JoNel Aleccia

The big gas grill roared to life under Chef Walt MacDuff's touch, yellow flames licking toward the slab of London broil in his tongs. With a wicked sizzle, it settled next to two equally generous portions of beef, sending the aroma of garlic and spices into the spring air. A burgundy demiglace was ready to drizzle the finished entrée, accompanied by oven-roasted potatoes and steamed fresh asparagus. For dessert? Ramekins of silky crème brulée waited for a final flame.

You won't see Chantel Probert scrambling for summer child care. The 27-year-old Coeur d'Alene mom knows that peace of mind is too important to postpone to the last minute.

Members of the Idaho state Board of Medicine have agreed unanimously to revoke the medical license of a former Coeur d'Alene doctor, saying it was the only way to protect the public from Tarek L. Haw's "egregious abuse and exploitation of patients." Haw, 61, was accused of misusing prescription drugs, failing to properly diagnose or treat medical conditions and conducting examinations that bordered on sexual misconduct.

Nearly 40 percent of Idaho high school students have had sex or consumed alcohol, and almost a third have ridden recently with a driver who was drinking, according to a state survey released Wednesday. Statistics from the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey may alarm parents, but state officials noted that Idaho young people engaged in these behaviors less frequently than kids across the country. One troubling figure stands out, however: Nearly 9 percent of Idaho students said they tried to commit suicide in the previous year, higher than the national average of 8.5 percent and up slightly from state figures in 2001.

The director of the North Idaho program that pairs trained advocates with kids in court can't really spare $3,000 from her stripped-down annual budget. But Hiedi Person said she'll happily pay that amount if it means she can make sure local volunteers who work with children have passed a background check in every state in the union.

A Benewah County jury awarded $18 million in punitive damages Wednesday to the family of an 86-year-old St. Maries man it agreed was abused and medicated to death at a North Idaho nursing home. Jurors deliberated for less than five hours in the case that pitted the family of Delbert Hayward against owners of the Valley Vista Care Center, the St. Maries nursing home where he died in February 1995. The verdict capped a three-week trial that was the culmination of more than a decade of lawsuits and appeals, including two hearings before the Idaho Supreme Court.

A dozen people, including four children, were forced from their homes early Tuesday morning when a fire swept through their Post Falls apartment building. No one was injured in the 2:30 a.m. blaze, but none of the families living in the four-plex dwelling at 407 E. Second Ave. was insured, said Jim Lyon, public information officer for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.

Five patients who received human tissue transplants at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane face the possibility of disease because the material came from a New Jersey supplier charged with stealing parts from funeral home corpses. Patients were advised to seek medical testing for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C and syphilis after tissues provided by a Sacred Heart supplier were recalled, a hospital official said this week. The unidentified patients received transplants of human bone, skin or tendons between early 2004 and September 2005; they are among thousands affected by a widening body-snatching scandal involving hospitals nationwide.

A Panhandle Health District program that tested 375 low-income women for breast and cervical cancer last year has received more than $73,000 from the Coeur d'Alene affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Seven of the women screened through the Women's Health Check Program were diagnosed with breast cancer, according to Gail Turley, family planning coordinator at Panhandle Health District.

Like almost everyone else in Bonner County, the two Republican candidates for the District 3 commissioner's position believe that growth is the region's most pressing issue. Incumbent Karl Dye and challenger Lewis Rich agree that the next county commissioner must have firm ideas about how to manage the needs of current residents – and those who'd like to move in. But the Sandpoint men, who face each other in the May 23 primary election, differ on how they'd do that. The winner will take on independent candidate Wayne Stotts for the seat.

Ask three different people the right way to run Bonner County and you'll get three different answers – especially in the race for the Republican post in the District 1 commissioner's contest. The contenders in the May 23 primary are vying for the chance to meet Democrat Todd J. Crossett in the general election for the two-year post.

A Post Falls chiropractor has been indicted on 70 counts of insurance fraud in U.S. District Court. Timothy Grothman, owner of Health Within Chiropractic Center, pleaded not guilty last week to federal charges that he billed insurance companies in Tennessee and elsewhere for dozens of services he didn't perform.

The father of a 16-year-old girl killed in a head-on car crash near Rathdrum has died, Kootenai Medical Center officials said Tuesday. Jesse L. Wright, 35, succumbed Monday night to injuries sustained in the April 21 accident that killed his 16-year-old daughter, Keriann, and injured two of his sons.

Mothers wept, swimmers cheered and a roomful of community organizers finally exhaled as they learned Monday that Coeur d'Alene will get a $65 million Salvation Army Kroc Community Center after all. Salvation Army Lt. Col. Harold Brodin didn't even finish the first sentence of his announcement.

The Idaho Supreme Court has overturned a district court ruling that dismissed a quadriplegic's claim of medical negligence at Kootenai Medical Center because he didn't file the complaint in time. The action is expected to set a precedent that says alleged negligence, wrongful acts or omissions must be identified before the clock starts ticking on time limits for patient litigation.

No one's saying there's a gang problem in North Idaho, at least not the kind of crisis seen on TV crime shows – or even the streets of Spokane. But that's not stopping church and community leaders in Bonner County from tackling the issue.

A lawyer running for Kootenai County District Court judge is facing contempt of court charges for missing a scheduled hearing, but Rami Amaro said Monday the incident was a misunderstanding. At issue is an order by county Magistrate Judge Benjamin R. Simpson, who has called Amaro and her client, Cheryl Pannell, to appear next Monday to explain why they didn't show up for a March 23 hearing in Pannell's divorce and custody case. Amaro said Monday she had filed appropriate papers to postpone the hearing.