Stories by Julie Titone for the Spokesman-Review

News > Nation/World

Down To The Waterline As River Rises Again, Cataldo Residents Build Their Own Dike

Tue., Feb. 20, 1996

1. Retiree Verne Blalack, Cataldo 2. Cataldo residents unload concrete barriers Monday under the Interstate 90 overpass as the Coeur d'Alene River threatens to flood again. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

News > Nation/World

Areas Designated As Flood Plains Perhaps Outdated New River Studies Unlikely To Receive Approval Soon

Sun., Feb. 18, 1996

Vernon and Verna Larson knew their home had been elevated above the flood plain as Shoshone County ordinance requires. So they didn't bother to take cherished photos or important papers when they left their home on Feb. 10, as floodwaters threatened to inundate Coeur d'Alene River Road.

News > Nation/World

Less Water, Worse Flood, Says Geological Survey Flow Of Cda River Was Twice As High In 1974, But That May Not Mean Much To 1996 Flood Victims

Thu., Feb. 15, 1996

About half as much water pulsed through the Coeur d'Alene River last week as during the benchmark flood of 1974. That will come as a surprise to many Kingston and Cataldo residents who had 4 feet of water in their homes. They swore the flooding was as bad or worse than 22 years ago.

News > Nation/World

Searchers Help Mourners Find Closure Lakes, Rivers Sometimes Slow To Give Up Bodies Of Drowning Victims

Mon., Feb. 12, 1996

FOR THE RECORD: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 Mark Bondeson, who drowned last November in Priest Lake, was 35. His age was wrong in a Monday article.

News > Idaho

Batt Tries A New Tack To Save Trout Clean Water Act Is Focus Of Conservation Proposal

Tue., Feb. 6, 1996

Idaho's governor is turning to a different federal law to avoid Endangered Species Act protection for the bull trout. The Clean Water Act is a linchpin of Gov. Phil Batt's conservation plan for the fish.

News > Spokane

Cuts Take Bite Out Of Salmon Budget Slashing Forces Closure Of Six Hatcheries

Fri., Feb. 2, 1996

The chance to catch salmon or steelhead in the Northwest may drop soon from bad to abysmal. Congressional budget cuts are about to close six hatcheries in Washington and Oregon.

News > Idaho

Cuts Taking Bite Out Of Salmon Runs Budget Slashing Forces Closure Of Six Northwest Hatcheries

Fri., Feb. 2, 1996

The chance to catch salmon or steelhead in the Northwest may drop soon from bad to abysmal. Congressional budget cuts are about to close six hatcheries in Washington and Oregon. Thirty-nine million tiny fish, raised at taxpayer expense, will be released prematurely. Many will die.

News > Idaho

Groom And Groove Little Nordic Ski Club Does Monster Job Of Maintaining Cross-Country Trail

Sun., Jan. 28, 1996

Bill Frymire, Evelyn Huender and other members of the Panhandle Nordic Club maintain the Fourth of July Pass cross-county trails and the warming hut. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News > Idaho

Warm Weather, Snow Make Ice Thin On Area Lakes

Thu., Jan. 25, 1996

The skiing's hot. The ice fishing's not. The ice on many Inland Northwest lakes is too thin to be safe. "It's really, really dangerous now," said Ned Horner, regional fisheries manager for the Idaho Fish and Game Department in Coeur d'Alene. "I'm not going out, and I'm a hard-core ice fisherman."

News > Idaho

Idaho Public TV To Close Cda Office Two Will Lose Jobs Locally As Network Anticipates Cuts In Federal Funds

Wed., Jan. 24, 1996

Idaho Public Television will close its Coeur d'Alene office as part of statewide cutbacks. Last week, IPTV managers learned their network would get $700,000 less in federal funding over the next four years. It also lost more than $100,000 in state funding this year, general manager Jerold Garber said.

News > Spokane

Plan For Turbines At Dam Delayed Critics Worry Project Will Harm Lake Roosevelt Sport Fishing

Wed., Jan. 24, 1996

Plans to install hydropower turbines at a Canadian dam were put on hold Tuesday, just as people downstream in Washington were asking whether the project might harm sport fishing in Lake Roosevelt. The upgrade of the Keenleyside Dam is far from canceled, however. Its supporters in British Columbia continue to seek environmental permits for the project, which could affect one of the last free-flowing stretches of the Columbia River.

News > Idaho

Possible Gold Rush Worries Scientists Threat Of Floods, Lack Of Pollution Controls In Mining Laws Could Pose Risk To Streams

Sun., Jan. 21, 1996

The price of gold is hovering near $400 an ounce, putting a gleam in the eye of placer miners. It's also causing nervousness among scientists concerned about fish and flooding in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin.

