Kevin Keating

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News >  Idaho

Arts And Crafts Fair Muscles In Next To Music Exhibitors’ Applications Were Double The 100 Spots Available For Sandpoint Event

Sat., Aug. 10, 1996

About 100 artists will take over City Beach this weekend as Sandpoint hosts its own version of Art on the Green. The Arts and Crafts Fair, sponsored by the Pend Oreille Arts Council, opens today at 10 a.m. and will draw nearly 10,000 visitors.

News >  Idaho

Ground Broken For Elusive School Approval Came With ‘87 Levy, And Inflation Has Reduced Project’s Size

Sat., Aug. 10, 1996

A new elementary school that Bonner County residents paid for four years ago finally will materialize. After years of planning and money problems, school district officials broke ground for the new six-room, $1 million school Friday morning.

News >  Nation/World

Flat Ticket Sales Threaten To Put Festival In The Red Organizers To Sell 2-For-1 Tickets Except For Mattea, Sedaka Shows

Thu., Aug. 8, 1996

The Festival at Sandpoint already dug itself out of a $90,000 hole this summer, but lackluster tickets sales are threatening to put the organization back in debt. The festival's opening weekend, which featured Lou Rawls, was marred by chilly, rainy weather and concertgoers stayed away in droves.

News >  Nation/World

Bonner, Boundary Voters Reject Levies Decision Likely Means Classrooms Will Close, Programs Will Be Cut This Fall

Wed., Aug. 7, 1996

Voters in Bonner and Boundary counties turned down school levies Tuesday night, probably forcing the districts to cut programs and close classrooms this fall. Opposition to the levies in both counties was stiff.

News >  Idaho

Festival Wins Court Fight On Use Of Park Judge Dismisses Complaint From Neighbors, Rules Music Fest Has Legal Lease For Sandpoint’s Memorial Field

Wed., Aug. 7, 1996

The Festival at Sandpoint won a crucial court battle Tuesday that will allow organizers to stay at Memorial Field and serve alcohol at concerts. The festival's use of the field, which is a public park, was challenged by a neighboring couple tired of the noise, traffic and crowds of drinkers.

News >  Nation/World

Schools Banking On Levies Bonner Seeking To Repair Roofs; Boundary Faces Program Cutbacks

Mon., Aug. 5, 1996

School districts in Bonner and Boundary counties are banking on levies to avoid closing classrooms and cutting programs next year. On Tuesday, Bonner County will ask voters for a $995,000 supplemental levy, while Boundary County will float a $490,000 maintenance-and-operation levy for a third time.

News >  Nation/World

Greedy Pickers Damaging Huckleberry Bushes Hacking Off Branches Hurts Next Year’s Crop And It’s Illegal

Fri., Aug. 2, 1996

Hikers combing the mountains for huckleberries and beargrass are not treading lightly on Mother Nature this year. The U.S. Forest Service has stumbled across messy campsites left by grass pickers and fielded complaints about people hacking branches off huckleberry bushes.

News >  Idaho

Sandpoint Council Is For Real State Rules Election Legal Despite Annexation Mess

Thu., Aug. 1, 1996

The City Council ended its self-imposed lame duck status Wednesday after the state attorney general's office assured members they had been legally elected. The council has been in limbo for nearly a month - since a judge ruled the city's annexation of 750 acres was invalid.

News >  Nation/World

Mellowing Out Festival Tones Down Music, Prices With Eye To Neighbors, Future

Mon., July 29, 1996

Country singer Kathy Mattea performs Aug. 9. Photo by Associated Press

News >  Spokane

Harassment Unchecked, Sandpoint Inmates Claim Complaint Says Sheriff’s Department Ignoring Racial Attacks

Thu., July 25, 1996

Three Boundary County inmates, including one who is black, filed a complaint against the sheriff's department Wednesday, saying officers have ignored racially motivated harassment inside the jail. Lamont Lewis, 32, said a fellow inmate who claims to be a neo-Nazi skinhead threw a cup of human feces on him and his two white cellmates earlier this week.

News >  Spokane

Suspicious Husband Shot In Face Man Went To Sandpoint Restaurant To Confront The Owner About Wife

Tue., July 23, 1996

A Bonner County man was shot in the face after confronting a man he suspected of having an affair with his wife. Daniel Wood, 43, was shot at the Captain's Table, a popular restaurant on Lake Pend Oreille. Wood was reported in serious condition Monday at Kootenai Medical Center.

