Erica Curless

Ignoring Kootenai County just got a little more difficult for the Idaho Legislature after 75 percent of the voters said they want to use sales tax to pay for big-ticket projects other than jails. "I would say it's a mandate," said Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, who started writing a bill Wednesday to change state law so the local-option tax can go toward projects other than jails.

It was unclear Tuesday night whether Coeur d'Alene was keeping the Democrats in the Idaho House. With 48 percent of the precincts reporting, Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, was leading his race but Republican Marge Chadderdon had a slight lead over Democrat Mike Gridley for Seat A.

It appears Kootenai County voters want the Idaho Legislature to change the law so counties can use sales tax money to pay for things other than jails. And voters are more interested in using the tax to buy open space than building a civic center. With only 37 percent of the precincts reporting, 76 percent of the voters were supporting the concept of expanding the local-option sales tax, which the county currently is using to pay off the $12 million jail expansion and for property tax relief.

The Idaho Democratic Party filed a formal complaint Friday about how a Coeur d'Alene legislative candidate is keeping her finance records. The complaint filed with the Idaho Secretary of State accuses Republican Marge Chadderdon of not disclosing more than $2,000 in advertisements that appeared in the Coeur d'Alene Press between June and Oct. 25.

Local newspapers are full of advertisements plugging Republican candidate Marge Chadderdon, but her challenger questions why the payments haven't shown up on her campaign finance reports. Democrat Mike Gridley, who is vying against Chadderdon to represent District 4 in the Idaho House, said that Chadderdon's latest finance report doesn't disclose about $2,336 in advertisements that have run in the Coeur d'Alene Press between Sept. 5 and Oct. 25.

This year North Idaho Democrats have something often missing in past elections – money. In Coeur d'Alene the Democratic candidates for the Idaho Legislature are out-raising the Republicans. One of the largest war chests statewide is for a Democrat in District 1, which stretches to the Canadian border.

Coeur d'Alene is the best chance Idaho has for snagging a $20 million Salvation Army grant to build a community center. Local leaders and youth advocates were ecstatic Wednesday after learning Coeur d'Alene was picked by the Idaho Kroc Initiative Task Force, chaired by Patricia Kempthorne, wife of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, as the state's top pick.

Local engineers agree it's possible to close two blocks of Sherman Avenue and change the way drivers have accessed downtown Coeur d'Alene for decades. But the question isn't about feasibility. It's about whether downtown merchants will embrace Duane Hagadone's latest expansion idea that includes turning the entrance to downtown into a world-renowned botanical garden and expanding the Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Coeur d'Alene merchants responded cautiously Friday to Duane Hagadone's expansion plans for the Coeur d'Alene Resort, which include closing part of Sherman Avenue to build botanical gardens on the main entrance to the downtown shopping district. Some applauded the idea, while others said they needed more time to study how rerouting traffic would affect downtown access.

Duane Hagadone wants to expand the Coeur d'Alene Resort by building another tower between First and Second streets while closing two blocks of Sherman Avenue, turning it into a world-renowned botanical garden. Gasps and a few snorts were heard Thursday evening when Hagadone told about 100 local business people gathered at the Resort of his admittedly "surprising" plan to ask the city to abandon two blocks of its busiest downtown street. Sherman Avenue would be closed from Lakeside Avenue to Second Street. Hagadone also wants to close a block of First Street between Sherman and Lakeside.

A Coeur d'Alene couple should have solved its problem with their airstrip at the county level, not in the courts, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. That means that Brent and Moura Regan's airstrip south of Coeur d'Alene off Borley Road remains illegal and that no planes can land there.

Post Falls is no longer asking the state for permission to pull an additional 13 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer. The city withdrew its application for the new water rights last month because it found ways to use existing water rights to service its growing population, said Public Works Superintendent Terry Werner.

Voting in the Nov. 2 election is probably the best thing anyone can do to remember Ron Rankin, family members said Thursday. "The best way to remember dad is to make darn sure you vote," daughter Kerri Thoreson said.

The citizens advisory group appointed Wednesday by the Kootenai County Commission has only one month to hash out a better proposal for how to divide and classify land in the county. "We'll make every effort to give those 12 people what they need to make a successful document," Commissioner Gus Johnson said, but added all the work must be done by Nov. 29.

The American flag flew at half-staff Tuesday over the Kootenai County veteran's memorial, a place Ron Rankin worked to create. In his dying days, he edited the photographs that will accompany his book about the memorial, telling the story of the local people who died serving their country.

The balance in the Idaho Legislature has a lot to do with the outcome of Coeur d'Alene's District 4 legislative race. It's the only district in Kootenai County that has continued to elect Democrats.