News > Idaho

Farragut’s Future Open House Puts Park’s Wildlife Area In The Public Eye

Tue., Jan. 16, 1996

D.D. waits for her owners, Headrick and Erna Everett of Hayden, as they walk along the south shore of Lake Pend Oreille in Farragut State Park. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News > Nation/World

Hired Scientists Defy Credibility Public Grapples For Answers In Wake Of Questionable Reports

Sun., Jan. 14, 1996

Bull trout. Salvage logging. Salmon recovery. Mining waste. Whatever the Northwest environmental issue, the debate often can be reduced to a schoolyard challenge: "Oh, yeah? Says who?"

News > Idaho

Lakes Council Lacks What It Takes Members Upset Panel Has No Power To Implement Plans To Protect Lakes

Thu., Jan. 4, 1996

The Clean Lakes Coordinating Council says a management plan for Lake Coeur d'Alene is not likely to succeed. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

News > Idaho

Cold, Hard Facts Polar Plunge Was A ‘Wild And Crazy’ Scheme

Wed., Jan. 3, 1996

Of the hundreds of people who turned out for Monday's Polar Bear Plunge, few if any knew when the New Year's Day tradition got started at Lake Coeur d'Alene. "It must go back 50 years," said old-timer C.J. Hamilton as he prepared to dash into the icy water.

News > Idaho

Workers Press To Reopen U.S. 12 Truckers, Resort Owners Hope State Meets Saturday Target For Lewiston-Missoula Route

Fri., Dec. 22, 1995

A Dec. 1 slide that took a bite out of a major east-west route is causing Idaho highway officials to hustle like they haven't hustled in two decades. "The last time we fast-tracked contracts like this was when Teton Dam broke," said Pat Lightfield, maintenance engineer for the state Department of Transportation's Lewiston district. Lightfield hopes to have the 1,200-foot stretch of U.S. Highway 12 open Saturday.

News > Idaho

Fight Against The Tide Cataldo Residents Explore Options For Coping With - And Preventing - Floods

Sun., Dec. 17, 1995

Verne Blalack explains to Cataldo residents what the community needs to do to help prevent annual flooding in the area. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News > Nation/World

Pine Creek’s Time Has Come Cleanup May Be Near For Source Of Cda Pollution

Sun., Dec. 17, 1995

Tainted waters Scientist Dave Fortier inspects a tallings pile at the Liberal King mill site. Pine Creek has carved into the pile. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

News > Idaho

Planner Sees Clear-Cut Reasons Behind Flooding Of North Idaho Streams

Sun., Dec. 17, 1995

This fall's flood waters have subsided, but the questions remain in western Shoshone and eastern Kootenai counties: Are floods coming faster, or more frequently, than in the past? If so, is it because the watershed has been heavily logged? Shoshone County Planner Harold van Asche thinks the answer is yes on both counts.

News > Spokane

Time To Zinc Or Swim On Tailings Cleanup Momentum Is Building For Solution To North Idaho Mine-Waste Pollution

Sun., Dec. 17, 1995

Fall floods have chomped away at the Pine Creek shoreline, which in some spots is nothing but piles of mining waste. Federal scientist Dave Fortier stood on one such tailings pile recently. On the hill above him were the wooden ruins of the Liberal King ore processing mill. Beside him was a chest-high embankment carved by raging water.

News > Idaho

Cleanup Standards Proposed For Cda Basin Panel Struggled With The Concept ‘How Clean Is Clean?’ For Soil

Thu., Dec. 14, 1995

When asked how clean their rivers and lakes should be, Coeur d'Alene River basin residents searching for solutions to mine pollution had a ready answer. They want the water to be safe to swim in, the fish safe to eat.

News > Idaho

Ruffled Feathers Some Biologists Worry Eagle Cruises Will Disrupt Feeding On Lake Cda

Sun., Dec. 10, 1995

Officials worry bald eagle sightseeing tours on Lake Coeur d'Alene are too disruptive to the birds. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News > Idaho

Storms Spawn Hope For Kokanee Rain Gives Biologists Higher Lake Levels Sought For Experiment

Sat., Dec. 9, 1995

Bill Ament walks the shore of Lake Pend Oreille near Lake View, counting kokanee for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News > Spokane

Reservoir Counsel Seeks Cash

Fri., Dec. 8, 1995

Years of progress toward ending pollution in Lake Roosevelt could go down the drain, say fishermen, county officials and others interested in the big Columbia River reservoir. They sent a letter Thursday to Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., asking for $100,000 in federal cash to save the Lake Roosevelt Water Quality Council. The inter-agency council has coordinated research and pressured Canadian industry to stop sending pollutants downstream. It set the stage for a lake management plan, which is out for public comment.

All Stories