Ken Olsen

Of 13 collared bears that have died since 1983, only three have died of natural causes. For the second time in two years, a female grizzly bear has been reported killed in the Selkirk Mountains bear recovery area north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

The Coeur d'Alene City Council will ask for management proposals for its three downtown parking lots at its regular meeting tonight. Diamond Parking's three-year contract expires Sept. 30. And in March, the City Council voted to charge for parking year around, instead of from May 1 to Oct 1. The price of daily parking in the lots will remain the same - free the first two hours, $1 for the third hour and 50 cents for each additional hour, with a $10 maximum for a 24-hour period.

(From For the record, Wednesday, July 19, 1995): The U.S. Forest Service claims that an environmental activist warned a federal law enforcement officer that "someone was going to die as a result of the Cove-Mallard conflict" in Idaho's Nez Perce National Forest. Because of a Forest Service error, a story in Tuesday's newspaper incorrectly reported who allegedly received that threat.

1. Leslie Marshall tries to tiptoe through the mud holes Saturday at Spirit Lake. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Donna Bryggman's shoes got down and dirty. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 3. A line of volunteers stamps through the lake, trying to turn muck into mortar. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

E. coli victim Dorothy Thomas believes U.S. Sen. Larry Craig is right to support a federal rollback of food safety rules and other regulations. "I don't have a lot of faith in federal regulations, or state ones either," said the Post Falls resident. "Especially when it comes to the food business."

It will cost 20 times more and take four times as long to bring forest plans into compliance with environmental laws if Congress dumps the Eastside Ecosystem Management project, U.S. Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas said Thursday. Thomas isn't getting much sympathy from some local environmental or industry advocates, who are ambivalent about keeping the program alive. A blue-jeaned, bolo-tie clad Thomas, with an entourage of top agency officials, stopped in Boise and Spokane stumping for revival of funding for the behemoth, often-misunderstood analysis of federal lands in the Pacific Northwest.

A proposed 55-acre subdivision near Garwood was rejected by Kootenai County commissioners Wednesday because the developers wanted to keep a private airstrip open as part of the project. Commissioners were willing to change Ranch Aero's zoning from light industrial to rural. They also favor subdividing the acreage, located west of U.S. Highway 95 and south of Garwood, into 11 lots.

Carter

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. is considering building a landfill at its Post Falls mill to dispose of ash from its wood-fired boilers. Company officials say this is one of several ways they might handle the ash, which currently is stored at the dimension lumber mill site. They say it's too early to comment further. L-P uses boilers to dry the lumber milled at Post Falls. Those boilers are run with "hog fuel" - wood scraps, bark and sawdust. Company officials could not say how much ash the Post Falls boilers generate each year.

Lake Pend Oreille resident Tom Hooker has filed for boat status. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Five contractors are suing the city of Hayden, Idaho, for $73,000 in impact fees they say should be refunded because of last winter's Idaho Supreme Court decision striking down the fees. Hallmark Homes, Crescent Homes and Mort Construction of Coeur d'Alene, as well as Shorewood Homes and Viking Construction of Hayden Lake wrote the city this spring asking for the money back. They received no answer, so the companies filed suit in Kootenai County District Court last week, said Forrest R. Goodrum, their attorney. They are asking for the impact fees, interest and "substantial" attorney fees.