Julie Titone

A doctor who set up shop in Wallace this month stands accused of improper sexual conduct with four patients in Othello, Wash. As a result, Dr. Jimmie L. Hutchison could lose his license to practice medicine in Washington and potentially in Idaho. Officials at the East Shoshone Hospital District knew about the charges when they hired Hutchison, said administrator David Hughes.

Lin Rimple is building herself a home near Rathdrum. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Sherman Alexie's "Smoke Signals" was filmed on the Coeur d'Alene reservation and in Riverfront Park in Spokane. File/The Spokesman-Review

It's been a disappointing season for hunters and wildlife watchers in Shoshone County, and some people blame the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Hundreds signed a petition complaining that the agency didn't feed deer and elk in the Coeur d'Alene River basin last winter. The big scroll of taped-together notebook pages will be sent to Gov. Phil Batt.

1. Reaping and sowing. Marsha Semar has worked the land in North Idaho for decades, but is facing her first winter on her own after she and her husband separated and their grown sons have left home. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Marsha Semar's home nestled among the trees near Moyie Springs is her spiritual center. The 8-foot high fence protects her "market garden" from deer looking to scavenge vegetables. Photography by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 3. Marsha Semar's main link to "the outside world" is the telephone, which rings with calls from friends and customers placing orders for vegetables. 4. Marsha finds spiritual centering during her weekly trip to Bonners Ferry for a yoga class. 5. Left: Marsha sells vegetables from her garden until weather or supply force her to stop. She spends the growing season coaxing as many different vegetables as possible from the soil during the short growing season. 6. Below: Marsha does as much of the work as she can but welcomes any help she can get with the more difficult tasks on the farm. She is still trying to clean up from ice storm while doing chores to keep the farm going.<

The death of Idaho prisoner No. 26889 this year was the closing scene in one of the Silver Valley's most publicized murder cases. David William Yon was a former Pinehurst police chief convicted of shooting his Kellogg housemate in the back of the head in January 1987. Interest in the trial was heightened by the men's gay relationship in a macho mining community and by the fact that both men were well-known in law enforcement circles. Victim Joe Bussell worked for the Shoshone County Sheriff's Department.

Jeff Wood of Washington State University, left, and Camp Larson caretaker Jim Sifford hope to make the camp a year-round, high-tech meeting place. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Dr. Ron Bell, North Idaho College president, addresses the crowd at the human rights rally Monday morning at the college. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Future visitors to McCroskey State Park will see the forest of the past, thanks to fire. Intentional burning is planned at the natural park for the first time, said Randall Butt of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. The result should be more open stands of trees, like those that existed historically at the Benewah County site.

Erosion control along the Coeur d'Alene Parkway is the only flood-related project for which a promise of state funding was withdrawn. But it may not be the last, a spokesman for the Bureau of Disaster Services said Friday.

Eroding away. The bank along the shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene along Lake Coeur d'Alene Parkway is inching closer to the popular Centennial Trail. Money the state had promised for repairs is not coming. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Sign language The massive billboard on the top of the Jameson Hotel dwarfs any other sign in town. It is the most prominent sign as seen from the I-90 viaduct. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. A library love story. Boosters of the Wallace library, left to right, librarian Bernie Ludwick, Joseph Grismer, Mary Zeller and Genevieve Paroni are hoping to get the ball rolling to restore the building, which was opened as a Carnegie Library in 1911. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. One of only four Carnegie Libraries left in Idaho, the Wallace building is looking at a $100,000 renovation.

While St. Maries residents like the sparkling water that comes from Rochat Creek, they loathe the idea of doubling their water bills to make sure it meets federal health standards. Last Tuesday, they voted 327 to 94 against paying for a $5.5 million mechanical filtration system that would remove any threat of disease. But there may be a cheaper, lower-tech way to accomplish the same goal. A slow sand filtration system is one of three other options that the City Council will consider for meeting the regulations, said council member George Currier.

