Scott Maben

For the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, the dog days of summer have been less about the weather than the heat over its closely watched investigation of a police officer’s fatal shooting of Arfee, the black Labrador left inside his owner’s parked van. The controversial shooting five weeks ago has overshadowed every other story in the Lake City this summer. Police and city leaders have been bombarded with questions, condemnation and profane rants from near and far. The name of the officer has not been revealed over concern for his safety.

The Boys & Girls Club is extending its reach in Kootenai County with a plan to build a club on the east side of Coeur d’Alene. The nonprofit organization already expanded its club in Post Falls, and the popularity of after-school programs there has surged since the building opened early last year.

Coeur d'Alene's new police chief is Lee R. White, an assistant chief in Mesa, Arizona. White will assume the post Sept. 2.

The Inland Northwest was flung back into storm cleanup mode Sunday after being clobbered by high winds for a second time in 10 days. Thunderstorms packing gusts of 40 to 55 mph brought down hundreds of trees and power lines over a wide swath of the region Saturday evening. Firefighters pounced on new brush fires sparked by arcing wires, while crews cleared trees blocking streets and highways. Utility workers were out in force restoring service to tens of thousands of customers who lost power, mainly north of Spokane and in Bonner County.

Every officer in the Coeur d’Alene Police Department must watch a series of short training videos on dog encounters – one of the city’s responses to a controversial dog shooting by an officer earlier this month. The video series, “ Police and Dog Encounters: Tactical Strategies and Effective Tools to Keep Our Communities Safe and Humane,” was produced by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services office, Safe Humane Chicago and the National Canine Research Council.

Every officer in the Coeur d'Alene Police Department is being required to watch a dog encounter training video from the U.S. Department of Justice, the police said this morning.

A Coeur d’Alene boy charged with murder in the deaths of his father and brother was arraigned Monday but did not enter a plea, so a judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

A North Idaho sheriff says a gunman who opened fire on police last month and was shot in return is probably alive thanks to the quick aid provided by officers on the scene. “Officers involved on that Sunday night showed great resolve and are a testament to their professionalism,” Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said Wednesday. “An example of that professionalism was when officers immediately provided life-saving measures to the suspect who minutes earlier was trying to kill them.”

An Arizona man injured during a gun battle with North Idaho police on Interstate 90 in June fired first with one of the two semi-automatic weapons in his possession, Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said Wednesday.

Coeur d’Alene’s police chief called the controversial police shooting of a dog inside a parked van last week “a regrettable tragedy” and said the matter is being fully investigated. At the start of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, interim Chief Ron Clark and Mayor Steve Widmyer addressed last Wednesday’s fatal shooting of the 2-year-old black Labrador named Arfee. The incident sparked a storm of criticism of the patrol officer’s actions.

You may not be able to entirely flee the heat, but you can have a little fun with it by heading to a park, playground, splash pad, lakefront or woodsy retreat this weekend. Or just head to McEuen Park in downtown Coeur d’Alene for the whole sizzling enchilada.

As lead navigator for the group that ended the war with Japan by dropping two atomic bombs, Wilbur Lyon was a witness to one of the most momentous turns of the 20th century. On Wednesday, he sat in a wheelchair at the Coeur d’Alene Airport and gazed upon the silver hulk of “Fifi,” a Boeing B-29 Superfortress like the bomber Lyon flew seven decades ago with the Army Air Forces.

The man accused of strangling his wife and her little girl in their Post Falls apartment Tuesday first removed his own two young daughters from the household before returning to commit the killings, authorities said. Angel Albertico Morales-Larranaga, 24, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Facunda Velenzuelaleon, 24, and Dayana M. Valencia, 6, in the apartment he shared with them. He is being held on $2 million bail.

Where do you put a 14-year-old boy accused of murdering his father and younger brother? Not among other juvenile offenders, a Kootenai County judge said Wednesday.

Where do you put a 14-year-old boy accused of murdering his father and younger brother? Not among other juvenile offenders, a Kootenai County judge said today.

An Arizona man wounded in a gunbattle with North Idaho police on June 22 has been released fromt he hospital and booked into the Kootenai County Jail.

The turbulent return of hydroplane racing on Lake Coeur d’Alene has met an unmovable obstacle in the path of this summer’s Diamond Cup. Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger gave a firm thumbs down Tuesday to a water event permit for the Labor Day races after Diamond Cup officials failed to meet a list of requirements, including insurance, service contracts and securing other permits.

Hydroplane race organizers are asking the Kootenai County sheriff to reconsider his decision denying a water event permit for the Diamond Cup over Labor Day weekend.