrum. The notice was dated Monday.

Women who worked at the Bunker Hill Mine in the 1970s now start menopause early and are more likely to have dangerously brittle bones. Those women also report more cases of hypertension, anemia and arthritis, yet they don't suffer kidney disease - often linked to lead poisoning - in greater numbers than other women.

A new law allowing suspension of drivers licenses for failure to pay child support has prompted hundreds of calls from deadbeat parents. And the law officially hasn't even taken effect yet.

Worley firefighter Andy Anderson mops up a fire on Stringham Road Monday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The money collected by Kootenai County's two largest cities will rise next year, but most taxpayers will hand over a little less. Spending at the cities of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls will rise in 1997 by less than the money generated by new construction, according to near-final versions of both cities' budgets.