Craig Welch

Kootenai County government departments want $1.1 million more in property tax dollars next year than this year, according to a preliminary county budget. Departments seeking the greatest increases: Those that deal directly with crime.

Avon lady Rose Christmann walked out of jail Friday afternoon, free but unemployed. The 74-year-old rode home to her dark cosmetics den, where an Avon sandwich board and her trademark "Open" sign were no longer visible.

North Idaho's five sheriff's departments have hired a full-time terrorism expert to gather information and monitor right-wing extremist groups. Bill Litsinger, a retired Los Angeles police officer and Lewis-Clark State College instructor, will use the information to teach North Idaho cops about patriot, militia and constitutionalist groups.

Rose Christmann, left, walks to jail Thursday with her niece, Jane Pittsley. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Kootenai County sheriff's deputies are stepping up efforts to bust people who improperly park along area beaches. But it's not as easy as it sounds.

A proposal to make 6,400 acres of bluegrass fields available for commercial development was too much too soon for Kootenai County's land-use cops. County planning commissioners Monday rejected a plan to designate a quartermile-wide swath along Highway 41 between Post Falls and Rathdrum as a place for retail and industrial business.

1. Scratching it out. Organic farmer Steve Leslie watches his horse-drawn hay rake fill as he crisscrosses a hayfield Wednesday at Cedar Mountain ranch. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Steve Leslie and Kerry Gawalt work on the twice-daily chore of hand-milking the cow.

Macdonald

She keeps calling. Rose Christmann is scheduled to appear in court next week to explain why she continues to sell Avon products from her Coeur d'Alene home. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review <

A question of access. "Rainbow Bob" Williamson fishes from the shoreline of Hayden Lake. After three strokes, he can't go out in his boat alone. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Homeowners have no assurances that a developer's plan for a mammoth sewage disposal system near Twin Lakes would not contaminate drinking water wells. That was the finding Monday of an independent county hearing examiner. She reviewed the politically charged proposal to pump waste from up to 400 Twin Lakes Village homes to a 10-acre drainage site near the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.

Kootenai County Commissioner Bob Macdonald spent twice what he originally claimed in his failed re-election bid this spring. The two-term Republican - who lost a May primary race to tax watchdog Ron Rankin - pumped $12,257 into his campaign, according to an amended financial disclosure report filed this week. Earlier reports indicated Macdonald had spent only $6,175.

Unpublished correction: The name of Higgens Point is misspelled in this story. This information is from the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation.

Kootenai County will pay former commissioner Glenn Jackson to seek grants and research ways to restructure county government. The county's three current commissioners signed G. R. Jackson & Associates, Jackson's land-use planning and consulting firm, to a two-year contract Tuesday.

Mark Rypien pantomimed putting on football pads Monday as he prepared to scrimmage over his property tax assessment. Like many area residents, the onetime Super Bowl star with a riverfront home in Post Falls feared he was headed for wallet-bruising tax hikes.

Nearly all the land along Highway 41 from Post Falls to Rathdrum soon would be available for retail or industrial development, under a proposal now before the county. Landowners are seeking to designate a quarter-mile-wide swath of ground along the lonely two-lane road for future commercial growth.

Post Falls and Kootenai County are embroiled in a political fracas over who should fork over $70,000 to complete the Centennial Trail. The money is needed to secure an already approved $1.1 million federal grant that would cover most of the cost of finishing the 3.5-mile stretch between Atlas Road and state Highway 41.

1. KMC has its own MRI facility, replacing the mobile service that visited monthly. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. KMC administrator Joe Morris has vigorously pushed the hospital toward the cutting edge. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Two teenagers from deeply religious families will spend time behind bars in connection with a three-state spree of armed robberies. Cameron Fulton, 19, of Colburn, will spend 30 months in prison for robberies in North Idaho committed with his brother, Austin, and lifetime friend Josh Jones. Jones, 19, was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but already has served 31 days. Austin Fulton, 21, remains in jail in Missoula, according to family friends. He is accused of robberies in Montana and Colorado. Police believe the Fulton brothers started their Idaho spree in Sandpoint at Domino's Pizza on Dec. 16. Kootenai County robberies included Sunset Bowling Center, two Tidyman's groceries and K mart. The robberies were similar: A bandit would pretend to buy a small item, then demand money while showing a gun tucked in his waistband. In three instances, the robber apologized or thanked clerks. The crimes and Monday's sentencing left family members and the judge confused about how two independent Baptist-reared boys who'd never been in trouble ended up robbing stores with a gun. While noting the boys took hundreds of dollars, Judge Gary Haman said it appeared they were "thrill-seeking." Neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a significant factor. "I don't know that I've ever seen anyone before me who comes from such a background of strong religion and has family members who just can't believe you did it," Haman told Cameron Fulton Monday. "This is an unusual case for me." But the judge said the court needed to make him an example, even though Fulton wasn't planning to hurt anyone. The judge also said there was a "world of difference" between Fulton's crimes and Jones'. The brothers apparently used Jones' gun in the robberies. But Jones' attorney, Tim Gresback, said they took it without his knowledge. All three were roommates. "Josh is home-schooled in kind of a small town and this was his first time living alone. It's a big world out there," Gresback said. "The first time they went in, he (Jones) didn't even know they were doing a robbery." Jones took money from the robberies - $150 to $200 - and promised in turn not to tell on them. He later turned himself in. "It seems to me you were along for the ride," Haman said. "You didn't point a gun or display a gun." After the sentencing, Jones and about 20 friends and relatives held hands in a circle and prayed outside the courtroom. "I don't know what was going through their minds," said his father, Don Jones. "Even the judge couldn't understand."

When Jim Eidson bought his Athol home, $1,000 went to City Hall. The money was to help pay for a sewage plant to wean Athol of aquifer-unfriendly septic tanks. That was two years ago.

Local government in-fighting and a communication breakdown threatens to torpedo completion of the Centennial Trail. At issue is a pre-approved $1.1 million federal grant administered by the Idaho Transportation Department.

Local government infighting and a communication breakdown threaten to torpedo completion of the Centennial Trail. At issue is a pre-approved $1.1 million federal grant administered by the Idaho Transportation Department.

Charles Schwab's got nothing on the kids at Priest River Lamanna High School. The investment giant might consider handing them his life savings.

Some contaminated water supplies in Post Falls are still too dangerous for pregnant women and infants to drink. Recent tests show water customers in the South River and Parkview water associations still face unhealthy levels of nitrates, said Steve Tanner, a water quality specialist with the state Division of Environmental Quality.