Craig Welch

Workers unload concrete barriers to be used if flooding returned last month to the I-90 underpass at Cataldo. File/The Spokesman-Review

1. Moore 2. Shaw

For 20 years, Idaho lawmakers have kept a jealous grip on local-option taxes, not granting cities and counties the power to let residents vote on them. "That really says we're not smart enough to decide what's good for ourselves. It's insulting," said Post Falls Mayor Jim Hammond.

'Resort tax' raises fears. "If you eat some place, you have to pay more because we have tourists here?" asks Margaret Peterson, who rents an apartment at Forest Place retirement community. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Clegg

Four hundred and seven people have toured Betty Zirkle's kitchen since mid-December. Not one of them have stepped inside the Rathdrum, Idaho retiree's home. "A kitchen" is how the grandmother and cyberspace junkie describes her new personal Internet home page. It's a warm, familiar place - like a cozy breakfast nook - where she posts poetry and family anecdotes for all to see.

The last time family members saw Daniel J. Bonin alive, he was leaving his parents' house in Hayden for a Sunday afternoon walk. Blood from the 33-year-old's body was found 24 hours later on a dirt trail off Ramsey Road - more than six miles away. His body later was discovered in brush a few yards away.

The body of a man believed to have been a homicide victim was found in brush near Ramsey Road on Monday night. Kootenai County sheriff's deputies discovered the body north of Ohio Match Road after three teenagers reported finding blood on a nearby dirt trail.

Greer Hemphill pit his top-of-the-line, 110-horsepower Sea-Doo XP-800 water scooter against the raging Coeur d'Alene River. And lost. Hemphill's consolation prize: A slightly damaged $7,500 toy and a Idaho National Guard helicopter trip to Kootenai Medical Center. He was checked for signs of hypothermia and released shaken, but uninjured. "It was quite a day," Hemphill said. "I got an adventure and nobody got hurt.

Jeff Anderson checks on pumps emptying his father's front yard Monday at Harbor Island. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

PJ Miller's middle-class world crumbled four years ago along with her marriage. Suddenly, she was divorced and raising four kids with only a high school education. She looked to court-ordered child support from her ex-husband to keep her from poverty.

1. Residents on the east side of St. Maries could only watch as the St. Joe River left its banks and consumed their homes. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Volunteers Linda Beebe and Norma Fuller strain tap water, after boiling it, through a towel to remove the sediment Friday night at Heyburn Elementary School in St. Maries. The resulting liquid was drinkable but still brownish. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Max Bromberg now believes in miracles, a strong constitution and a sturdy seat belt. Those were his thoughts on Saturday, less than a day after his pickup skidded on black ice, jumped a guardrail near Hope, Idaho, and tumbled down a 150-foot vertical face before rolling over. Bromberg then unfastened his seat belt, stepped out of the truck and scrambled back up the embankment with only scratches on his head after the 9:30 p.m. accident Friday.

Boats from Murphy Tug and Barge have kept a channel open from The Coeur d'Alene Resort to Casco Bay. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Heidi Rockholm's dragon is one of many snow sculputres on 15th Street in Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Doug Collinson of RS Quality Construction endures a cold wind on the job at Harmony Place in Post Falls on Monday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Junior sleuthing and an inattentive thief's bad luck helped a Rathdrum electrician recover his stolen tools Tuesday. The burglary victim followed a trail of snowy footprints to the suspect and then watched as the man locked stolen merchandise - and his keys - inside a truck.

(Photo of drawing.)

From For the record (January 26, 1996): Federal income tax forms are not available at the American Legion on Fourth Street in Coeur d'Alene. An article in Wednesday's Idaho Spokesman-Review was incorrect. Beginning in February, the Legion will be offering tax assistance on Wednesdays, but asks that participants supply their won forms. Don't look for your tax forms at the IRS office in Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Kootenai County commissioners today will unveil plans to construct a new county office building along Garden Avenue beside the courthouse. The announcement is the latest in years of plans and proposals and committee meetings about how to combat a courthouse space crunch.

The conspiracy theory came before the hotel listings, above the travel company entries and ahead of the real estate office telephone numbers. A popular Internet site advertising hundreds of North Idaho businesses includes a link to a computer page that markets a conspiracy book about avoiding property taxes.

The Coeur d'Alene City Council probably won't let residents vote on whether to bring back hydroplane racing this year, Mayor Al Hassell said Friday. There simply isn't time, Hassell told a group at the Kootenai County Democratic Luncheon Friday.

The city's top man gave himself and the City Council high marks - a B+ - for their efforts in 1995. Friday, in a replay of his "State of the City" address, Mayor Al Hassell told a luncheon crowd that the city had made good on its three biggest promises for 1995: to hold the line on taxes, improve streets and offer quality police and fire protection.

Clerk Dan English shows off the new ballot. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review