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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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James Hagengruber

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All Stories

News >  Spokane

Team hopes to find another rare worm

ALBION, Wash. – The search for the big white worm began Wednesday morning with a journey in a big white van. The van carried assorted soil scientists, entomologists and the Northwest's leading worm expert to one of the few remaining patches of virgin Palouse prairie. The safari crew hiked up the hillside armed with narrow-bladed shovels, plastic baggies and digital cameras.
News >  Idaho

Incumbent, challenger seek job as Shoshone treasurer

County treasurers are in charge of collecting taxes, which usually means they're not the most popular elected officials. In Shoshone County, though, the treasurer's race is getting all the attention. That's because it is the only county office in the May 23 primary election that is being contested.
News >  Idaho

Road builder fined for Mica Bay mud

The state of Idaho and a Seattle-based construction company agreed Wednesday to pay $895,000 in fines for a highway improvement project that ended up sending torrents of mud into Mica Creek and downstream to Lake Coeur d'Alene. The construction company, Scarsella Brothers, also agreed to pay $500,000 to a group of homeowners that had water systems and docks clogged by the mud.
News >  Idaho

Firefighters injured in Post Falls apartment fire

A family lost their home and four firefighters were injured in a fire Monday afternoon that destroyed a Post Falls apartment above a storage center. Two of the injured firefighters – whose names were not released – suffered electrical shocks.
News >  Idaho

Boom with a view

CAVENDISH, Idaho – Because shooting at paper targets can get boring, there is Boomershoot, where the targets blow up. The weekend-long event is held each spring in a remote Idaho farm field and is considered a "Magic Kingdom" for serious long-distance shooters, said organizer Joe Huffman, who spends most of his time in Seattle working as a software programmer.
News >  Idaho

Fiesta crowd thinned by immigration concerns

It wasn't weather or any other competing events that kept attendance lower than usual at this year's La Fiesta Cinco de Mayo Celebration in Post Falls Saturday. It was anxiety and fear fed by a national firestorm over immigration reform, suggested Luisa Orellana, who worked at a booth at the event for Spokane's Hispanic/Latino Resource Center. People of Hispanic or Latino heritage – even those with citizenship – are worried about becoming targets of federal raids.
News >  Idaho

Idaho begins process of defining water rights

Preparations are under way for what could be the biggest lawsuit ever to hit North Idaho. About 20,000 people are expected to be drawn into the massive legal action – known as adjudication – aimed at sorting out who owns the groundwater in the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, said Karl Dreher, Idaho Water Resources director. The process of defining each well owner's portion of the water could begin by the end of the year.
News >  Idaho

Relay project highlights necessity of water

Left on its own, the snowmelt would have flowed into Lake Coeur d'Alene. For months, or maybe even years, it would have flowed through the massive lake, carrying oxygen for fish, supporting tendrils of aquatic plants and being churned around by a summertime fleet of pleasure boaters. Instead, the water from the St. Joe River was scooped out of the southern end of the lake and unwittingly became part of a ceremony aimed at reminding North Idaho residents of the story behind the water.
News >  Idaho

Relaying the water cycle

Left on its own, the snowmelt would have flowed into Lake Coeur d'Alene. For months, or maybe even years, it would have flowed through the massive lake, carrying oxygen for fish, supporting tendrils of aquatic plants and being churned around by a summertime fleet of pleasure boaters. Instead, the water from the St. Joe River was scooped out of the southern end of the lake and unwittingly became part of a ceremony aimed at reminding North Idaho residents of the story behind the water.
News >  Idaho

Dogs beefing up border security

Drug runners, illegal aliens and even potential terrorists will now have to contend with tough new employees of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's border protection force. Say hello to Gordon, Ronnie and Beau. But please don't give them any table scraps, their agent-handlers say.
News >  Idaho

Second fire breaks out in assisted-living home

A Post Falls assisted-living facility caught fire again Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours after flames gutted its attic and living area. The first fire at Garden Homes started around 5:45 a.m. Sunday and forced the evacuation of its 15 elderly residents.
News >  Idaho

Catastrophe averted in Post Falls

A Sunday morning fire at a Post Falls assisted-living center had the makings of a true catastrophe. But as fires go, this one turned out as well as possible and should serve as a lesson on the benefits of preparation, according to fire and rescue officials.
News >  Idaho