Eye drops that reportedly damaged a Wallace woman's corneas are being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA and the maker of the drops, Pfizer, Inc., are testing the Visine to see if it is abnormally acidic, according to spokesmen for the pharmaceutical company. "This is not the first time we've gotten a complaint such as this, although in the past they've all proven to be nothing," said Pfizer's Brian McGlynn. "We take each report quite seriously."

Hundreds of hunters are among those who may have been exposed to hepatitis A at a rural Shoshone County restaurant. The Panhandle Health District is recommending immune globulin shots for anyone who ate at Gloria's Steak House on Oct. 22, 23, 24, 27 or 28. The restaurant is on Coeur d'Alene River Road at Prichard.

Kellogg and Wardner area voters set the stage Tuesday for construction of a $9 million flood-control project. By a vote of 99 to 47, they passed the Milo Creek Maintenance Referendum. That established a conservation district, so property owners eventually can be assessed to pay for the operation of a new system to contain Milo Creek. The creek, which flows through culverts under part of Kellogg, caused serious damage during flooding last spring. Money for the construction project will come from federal and state agencies.

Some mining jobs have returned. Major progress is being made on the Bunker Hill Superfund cleanup. Voters just approved building a new school. Things are looking up in Shoshone County, and in one community after another along Interstate 90, candidates for local office say they want to help plan a bright future. Elections take place Tuesday.

Black cats, urban legends and roadside witches add to Halloween's fright factor in the Inland Northwest. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

There are more people in Spirit Lake these days, and that's a concern for some City Council candidates. "It's not a problem because people are coming in, but in keeping city services up with the population," candidate Bill Moe said. "I don't want to see any more annexation," Saundra Faubion said. "We need to grow into what we've already been adjusted for, such as upgrading the sewer system." Faubion is competing with incumbent John DeBernardi for a two-year council seat. Moe, Eugene Clary and Pete Troglia are competing for two four-year posts. Those will go to the highest vote-getters. Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the town's civic center. Here's a rundown on the candidates: Faubion is owner of the Hog and Jog Restaurant. Born and reared in Spirit Lake, this is her first shot at public office. "I just felt like I owe a little bit of time to the city," she said. "The main thing I'd like to see is controlled growth. "There are several new businesses in town, and that's great. We have a new school coming in and that's great, too. I really see Spirit Lake taking off." DeBernardi, an auto mechanic, serves the town as assistant fire chief as well as a council member. He did not return phone calls seeking comment on his re-election bid. Clary, a retired iron worker, served on the council twice before. He believes the city could use his knowledge of construction. For example, he said the city recently traded in a good backhoe and didn't do well on the deal. He also thinks the city should put a new liner in a water tank instead of dismantling it. "They're doing fine here, but they need some assistance and I think I have the expertise to lend that." Troglia, a disabled veteran, is volunteer coordinator for the new senior/community center. He moved to Spirit Lake just over a year ago. "What we found is friendly, decent people who bent over backwards to help us," he said. "I see the potential of this town. I'm going in with a big, open mind." Moe, who's been in Spirit Lake for 12 years, is retired from a career in the electronics industry. He said he'd like the government to be more open, and the council to stop its habit of waiving the rule to read proposed ordinances three months in a row. "I think that's wrong," he said. "They think people won't understand the ordinance, or take the time to read it." He hopes the town will maintain its rural character despite increased population.

Before long, the Silver Valley's working poor will have a place to go when they are sick. The Panhandle Health District Board on Tuesday approved in principle the use of the district's Kellogg office for the Shoshone Community Health Clinic.

Crews remove cottonwoods from the banks of the St. Joe River in Riverdale last weekend as part of an Army Corps of Engineers plan to stabilize the levee system. Benewah County says it cut fewer trees than the corps had requested. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

St. Maries residents spoke up resoundingly this year in favor of keeping Rochat Creek as their water supply. On Nov. 4, their devotion to the creek will be tested. They will be asked whether to build a $5.5 million filtration system, which could more than double the average monthly water bill.

1. The crew removing the church's chimney found a bundle of old bills and notes from the 1900s. 2. Jim Wilkerson hopes to get St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Mullan added to the National Register of Historic Places. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review