Julie Titone

Remodeling of the North Idaho College Student Union Building will be a pared-down version of what originally was planned. Higher than expected costs might even kill the project, according to a student leader.

1. Ralph Papenfuhs, above, who delivered milk to the Kootenai Inn as a youth, walks through a lobby now strewn with old fixtures and garbage. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. At left, the Kootenai Inn, built by the Milwaukee Road Railroad in 1909, is just a shell of its former stately self. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Timber companies, environmental groups and citizens from California to Connecticut have lined up to support a proposed government land swap. The deal would protect an ancient grove of cedars at Upper Priest Lake by making it part of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. The 520 acres is now owned by Riley Creek Lumber Co.

A Clearwater River flotilla of up to 50 dugout canoes will launch a two-day extravaganza for history buffs this summer. The colorful fleet will be part of the Lewis & Clark Experience, which will begin July 26 when the canoes head down river from Orofino, Idaho. The educational event will end the next evening in Clarkston, Wash., with a talk by filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns will show segments of his upcoming PBS documentary on the 19th-century adventurers William Clark and Meriwether Lewis.

Students will pay more to attend North Idaho College starting next spring, trustees decided after some heated discussion Wednesday night. The tension wasn't between board members over whether to raise tuition $25 per semester.

Science can be fun Students Jilyn Chandler and Autumn Ray, second and third from right, take accelerometer readings on the Roundup during Physics Day at Silverwood. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Few problem teachers were uncovered during the first year that criminal background checks were required for Idaho public school employees. The fingerprinting, aimed at weeding out criminals, started on July 1, 1996. Since then, nearly 20,000 sets of prints were processed, according to Roger Hanshew of the Department of Education's professional standards office.

The ballot.

When Lakeland School District voters agreed this week to spend $725,000 to set up a lunch program, they did more than guarantee full bellies for students. They opened the door to hundreds of thousands of federal dollars that can be used to help kids learn to read. "That's money that we're losing out on," said school booster Larry Clark.

Unpublished correction: The name of Higgens Point is misspelled in this story. This information is from the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation. 1. Some people walk on the dock Tuesday at Two Rivers Marina on Lake Roosevelt, where, unlike the rest of the region, water levels are still low. The lake level is rising, however, and launch sites should be available for the Memorial Day weekend. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review (ran only in the Spokane edition) 2. All washed up. Boaters like this one putting in at Higgins Point on Lake Coeur d'Alene are having to contend with submerged ramps and docks. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review (ran only in the Idaho edition)

Voters in the Lakeland School District were close late Tuesday to approving a supplemental levy aimed at establishing a hot lunch program. The $750,000, one-year levy was passing with 63 percent yes votes, with seven of eight polling places reporting. Also passing, with 74 percent of the vote, was an $18,000 levy to fund activities buses. In the Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai school districts, voters agreed to pay additional property taxes to keep schools operating at current levels.

No charges will be brought in connection with alleged mistreatment of disabled students at Lakes Middle School, Coeur d'Alene's city attorney has decided. Parents of three of the children, plus a former teacher's aide, filed complaints in March with city police.

The Coeur d'Alene, Lakeland and Kootenai school districts will ask voters today to approve supplemental levies, so that property taxes can be used to maintain or add programs.

Milo Creek rushes down Maple St. in Kellogg Saturday after a culvert clogged. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Hygiene check: Nurse Terri Ethridge check out Cory Kilpatrick's nails. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

The Lakeland School District will have a school lunch program for the first time if voters approve a one-year supplemental levy. On Tuesday, the Lakeland, Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai school districts will ask residents to increase or maintain their property taxes. On the same day, eight Panhandle districts have board of trustee races, which determine the leadership of community schools.

Students from Mead's Northwood Junior High work on a civil rights exercise at Camp PEACE on Friday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Among Friday morning's graduates at North Idaho College, Randy Smith of Spirit Lake traded his mortarboard for his cowboy hat, with tassel. He said the hat, or more accurately his job horseshoeing and shoveling out horse stalls, helped pay for his associate of science degree. Smith plans to be a teacher. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Jim Minkler, a philosophy instructor at North Idaho College, was honored Friday by his colleagues as this year's recipient of the NIC Foundation Faculty Achievement Award. The award comes with a check for $1,500. Minkler has taught at NIC since 1988.

Priest River students Yvee Sherman, left, and Tiffany Troudt examine integrated circuit boards during a field trip to an electronics plant Wednesday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

This old house must be moved to make room for the widening of Highway 3. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Parents who feared the Coeur d'Alene School District was watering down its mathematics requirements are happy now.

This morning, high school students will test their skills by racing electric vehicles they designed and built. But before the "Electrathon" starts at Silver Lake Mall, one of its sponsors will celebrate its own ability to get off the mark.

(From For the Record, May 11, 1997:) Name incorrect: Ron Booth was quoted in an article about the Home School Compact that appeared in Saturday's newspaper. His last name was incorrect in that story.