Craig Welch

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News >  Nation/World

Idahoans Answer Racism With ‘Not In Our Town’ Community, Politicians Rally Against Hate Literature

Wed., Nov. 26, 1997

'We must speak out," says human rights activist Doug Cresswell. Photo by Associated Press

News >  Nation/World

Damages Sought In Alleged Sexual Assault By Deputy Woman Seeks $1.5 Million From County; Officer Has Been Fired

Tue., Nov. 25, 1997

A Coeur d'Alene woman is seeking $1.5 million from Kootenai County, claiming she was sexually assaulted by a sheriff's deputy during a routine arrest. Pamela C. Luton alleges that after deputy Jeff Cormier arrested her on July 9, he took off her handcuffs and forced her to perform oral sex.

News >  Idaho

Tree Kills Priest River Logger Tree Rolls Down Hill, Pins Him Against Another Tree

Fri., Nov. 21, 1997

A Priest River logger died near Kingston on Thursday when a felled tree rolled down a hill and pinned him against another tree. The accident marks the sixth logging or sawmill death in North Idaho this year. Shoshone County Sheriff's deputies withheld the 43-year-old man's name, pending notification of family members.

News >  Idaho

Harrison School Bond Falls Short Proposal To Build New School Gets 59.9 Percent Approval

Wed., Nov. 19, 1997

Harrison area voters shot down a plan Tuesday to spend nearly $32,000 per student to build the Kootenai School District's first new high school in 40 years. A majority of voters - 59.9 percent - approved a $3.5 million school bond Tuesday, but state law requires bonds be passed by two-thirds of voters. Of 581 people who cast ballots Tuesday, 348 voted for the bond and 233 voted against it.

News >  Nation/World

School Vote May Be Indicator Of Future Of Bonds Kootenai School District Election Is First Following Rejection Of Lawsuit On School Funding

Tue., Nov. 18, 1997

The tiny Kootenai School District will try to pass a $3.5 million school bond levy today - at a cost of nearly $32,000 for each student in the school. A similar measure failed last year by about 20 votes. But district officials believe that's because residents still were paying off a 1991 elementary school bond and didn't want to be tapped twice. That bond will be paid off this year.

News >  Idaho

Machine Is The Hottest Show In Town New Camera Helps Firefighters Spot Flames, Find People

Sun., Nov. 16, 1997

Mike Waterhouse scans a house for fire Saturday with a thermal imaging camera during a training exercise. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Nation/World

Trash Hauler’s Underreporting Costs County Businesses Unwittingly Spared Landfill Fees By Garbage Contractor

Sun., Nov. 16, 1997

An area trash hauler helped unwitting businesses dodge as much as $200,000 in landfill fees, Kootenai County officials say. The shortfall leaves the county with a thorny choice: Try to get the money back from the company or bill each business.

News >  Idaho

County Plans Memorial For War Dead Kootenai Commissioners Look For Donations To Build Plaque

Sat., Nov. 8, 1997

From left, Kootenai County Commissioners Dick Compton, Dick Panabaker and Ron Rankin and veteran leaders Charles Dowdy and Ben Keelye display an example of a plaque they hope to build to honor area soldiers who died in wars. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Nation/World

Deadbeat Parents Can’t Beat Computer Law Requiring Employers To Report Hires Snares More Than 600 People

Fri., Nov. 7, 1997

A new law requiring employers to report all new hires forced more than 600 deadbeat parents to start paying child support last month. As of Oct. 1, all Idaho employers were given 20 days to notify the state of every new employee. That information was run through a state computer bank to determine if any of those workers owed unpaid child support.

News >  Nation/World

Putting Criminals On Notice Father Of Crime Victim Pushes Misdemeanor Probation Plan

Fri., Nov. 7, 1997

Eight years ago, Ed Young's teenage son was raped, his throat slit by two men. At least one of the attackers, Young said, should have been in jail. He'd committed a minor crime while on probation. "Nobody seemed to care," Young said. "It made me wonder: 'Who keeps track of these people?"'

News >  Nation/World

Judy Means Business New Cda Mayor Sets An Aggressive Agenda

Thu., Nov. 6, 1997

Steve Judy defeated Al Hassell by 67 votes after outspending the mayor 13-to-1. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Idaho

Silver Valley Checkups Considered Federal Agency Studies Which Lead-Related Illnesses To Target

Thu., Nov. 6, 1997

A federal agency is trying to decide which lead-related illnesses suffered by Silver Valley residents could be helped by regular check-ups. A team of doctors, scientists and the nation's top lead poisoning experts are meeting in Kellogg this week to determine whether so-called medical monitoring will help people exposed to lead during the 1970s.

