Julie Titone

A justice for all Justice Sandra Day O'Connor addresses the University of Idaho on Tuesday evening. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Finding a new manager is just the latest challenge facing Shoshone Medical Center. The biggest problem remains the existence of a second Shoshone County hospital - Silver Valley Medical Center, according to industry leaders.

Lillian Bohlier of Kellogg exercise in the physical therapy department's pool at Shoshone Medical Center. The publicly owned hospital competes with the private Mountain Health Care clinic nearby. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Dean Turner, the owner of the land where the town of Taft used to sit, is searching for stories and memorabilia from the railroad boomtown. He found the sign in a pawnshop in Wallace. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Cleaning up town. Mayor Ron Garitone is working with property owners to resolve Wallace's real estate blight. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

"It could put the hospital into a tailspin," says Bob Morasko. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. Passion for Potlatch. Barry Ramsay and Suzanne Lamon started D8 with the intention of "just paying the bills," but the injection mold company has mushroomed. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Kyle Peterson puts some finishing touches on an aluminum mold manufactured at D8. 3. Once a timber-dependent town, Potlatch, Idaho, has become the home to D8, an injection mold construction company.

Two fire districts are about to sign an agreement that should improve protection and reduce insurance rates for many property owners around Lake Coeur d'Alene. Kootenai Fire District No. 1 expects to sign the mutual aid agreement in mid-February with the East Side Fire Protection District.

Sperle

Babies born at Kootenai Medical Center will be thoroughly tested for hearing problems starting next month, thanks to a community fund-raising effort. Chuck Whiteley, a Kiwanis Club member, got "all riled up" over the idea that some children's problems go undiagnosed, often leading to learning disabilities.

1. Lucky numbers. Accountants with Arthur Anderson watch as Laura Stensgar draws the numbers in the first US Lottery drawing at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Bingo Casino in Worley on Tuesday. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. US Lottery employee Scott Woods helps verify the winning numbers in the drawing.

Bob Templin will join the Cavanaugh's board of directors now that Templin's Resort will become part of the Spokane-based Cavanaugh's Hospitality Corp. File/The Spokesman-Review

Someone could win a $1 million prize today in the first national telephone and Internet lottery drawing, which is sponsored by the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe. Tribal officials hope to hit the jackpot, too. They've waited three years for this drawing.

Submerged in thought Dan Elkins examines his boat, the Arahina, as it rests on the bottom of Lake Coeur d'Alene at the Arrow Point Resort marina. He and his wife were preparing to sail the boat around the world. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Jack McKey strings one of the powerful bows he created from natural materials and native techniques. Photo by Julie Titone/The Spokesman-Review

Four Panhandle towns looking to improve water or sewer systems will compete this spring for Idaho Community Development Block Grants. Fernwood, Plummer, Priest River and Sandpoint are among 18 communities statewide that made the "first cut" of requests for the grants. The Idaho Economic Advisory Council last week reviewed 27 preliminary requests for more than $10 million.

City planner Walter Hadley has begun work on Kellogg's part of the trail. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Tensed, Idaho, is about to get a library, thanks to a donated building and donated books. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has given the building to the reservation town. It used to be a temporary classroom. It's no longer needed since the new tribal school opened in DeSmet, Idaho. The building is sitting in a parking lot along U.S. Highway 95, waiting to be installed on adjacent city land, Mayor Mariane Hurley said Monday.

1. Jack Cardwell is outraged over the Chilco Falls land swap. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Clarence S. Argo stands high atop Chilco Falls. which he gave to the State of Idhao in 1914. He had hoped it would be used as a park. Photo courtesy of Museum of North Idaho

Two women who skied out of bounds at Silver Mountain Resort were rescued Friday after spending a frigid night in a snow cave. Sue Christie Lander and Kathleen Marie Paasch were found in good condition, though Lander's right foot was frostbitten. She was treated and released at Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg. "The scary part was that it was so cold. It got down to 3 degrees overnight," said resort spokesman Dave Kilmer. "The good part was, the skies cleared so we were able to follow their tracks. With a snowstorm and reduced visibility, this might have had a different ending."

An ambitious plan to improve and protect the environment on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation will be presented at three public meetings. Written at the initiative of the tribe, the plan is meant to guide council decisions involving human health, ecology and quality of life. Indians and non-Indians are invited to attend the meetings, according to Tiffany Allgood, coordinator of the tribal Environmental Assessment Plan.

The "Silver Country" sign that looms over Wallace will stay put. The city's planning, zoning and historic preservation commission this week granted a variance for the billboard, which was changed illegally last August. The sign is owned by Magnuson Hospitality. Executive Tom Magnuson agreed to pay a $300 fine for not getting approval to alter the sign, which until August read only: "Historic Wallace."

A Silver Valley garbage hauler wants to make money by transporting trash to a Montana landfill, and is suing Shoshone County to make that happen. Right now, the county transports solid waste from its transfer station to a Missoula landfill. It charges residents for the service, $70 annually for most households. Waters Garbage owners see that as unfair competition. They asked the county to stop levying that fee for anyone who uses Waters' service.

Hide and seek. Coeur d'Alene Police officers Doug Demetre, holding radar gun, and Jerad Kiehn check for speeders from the concealment of an alley along 15th Street in Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review