John Stucke

ALMOTA – Wheat farmers across the Inland Northwest are collecting on a trifecta this year: a bumper crop, solid grain prices and continued government subsidies. The wheat crop is the best in a decade; preliminary numbers show 147.8 million bushels were harvested, up from 123 million bushels last year.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe today received $11.8 million in federal funding to build a new medical center in Plummer.

The diabetes problem is reaching full roar in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene region. More than 48,000 people are living with the chronic disease and another 114,000 are on the cusp as they struggle with obesity and sedentary lifestyles. It’s an epidemic that has grown along with the nation’s girth. Diabetes rates could double within 25 years, threatening to overwhelm hospitals, clinics, businesses, insurers, government and taxpayers, according to studies that analyze government reports. Educational campaigns and hard-fought regulations are considered a start in combating the problem – food labeling and tobacco restrictions, for example, that have revealed how unhealthy some foods are and chased smokers from public places.

U.S. Census Bureau data reflect what everyone knows: The recession that persisted in 2009 bit into pay and benefits, and cut jobs. Poverty rates rose and food stamps were issued to more Americans, according to the bureau’s 2009 Community Surveys, released Tuesday.

Accusations of stolen cash and silver, forged business records and slander have been hurled between two groups of nuns. The episode has resulted in a police investigation at the request of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Ghost, who claim that two members of their convent left, but not before stealing the items and turning them over to a rival convent at Mount St. Michael.

The pit at Spokane Valley’s popular Longhorn Barbecue overheated and filled the restaurant with smoke during Saturday night’s dinnertime rush. More than 100 customers had to evacuate as firefighters sprayed water and detergent to prevent the possible spread of a grease fire.

Spokane Valley fire personnel are on the scene of a working structure fire at the Longhorn Barbecue at 2315 N. Argonne Road. Dispatchers confirm that 10 unis have been dedicated to the fire, which was called in at 6:55 p.m.

Inland Northwest Catholics celebrated the installation of Bishop Blase Cupich on Friday, filling the McCarthey Athletic Center at Gonzaga University with applause, music and hope that better times are coming. The installation Mass welcoming Cupich as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane was attended by more than two dozen bishops from around the country. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who serves as Pope Benedict XVI’s diplomatic representative to the United States, read the appointment papers and was the leading figure in the ceremony steeped in tradition and formality, along with Seattle Archbishop Alex J. Brunett.

Inland Northwest Catholics celebrated the installation of Bishop Blase Cupich on Friday, filling the McCarthey Center on Gonzaga University’s campus with applause, music and hope that better times are coming.

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Toyota parked out back of Rapid City’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a drab little sedan, splattered with grasshoppers, moths and other bugs that loiter along South Dakota’s rural highways. Its driver is inside the impressive building, a place of worship with soaring ceilings and stained-glass windows depicting the lives of saints.

Marshall Chesrown has surrendered ownership of his landmark Club at Black Rock luxury golf and housing development above Lake Coeur d’Alene amid the ongoing collapse of high-end real estate in North Idaho. Washington Trust, a privately held Spokane bank, filed public records in Kootenai County this week taking the deeds from Chesrown in lieu of foreclosure.