Scott Maben

Murdo Cameron has something to tell the sport of hydroplane racing: Lighten up already. The retired airline pilot, an innovator in the field of advanced composite materials, says he can transform how thunderboats are built, greatly reducing their weight and cost while making them stronger.

What else is left in the world of wacky sports than to turn people into rolling, bouncing balls? And so they took turns doing just that Sunday at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake. Kids and adults pulled the large, inflatable bubbles over their upper torsos – think Violet Beauregarde on her way to Willy Wonka’s juicing room – and commenced to ricochet off one another like balls in a giant game of billiards.

Lash Laker gathered up some materials from around his Coeur d’Alene home – cardboard, coffee grounds, wood ash and eggshells – and made a horticultural product he calls Seedboard. The idea is to nurture seedlings in the ground, locking in moisture, supplying nutrients and fortifying against insects.

Strong performances on the SAT college entrance exam tend to be dominated these days by charter school students. But a small public school at the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene is among the SAT standouts in Idaho this year. Nestled in the rolling hills south of Harrison, Kootenai High School is proving it can hold its own among the strongest academic environments in the Gem State, even as it confronts steep enrollment declines and limited resources.

A train glides across the water at Sandpoint about every half-hour on average, making it one of the busiest bottlenecks on Northwest rail lines. BNSF Railway Corp. says it’s time to add a second bridge there, where Lake Pend Oreille meets the Pend Oreille River, to relieve pressure on the original, 109-year-old span and absorb anticipated growth in rail traffic, including loads of coal and crude oil bound for West Coast ports.

A tanker truck leaking a hazardous chemical shut down Interstate 90 near the Washington-Idaho state line for hours Sunday and released fumes that sickened two police officers and prompted officials to advise nearby residents to stay indoors. A 6-mile stretch of I-90 from Liberty Lake to Post Falls was closed before 2 p.m. and remained deserted into the night. Officials also closed the Centennial Trail along the Spokane River and later shut down East Appleway Avenue, a detour route, as fumes from the truck spread in that direction. All freeway traffic then was diverted to East Wellesley Avenue to the north.

A six-mile stretch of Interstate 90 has been deserted more than seven hours today after a leaky tanker truck triggered a hazardous chemical scare near the Washington-Idaho border.

The attorney defending a Coeur d’Alene teenager accused of killing his father and brother has asked a judge to suppress all statements the boy made to police after his arrest, including his alleged confession. The request to throw out the confession is among several recent motions Kootenai County Public Defender John Adams has filed questioning state law and the handling of the case by police and prosecutors.

On a corner lot in the center of Spokane Valley, Rupert Butler tends to his large lawn below one of Modern Electric Water Co.’s conspicuous water towers. His grass is green and healthy, and Butler takes care to find the right mix of water and fertilizer to keep it that way all summer long. He sees plenty of wasteful watering, though, around his neighborhood: sprinklers left on for hours or running in the heat of the day, water splashing onto sidewalks and streets. For someone who has lived and worked in parched areas of Texas and California, he shakes his head at it all.

The North Idaho Fair & Rodeo opened Wednesday morning with a striking new entryway and plaza that pays tribute to a century and a half of Kootenai County history, from mining and logging through present-day tourism that drives the local economy. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter spoke at a dedication ceremony and, like many others have, stumbled over the pronunciation of sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary.

A prolonged legal fight over whether the Boy Scouts is free to sell a popular camp on Lake Coeur d’Alene is done. The organization can sell Camp Easton, the Idaho Supreme Court has ruled, but it has no plans to do so. The Inland Northwest Council of the Boy Scouts is investing more money in its camp on Gotham Bay and no longer is considering a controversial swap for land on the other side of the lake. Still, Friday’s ruling clears up a dispute over the 85-year-old donation that established the camp.