James Hagengruber

A winner-takes-all battle in Kootenai County's District 3 spilled a lot of old blood Tuesday. Incumbent Republican lawmakers Sen. Kent Bailey and Rep. Wayne Meyer both lost races in the district that includes Hayden, Rathdrum, Spirit Lake, Athol and Bayview. With 47 out of 75 precincts reporting, one-term incumbent Bailey was being beaten by upstart Mike Jorgenson. Eight-term former Sen. Clyde Boatright had hoped to regain his old seat.

PRICHARD, Idaho – About 25 North Idaho gold miners walked off the job recently, saying they haven't been paid for finding the pay dirt. Many of the miners gathered at the front gate of the Alterra Mine 40 miles northeast of Coeur d'Alene Thursday morning after hearing rumors the owner would be at the site. The men were there to demand a month's worth of back pay. Some of the miners said they were being evicted from their homes.

Last time around, the Republicans emerged from the primary race for Coeur d'Alene's District 4 with nearly three times as many votes as the Democrats. Yet the Republican primary winner, Jim Hollingsworth, went on to be narrowly beaten by upstart Democrat Bonnie Douglas. Hollingsworth lost by 27 votes. Some blamed a Libertarian spoiler candidate for stripping away 418 votes that could have otherwise boosted the Republicans into office. Others said Hollingsworth shot himself in the foot with his positions on topics ranging from AIDS victims to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (he has professed contempt for both).

Regional wildfire managers are nervous at the prospect of a fire season without their most powerful firefighting weapon, heavy air tankers capable of draping vast stretches of forest with fire retardant. Last week, the federal government canceled all contracts for the planes because of safety concerns stemming from a pair of crashes in 2002. The news is coming at the dawn of a potentially catastrophic fire season – forest conditions already are at Julylike moisture levels.