Ken Olsen

After breaking one shovel handle, Troy Meyer continues to remove snow from his grandfather's roof in Post Falls. Meyer hoped to prevent more damage, such as the carport that partially collapsed during last month's ice storm. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Post Falls folk will be having a merry little cinemaless Christmas. Plans to open a six-screen theater just hours after Rudolph's dust settles were delayed for several reasons, said Larry Blair, co-owner of the Post Falls Cinemas.

Sick of the snow? Who ya gonna call? Most people apparently dial city Street Superintendent Tim Klein. "People are all at the end of their nerves and then they call here," he said of the annual winter marathon, now in its sixth week. They ask, "What are you going to do with the snow?" Then there are the calls from people objecting to the waist-high berms the snowplows throw across their driveways.

Bruce Reed, right, shares spotlight with Federico Pena, left, Aida Alvarez and outgoing Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Photo by Associated Press

Cynthia Christie was "highly thought of in the profession" and "needed in the extreme," her supervisors at Washington State University said. There was no doubt her "contract will be extended into the future," her bosses at the College of Education added. Barely two years later, Christie was told her teaching skills were exemplary no longer. Two replacement instructors were hired to take over her health education and first-aid classes at more than twice the expense.

Arsenic, mercury and other pollutants are leaking from an old mine near Kellogg into a stream feeding the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, the U.S. Forest Service says. The Silver Crescent mine and mill is one of 10 old mill sites in the Wallace Ranger District sending heavy metals into creeks and rivers. But Silver Crescent is first on the cleanup list because a small percentage of the metals end up in the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and, ultimately, Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Upper St. Joe wilderness. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

So much for the tree-lined byways of Coeur d'Alene. November's ice storm downed or did terminal damage to more than 1,700 trees on public property alone, the city's Urban Forestry Committee reported Monday. The largest number - 1,200 - were on much-revered Tubbs Hill. But scores of damaged trees are sprinkled across the city. Forest Cemetery lost 43 and Winton Park & Natural Area lost 25.

Fernan Lake residents are torn by the idea of cutting the trees that make their area so desirable. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig

Durbin

Representatives of the forest industry and city officials met Friday to decide what should be done with storm-damaged timber on Tubbs Hill. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Professor Kim Taylor-Thompson moderates a discussion of natural resources and the environment in Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

(From For the Record, December 11, 1996:) Sen. Larry Craig's proposed "Public Land Management Responsiblity and Accountablility Act" offers timber purchasers credit for "forest health" work including watershed restoration and road improvement. A graphic in Tuesday's story incorrectly detailed other items qualifying for the "forest health credits." Larry Craig

An adult grizzly in Glacier Park. Photo by Associated Press

Musical moments. Doug Porter takes one of Nick Schilling's handmade guitars for a test drive Saturday at the instrument sale. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review <

Letter carrier Kim Torrence gingerly steps down from a snowy porch in Coeur d'Alene Thursday after delivering the mail. Residents, with few exceptions, are required to keep the porch shoveled and clear for the safety of the carriers. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Castle Aghinolfi is "ominous, threatening and sinister, towering over the battle area," one American soldier wrote of this Italian landmark in World War II. It also was important strategically. The castle and the German guns in the surrounding nest of mountains stood between the Allies and an important naval base at La Spezia. It stymied the invasion of the Po Valley - the breadbasket of Italy.

1. An exhausted Buffalo Soldier rests from battle near Lucca, Italy, on Sept. 5, 1944. Photo from Department of Defense 2. Black infantrymen cross the Arno River near Pontederra, Italy, on Sept. 1, 1944. Photo from Department of Defense 3. Black soldiers of Company C, 365th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Division, pinned down by sniper fire in Italy in October of 1945. Photo from Department of Defense 4. Gun crew prepared to fire at the Germans across the Arno River on Sept. 1, 1944. Photo from Department of Defense.

Danielle Baxter loads a precooked, preheated turkey dinner from Rosauers Thursday. Baxter bought the bird because her small apartment lacks an oven. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The downed power line threatened to become the official symbol of Idaho's two northernmost counties Thursday, leaving law enforcement, fire and ambulance without working radios in Boundary County.

Call it extreme cabin fever. There were two reports of people shooting into trees near Honeysuckle Beach on Tuesday, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department.

Statewide initiatives Bear baiting will continue to be part of Idaho's outdoor life, and nuclear waste disposal won't change. But the success of a term limits initiative was too close to call with about half of Idaho's ballots counted. All of the initiatives were winning in Kootenai County.

Coeur d'Alene firefighters extinguish a fire that damaged a multi-family dwelling at the corner of Foster and Third early Saturday morning. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review