Ken Olsen

The fight over bear hunting comes down to three simple rules, backers of Proposition 2 say. Eliminate spring black bear hunting, the use of bait, and the use of hounds to hunt bears and the pursuit finally becomes fair.

It's perhaps the most forgotten issue on the November ballot and the one that strikes closest to Coeur d'Alene. Along with joining the fight over bear baiting, radioactive waste, taxes and term limits, Lake City residents will have final say on whether hydroplanes should race on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

It's perhaps the only initiative that pits conservatives against conservatives. Welcome to the 1996 revival of a push to limit the terms of congressmen and senators. Fueled by Hayden Lake businesswoman Donna Weaver, the popular initiative wants to force politicians to take a stand on the issue and push for a congressional effort to make it reality.

1. Larry Craig, Republican 2. Walt Minnick, Democrat

The families of two men who died in an abandoned North Idaho mine last year have filed separate $1.5 million claims against the U.S. Forest Service. Terry Novak, father of one of the victims, confirmed Tuesday that the claims were filed last week because of the deaths and because of the hazards posed by the dilapidated mines. Novak, former Spokane city manager, directed all other questions to the families' attorney.

Proponents say it's a simple way to add fairness to the rules for hunting bears. Instead it's become one of the fiercest verbal wars and most expensive initiative campaigns in Idaho's political history. And it's divided the house of Idaho Gov. Phil Batt and his wife, Jacque.

The Priest Lake Ranger District mailed this photo to cabin owners imploying that if logging were not allowed near the lake, fire danger would become severe. U.S. Forest Service photo

The four senior members of Sandpoint's seven-member Planning Commission resigned Monday, saying they are frustrated by a battle over who calls the zoning shots. Anne Cordes, Teresa Deshon, Craig Johnson and Bob Fischer submitted separate letters of resignation, accusing Mayor David Sawyer of trying to control the commission, filtering the information it receives, tinkering with its agendas, and subverting the commission. Cordes has been on the commission since 1978, Deshon since 1985, Johnson since 1988 and Fischer since 1994.

The cost of a new home will increase between $1,106 and $1,222 in the next few months if the City Council agrees tonight to impose impact fees. The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed fees under a law approved by the Legislature during its last session. The money can be spent only to handle impacts from future growth, including streets, parks and police and fire protection.

Dalton Gardens residents once again can use water directly out of the tap without boiling it. The Idaho Division of Environmental Quality lifted a boil order Monday for the approximately 2,000 residents of Dalton Gardens.

A proposed state law banning partial birth abortions has broad support in Idaho, according to an October poll for the Idaho Spokesman-Review. The survey found 50 percent favor such a law. Twenty-three percent are opposed, and 27 percent are undecided. The Oct. 10 survey of 834 Idaho voters has a 3.5 percent margin of error.

The anti-bear baiting initiative could be dead and a nuclear waste measure appears to be losing support, according to an October poll of Idaho voters. That's a dramatic change of fortune for both measures, which only a month ago appeared to be cruising to victory.

People probably don't understand what Idaho's term limits initiative really delivers, a University of Idaho political scientist says. Passage of Proposition Four doesn't automatically limit the political careers of Idaho's congressional delegates, said Florence Heffron, director of UI's Bureau of Public Research. It requires a note on the ballot beside the names of politicians who don't push for term limits in Congress or sign pledges to fight for term limits.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas announced his resignation Wednesday. Photo by Associated Press

About 2,000 Dalton Gardens residents are boiling their water because of unsafe levels of coliform bacteria, a repeat of a problem the community had a year ago. No fecal coliform has been found, which is a much more serious contamination problem.

A protest in the Kootenai National Forest near Troy, Mont., Monday was only the beginning of a long campaign to cut back logging on the forest, activists say. There are signals the fight over the Kootenai could eventually rival the five-year running battle over central Idaho's Cove-Mallard timber sales, where hundreds of protesters have been arrested. That could hamper North Idaho mills, which depend heavily on the Kootenai Forest for timber.

Craig's fun-raising skills are legendary. File/The Spokesman-Review

What a relief. At least for septic tank cleaners, who are expected to be freed from licensing requirements by the City Council tonight. Amusement machines, auctioneers, sign companies and taxi drivers also are on the list of people and things that the council will consider relieving of licensing. Taxi companies will continue to be required to get licenses. Mandatory five-year bicycle licenses are supposed to ride off into the sunset with the other disappearing regulations in favor of an annual, voluntary registration. The council also is expected to vote to borrow about $2 million to rebuild 15 blocks of East Sherman Avenue next spring. That's about $900,000 less than the city originally expected to borrow for the project. Monday the Idaho Department of Transportation announced it is giving Coeur d'Alene $870,000 toward the project. "That may free up between $100,000 and $200,000 for other street projects," said John Austin, city finance director. That, however, is contingent upon what happens with the statewide vote on the One Percent Initiative, which would scale back property taxes. "If the 1 percent passes, we will have to rethink all future street projects," Austin said. The City Council also will take up the issue of raises for city employees not covered by the three worker unions. About 50 department heads, payroll clerks, personnel assistants and the like are not members of the bargaining units and therefore don't automatically qualify for pay raises negotiated in 1995 as part of a two-year contract. City administrators will recommend a 4 percent salary increase, beginning Oct. 1, and an increase in benefits to match what the other employees will receive. Only City Administrator Ken Thompson isn't covered by this salary package. He has a separate contract with the city.

Post Falls officials pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act in U.S. District Court in Boise Friday for accidentally dumping untreated sewage into the Spokane River last year. The city won't be sentenced until January. The maximum penalty is $200,000. City officials are hoping they will be allowed to apply any fine toward improving the sewage treatment plant.

The American Bar Association Thursday criticized efforts to emasculate a proposed federal law banning domestic violence offenders from having guns. "This legislation no longer protects the victims of family violence from further and more deadly violence involving guns," the association said.

About 200 people who get drinking water from the Green Ferry Water and Sewer District awoke Saturday to warnings they need to boil their drinking water.

Golfers get tips on driving from PGA pro Peter Jacobson at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. Somewhere behind them in a cloud of smoke is Lake Coeur d'Alene. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

These are words supposedly never heard in the polarized 1990s: An environmental group says it generally approves of a Forest Service timber sale. The praise is even more astonishing considering some of the logging will occur in the 40,000-acre Grandmother Mountain Roadless Area, one of the largest roadless areas in North Idaho.

Cherie Knudsen has to swallow hard when she thinks about her bill for new city water lines. It's $13,000 - almost as much as she paid for the two tiny rental houses next door more than 20 years ago. Add the $15,000 she had to pay toward the new sewer system a few years ago and she figures she is spending twice as much as she paid for the two 450-square-foot rentals.