News >  Idaho

Marketing’s Big Leagues

Sat., July 20, 1996

Wal-Mart opens today. Store manager Tom Boltz checks the progress as sales associates stock shelves and check equipment for today's opening of Wal-Mart in Ponderary. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Idaho

Sandpoint Seeks Relief From Traffic Congestion Mayor Wants U.S. 95 Traffic Rerouted Out Of Downtown

Fri., July 19, 1996

To help ease the city's traffic gridlock, Sandpoint Mayor David Sawyer pitched a plan Thursday to reroute U.S. Highway 95 out of the downtown business core. The city can't wait for construction of a Highway 95 bypass, which is years off, Sawyer told a group of state transportation officials.

News >  Idaho

Is Sandpoint Council For Real? Ruling That Voided Annexation Makes A Muddle Of City Council’s Legality

Thu., July 18, 1996

A judge's ruling this month voiding the city's annexation of 750 acres has sunk the City Council in a quagmire of legal questions. The council was supposed to meet Wednesday to decide whether to appeal the ruling and refund about $75,000 in taxes and fees collected from annexed residents.

News >  Nation/World

Smoke May Lead To Litigation Group Will Try To Hold Individual Grass Growers Liable For Health Problems

Thu., July 18, 1996

The Clean Air Coalition has mustered its members, money, a meteorologist and lawyer to battle grass growers who inundate the Panhandle with smoke this summer. Instead of going after the entire bluegrass industry, the Sandpoint-based group says it will target individual farmers this time.

News >  Idaho

Dad Held In Knife Attack On Daughter She Fights Back With Ax Handle After Fracas Starts Over Music

Tue., July 16, 1996

After an argument over loud music, a Priest River, Idaho, man pulled a knife and slashed his daughter 11 times Sunday night, sheriff's officers said. Michelle Price, 20, was severely cut on her neck and a wrist and suffered more wounds on her hands, arms and stomach while trying to defend herself, Bonner County authorities said.

News >  Nation/World

Image Hurting Sandpoint Business Community Leaders Discuss How Publicity About Fuhrman, Aryans Costs North Idaho

Fri., July 12, 1996

Kevin Watson, a member of Sandpoint's Human Rights Coalition, winces when he reads a letter from a romance-adventure novelist. The man wanted to write a book and base the characters in Sandpoint. But his publisher nixed the idea, saying it wouldn't work because the town's image is marred by racism.

News >  Idaho

School District Asking Voters To Patch Leaky Roofs

Thu., July 11, 1996

Four schools with crumbling, leaky roofs have prompted the Bonner County School District to ask voters for a $995,000 levy to make repairs. Water damage at Priest River Elementary School is so bad the district may be forced to close six classrooms next year if it is not fixed.

News >  Nation/World

Hazards To Get The Shaft A Little Dynamite Will Help Forest Service Seal Dangerous Abandoned Mine Openings

Wed., July 10, 1996

Getting ready to rumble. Forest Service workers drill holes for dynamite in the entrance to an abandoned mine shaft. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Idaho

Confusion Reigns After Annexation Rejected Sandpoint Loses 750 Acres And Possibly A Council Member

Sat., July 6, 1996

A year and half after the city forcibly annexed 750 acres, a judge has decided it was done illegally. The ruling, technically, redraws the Sandpoint city limits.

News >  Idaho

Former Treasurer Charged With Theft County Prosecutor Says Software Purchase Was Really Western Wear

Sat., July 6, 1996

Former Bonner County Treasurer Karen Weldon was charged with grand theft Friday for allegedly embezzling about $12,000 of taxpayer money. County Prosecutor Tevis Hull said it appears Weldon took three checks from the treasurer's offices for a total of $11,218 and put them in her personal account.

News >  Spokane

Spoiled Bears Evicted Kind-Hearted Passers-By Blamed For Turning Wild Bears Into Troublemakers At Schweitzer

Wed., July 3, 1996

Hard to resist. This young bear watches passing cars recently at Schweitzer Mountain. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

News >  Nation/World

Father Has Own Ideas About Boy’s Death He Says Snowboarding Accident, Not Beating, Killed His Son

Tue., July 2, 1996

Mark Parker describes the last three months of his life as a "living hell." His 16-year-old son, Robert Parker, died in March from what police said was a blow to his head during an underage drinking party. Since then, Mark Parker has endured a homicide investigation, a special court hearing and talk of manslaughter charges against his surviving son and daughter for their brother's death.

News >  Idaho

Official Seeks New Chance For Festival Site

Tue., July 2, 1996

The Festival at Sandpoint may get a new lease on life at Memorial Field. City Councilman Michael Boge asked Monday that a resolution to boot the festival from the field after its 1997 season be revoked.

News >  Idaho

Arts Panel Embraces Festival With Grant North Idaho Projects Fare Well With Idaho Commission On The Arts

Sat., June 29, 1996

Karen Bowers has reason to smile as Sandpoint's Panida Theater was awarded nearly $14,000 in grants for repairs and operation. File/The Spokesman-Review