Railroad crane, ties fall into lake

A railroad repair crane and a carload of railroad ties plunged into Benewah Lake Monday afternoon after a trestle gave way. Two operators of the self-propelled crane also fell into the lake, said Levi Reynolds of the Benewah County Sheriff's Department. They "got a little wet and a little scared," and escaped the dangerously cold water by climbing onto the remnants of the trestle.
News >  Idaho

Cleaning trails’ trashy reputations

A pair of former Spokane police officers will soon be hitting the trails near Coeur d'Alene as part of a U.S. Forest Service push to bring more law and order to an increasingly crowded backcountry. Public lands in the region are being "absolutely overwhelmed" by the growing number of fun-seeking residents, particularly those who cruise through the forests on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, said Andy Boggs, a Forest Service employee who helps manage recreation areas within the Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District.
News >  Idaho

Field burning dispute likely settled

Washington farmers and clean air activists are on the verge of settling a decade-long fight over field burning. Both sides have agreed to a Washington state oversight program aimed at protecting air quality, while allowing wheat growers to burn field stubble.
News >  Idaho

North Idaho reports no avalanche deaths

Despite a deep blanket of backcountry snow, North Idaho appears to be heading for the first winter in four years without an avalanche death. The safe season comes on the heels of two winters that were among the driest, yet deadliest on record for the region.
News >  Idaho

Idaho wants to kill wolves to help elk

Wolves eat elk. That's one of the few undisputed facts surrounding an Idaho proposal to kill wolves in hopes of helping the Clearwater River region's fast-shrinking elk herd.
News >  Idaho

Wildflowers with domestic roots

At 70 mph, they can look like yellow flecks of litter. A closer look in the roadsides and median along Interstate 90 between Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene reveals something of a moving garden tour. Beginning about now, this stretch of highway offers prime viewing of native wildflowers.
News >  Idaho

Tree-thinning fight flares

A logging and wildfire reduction project north of Bonners Ferry is fanning the flames in an old fight between conservation groups and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. The U.S. Forest Service wants to thin about 900 acres of thick forest surrounding an increasingly crowded residential area about six miles north of Bonners Ferry. The so-called Templeman Project could dump sediment into nearby streams and would do more harm than good to the forest, according to several environmental groups now trying to block the action.
News >  Idaho

Kootenai weighing free TV recycling

A windfall from high scrap metal prices could help expand Kootenai County's recycling program to include computer monitors and television sets. Last year, the county's solid waste program earned $60,000 selling unwanted scrap metal, said Roger Saterfiel, who directs the program. If approved by county commissioners, the solid waste program could soon begin using the money to fund a free monitor-recycling program, he said.
News >  Idaho

Recycling for riches

There's a lot of money in junk these days. Old drain spouts, window screens, electrical wire, engine parts, even the metal panels from campers are fetching record high prices at local scrap-metal dealers.
News >  Idaho

Cloned mules headed for racetrack? You bet

After helping with a bit of cancer research, a pair of cloned mules from the University of Idaho are heading to the racetrack. Idaho Gem, the world's first successfully cloned member of the horse family, will be joined by his genetic photocopy of a brother, Idaho Star, in competition at the nation's premier mule races. The two have been approved to race at a weekend-long event in early June in Winnemucca, Nev.
News >  Idaho

West Nile warnings spring up

April showers could mean May mosquitoes. The prospect of a bumper crop of biting bugs from the sodden spring weather is renewing concerns over West Nile virus, according to a warning issued this week by the Spokane Regional Health District.
News >  Idaho

Huetter bar fights county for survival

The battle between a hip-hop club and Huetter took a twist Monday when the bar's owner claimed the business has been targeted for shutdown in part because of its racially diverse clientele. Lang Sumner, owner of The Grail, said he thought he was doing the right thing by calling the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department whenever a fight seemed to be brewing or when his computer scanners picked out a fake ID.
News >  Idaho

Homes out of range

In 1994, a million dollars bought a waterfront lumber baron's mansion in Coeur d'Alene's most elegant neighborhood. That same East Lakeshore Drive residence sold for $1.6 million last year. This might have been a bargain, considering a two-bedroom, one-bath cottage a few doors down just went on the market for $1.1 million.