News >  Idaho

Assessors Recalculate Land Values Appraiser Hopes To End Cougar Gulch Appeals

Tue., Nov. 4, 1997

The Kootenai County Assessors Office will change 67 Cougar Gulch homeowners' land values to end a mass appeal that sparked a bitter internal county feud. Deputy Assessor Mike McDowell said appraisers have developed a new way to calculate property values on rural land south of Coeur d'Alene and will use that method next year.

News >  Nation/World

Idaho Welfare-To-Work Pace Leads U.S. Some Ex-Recipients Grateful For Push, Others Slide Deeper Into Poverty

Sun., Nov. 2, 1997

Idaho is bouncing residents off public assistance faster than any other state. Since kicking off its aggressive welfare reform program in July, the number of Idaho families receiving cash assistance has dwindled to a mere 2,324.

News >  Idaho

Kootenai County Unplugs 911 Director

Wed., Oct. 29, 1997

Hall

News >  Idaho

Few Show Interest In Day-Care Reform Elected Officials Conspicuous By Their Absence At Hearing

Tue., Oct. 28, 1997

A state legislative committee wants to reform Idaho's day-care rules on the local level, but local officials apparently aren't interested. Only two of the Panhandle's five counties - and none of those counties' five largest cities - were represented at a hearing Monday to discuss changing the way Idaho regulates day care.

News >  Spokane

Proposal To Move Marina Raises Concerns Boater Safety, Fishing On Lake Cda Are Issues Raised By Critics Of Move

Sun., Oct. 26, 1997

The owners of Arrow Point Resort want to move their 81-slip marina into the main channel of Lake Coeur d'Alene. That proposal has some area residents, anglers and state game officials worried about boater safety.

News >  Idaho

Kootenai Settles Suit With Crown Pacific New Valuation Of Huetter Mill Will Save Firm More Than $200,000 In Taxes

Sat., Oct. 25, 1997

Kootenai County governments will lose more than $200,000 by settling a lawsuit with Crown Pacific over the value of its local sawmill. County commissioners reached a formal agreement with the timber giant Thursday, reducing the assessed value of its mill by $3 million to $5 million each year from 1994 to 1997.

News >  Idaho

Leave Leaf Program Alone, Says Candidate Steve Judy Blasts Changes To Cda’s Rules For Pickup

Sat., Oct. 25, 1997

Judy

News >  Idaho

Super Mulch Researchers Hope Mixture Of Human Waste, Wood Ash Will Help Bunker Hill Bloom Again

Sun., Oct. 12, 1997

Making the mountain green 1. Researchers hope biological waste will form a good base on which vegetation can grow at the Superfund mining site near Kellogg. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. An automated machine spreads a mixture of waste and wood ash on a slope at the Superfund site in Kellogg on Saturday. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Nation/World

Employees Putting On The Ritz At Kmc Hospital Workers Allowed To Spend $1,000 A Year To Improve Patient Stays

Thu., Oct. 9, 1997

Kootenai Medical Center plans to give all 1,000 of its employees the spending power of a hotel housekeeper. But not just any housekeeper - a Ritz-Carlton Hotel housekeeper.

News >  Idaho

Not Everyone On Island Gives A Dam Harbor Island Residents Worry About Incomplete Retaining Wall

Thu., Oct. 9, 1997

Joe Bard, of Wild West Construction, levels a block in the retaining wall at a Blackwell Island home. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Spokane

Second Teenager Dies In Crash That Killed Driver, Injured Two

Sun., Oct. 5, 1997

A second teenage boy has died from injuries suffered Friday when a car he was riding in slammed into a tree south of Harrison. Edward G. Leonard, 17, died at Kootenai Medical Center early Saturday from chest injuries sustained in the crash. Fellow passenger Nicholas Perea, 15, remains in critical condition. Passenger Gabe Lamb, 15, was treated and released from Benewah Community Hospital.

News >  Idaho

Idaho Won’t Hit Federal Welfare To Work Goal

Fri., Oct. 3, 1997

Idaho won't meet a federal demand that most of its two-parent welfare families get back to work by spring. In fact, the state won't even come close, officials said.

News >  Idaho

Land Swap Ends Dogfight Over Airstrip

Thu., Oct. 2, 1997

Taxpayers forked over at least $80,000 in county-owned property to settle a messy legal battle over an airstrip near Garwood. But residents of the Bar Circle S Ranch subdivision, who fought for years to shut down the strip, are relieved that small planes will no longer take off and land near their homes.