Julie Titone

Critically burned on her legs, thighs and stomach, 4-year-old Cynthia Rowland was scared and hurt because her parents wouldn't visit her in the hospital. She buried the memory. But it haunted her. It was one cause of a 12-year eating disorder that nearly killed her after she'd grown up to be a television reporter.

Social issues swamp the Sandpoint school board, says Blaine Stevens. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

Two Republicans - business consultant Jim Clark and restaurant owner Curtis Ellis - will compete in the May 28 primary election for the chance to face off against Rep. Marv Vandenberg, D-Coeur d'Alene. Clark, 52, owns A to Z Consultants. He holds two master's degrees and teaches management at Eastern Washington University.

A precarious refuge An osprey leaves the water of Cougar Bay with a large trout. The bay's ecosystem also includes ducks, gulls, herons, an occasional eagle and smaller birds. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Gunnar Holmquist

Diver Scott Dimmick jumps from a barge near Lower Granite Dam to attach cables to a bulkhead. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Mike Domy hopes the trail will boost the economies of small communities. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho trout streams are being harmed in the zeal to repair roads and otherwise clean up after last month's floods, say state and tribal biologists. One of their examples is LaTour Creek, where some of Lake Coeur d'Alene's cutthrout go to spawn. Another is Lapwai Creek, where some of the state's few remaining wild steelhead return from the ocean and where tax money is being spent to restore the habitat.

Tainted water leaves a rusty residue at the Bunker Hill mine. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho's senators introduced legislation Thursday aimed at cleaning up a century's worth of mining contamination. The Coeur d'Alene Basin Environmental Restoration Act of 1996 calls for reducing discharges of heavy metals, capping or removing mine tailings, improving fish and wildlife habitat, and stabilizing river banks.

Idaho Gov. Phil Batt is asking the federal government not to sue mining companies over damage to wildlife in the Coeur d'Alene River basin. Past mining practices contaminated the basin with lead, zinc, cadmium and other metals. The problem is dramatized each spring when swans die from lead poisoning after stopping to feed along the river.

It's not enough to tell yourself you're going to run Bloomsday, says Annie McKinley. Tell somebody else, too.

Last month's flooding left behind silt laden with heavy metals from old mine wastes. The levels are high enough that Cataldo resident Mike Irwin won't let his 4-year-old son return until cleanup is complete. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

1. Surveying the snowpack Scott Pattee weighs a snow sample from Mount Spokane. Pattee's measurements of the snowpack will indicate river flows later in the year. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. (In Spokane edition only.) Surveying the snowpack Scott Pattee weighs a snow sample from Mount Spokane. Pattee's measurements of the snowpack will indicate river flows later in the year. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

One-fifth of Panhandle residents get their drinking water from lakes and streams, where it's exposed to bacteria that could make them sick. And thousands of those people live in communities with outdated water systems for removing those germs. Among them are the St. Maries system, which serves 2,800 people; and the Central Shoshone County Water District, with 4,000 customers in Kellogg, Osburn, Wardner and Smelterville.

Retired telephone engineer Bill Newman holds a test tube used to check the amount of sediment in water. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Benewah County should be able to fix problems related to enforcement of its floodplain ordinance and stay in the National Flood insurance program, a federal disaster official said Thursday. "I'm convinced we can work this out," said Chuck Steele of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We rarely ever suspend anyone." County commissioners face a bigger problem than the probation, Steele said. They must decide what to do about the homes and businesses that were destroyed in the February floods.

Idaho counties and Indian reservations face an estimated $12.6 million in flood damage to roads, bridges and other public property. Latah County got hit the hardest, according to the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services.

1. At the Potlatch mill, workmen corral lumber floating in the receding floodwaters. Several pumps were emptying the Riverdale dike districts. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Buell

What began as a way to revive vacant, big-city industrial sites could end up helping mom-and-pop businesses in Idaho. The Idaho Land Remediation Act being considered by lawmakers would encourage property owners to voluntarily clean up pollution. They'd pay for the work and for state oversight. In return, the landowners - and their bankers - would get written assurance that they had met their responsibility. They'd get a tax break. And they couldn't be sued.

Saying he wants to reaffirm his commitment to restore Idaho's salmon and steelhead runs, Gov. Phil Batt has released a state policy to help fish migration in the Snake River this spring. The policy will be presented to the National Marine Fisheries Service as a proposal for Columbia and Snake river operations during the upcoming salmon migration season, which runs April through mid-June. It calls for the release of water from Dworshak Reservoir near Orofino, without draining the popular recreation site during the summer months.

As St. Maries area residents move back into their flood-stricken homes, they may not be able to use their toilets. "The lift stations in the Riverdale area in Benewah County are not functioning and probably won't be for some time, said John Tindall of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality. The stations pump sewage to a treatment plant. Tindall urged Riverdale residents to phone Phil Brown at 245-2577 to find out if the system is functioning at their homes.

The walls come tumbling down Thursday on the last building that was part of the lead smelter at Bunker Hill in Kellogg. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

The state Division of Environmental Quality is offering free water testing for people with private wells who are concerned about heavy metals contamination caused by recent floods. "It's a legitimate concern," said Steve Tanner of DEQ. "We would advise people to have the water tested, especially if there was sediment in their water supply." So far, the only requests for the tests have come from people who take water from Lake Coeur d'Alene or the Spokane River, Tanner said.