Julie Titone

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

The construction of a $9 million flood-control project hinges on a Nov. 4 vote by some of the people in Kellogg and Wardner. They'll be asked to create a Milo Creek Conservation District. If the answer is "yes," the same voters eventually will take another vote on whether to pay for operation and maintenance of a new system to contain the creek.

The rebuilding of the brick vault is the first stage of restoration at the Murray Courthouse. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Marie Osborn speaks at the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Monday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Coeur d'Alene Tribal Housing Authority director Gino White oversees a project designed to bring more attractive developments to reservations. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Coeur d'Alene Tribe officials don't know how many Coeur d'Alenes are living on the reservation. They just know there's been an influx. Nor do they know how many tribal members are working, only that the number is up.

Dr. Howard Platter talks with David Gallinger in one of the exam rooms aboard the VA Medical Center's mobile clinic. The clinic on wheels visits Osburn, Idaho, once a month to help local vets who otherwise would have to travel to Spokane. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Mel Willms uses an excavator to dig a new waterline in Mullan. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

A construction project to improve two St. Joe River levees at St. Maries is at a standstill. Benewah County hasn't been able to find a logging contractor to remove cottonwood trees growing on the levees, county Commissioner Jack Buell said Tuesday. The hang-up, Buell said, is that the contract requires a public works license.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe was applauded Tuesday for involving non-Indians in environmental planning on its North Idaho reservation. "I don't know of any other tribal community that has been as inclusive with the local community as the Coeur d'Alenes have," said Kathy Hill of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "You really are breaking new ground." Hill spoke at the official kickoff of the tribe's Environmental Action Plan. The plan will address health, ecology and quality-of-life issues on the 345,000-acre reservation. The tribe and its members govern only 70,000 of those acres. However, the plan also could end up setting tribal policy on issues anywhere within the Coeur d'Alenes' 4 million-acre aboriginal territory. "We will start looking at the reservation first, but we didn't want to limit ourselves from looking at other things, ... even things like migratory salmon," said project coordinator Tiffany Allgood. Allgood was hired last January. Before that, she held a similar job with the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Northern California. Among her tasks has been putting together a 25-member steering committee. Besides tribal representatives, its members include Kootenai County Commissioner Ron Rankin and George Asan, superintendent of the Plummer/Worley School District. Within the next two months, Allgood said, local meetings will be held to identify residents' environmental concerns. So far, the "problem list" includes issues such as flooding and loss of wildlife and native plants. Problems will be analyzed, summarized and ranked based on their severity. Then strategies will be devised to solve them. Federal dollars are paying for the project. Grants include $80,000 annually from the EPA's tribal assistance program. Hill directs that program in the Northwest. "The EPA has had an Indian policy since 1984 but hasn't done a great job of implementing it until recently," she said. Tribes around the country are starting to write environmental plans, Hill added, but none has involved non-Indians as much as the Coeur d'Alenes are doing. Tribal chairman Ernie Stensgar emphasized the need to involve everyone. "If we're looking at logging practices, how is it going to affect that industry?" he asked. "If we're looking at clean air, at wildlife, how will that affect you?"

From left, Mark Willms, Chris Larson and engineer Matt Newcomb discuss their project on 2nd Street in Mullan: a new water main and storm sewer to help alleviate runoff flooding in town. The tranch for the storm sewer will be dug as soon as workers finish this water line. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

This grove of old cedars at Priest Lake is being swapped for land closer to Coeur d'Alene in order to preserve them. File photo

FROM FOR THE RECORD (Saturday, October 4, 1997): Correction Water quality OK: Water pumped off pastures of the Morrow Ranch into Black Lake met state water quality standards. A Thursday headline may have suggested otherwise. 1. Pumped up over protests. Dave Nelson, manager of the Morrow Ranch, wonders why his neighbors didn't come to him about brown water pumped from the ranch into Black Lake. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Some residents at Black Lake have complained about the water pumped from Morrow Ranch.

Eric Weimer, a warehouse worker at the Coeur d'Alene Food Bank, fills bags with potatoes for a family of four. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review