Scott Maben

SpongeBob robber sentenced to 13 years

Monitoring electricity use will be faster and easier for Inland Power and Light and its members after the Spokane-based utility upgrades all 39,000 meters across its service area next year. The nonprofit cooperative picked Liberty Lake-based Itron Inc. to supply the advanced meters and Tantalus, a North Carolina company, to provide the “smart grid” communications equipment.

Kootenai County commissioners opted against voting Tuesday on a proposed ordinance declaring all federal gun laws invalid and directing the sheriff to prevent enforcement of such laws. “Ultimately it’s not enforceable,” county Prosecutor Barry McHugh said of the proposal from the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

Animal authorities on Sunday impounded one of two pit bulls that mortally wounded a Spokane family’s dog last week and were working to verify that the second pit bull had died from injuries in the attack. Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service declared the pit bull dangerous and will keep it at its shelter as the owner weighs its options under state law. Those include registering the dog as dangerous, which requires it to be kept in a secure kennel, and surrendering it to be euthanized.

Hagadone Hospitality Co. has the go-ahead to remove trees, realign the Centennial Trail and make other changes in front of the Coeur d’Alene Resort early next year. The Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission voted Tuesday night to approve the company’s proposal to modify the planned unit development for the lakefront resort, which includes about 2 acres of open space available for public use.

Hagadone Hospitality Co. is pursuing a major makeover of the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s front entrance, collaborating with the city of Coeur d’Alene on plans that include moving the Centennial Trail closer to city streets, removing street trees, enlarging the landscaped area and eliminating some parking spaces. The proposal, which goes before the Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission tonight, dovetails with city plans to reconfigure vehicle access to the 6.5-acre resort and close a section of Front Avenue to auto traffic. The work would be done next spring.

Clark Allen Peterson is more than just a devoted fan of tabletop role-playing fantasy games. He has been an entrepreneur and publisher who mentors game designers, heralds product releases from a company he founded, judges design competitions and posts online comments about the intricacies of this make-believe world of monsters, mythical creatures, magic and good vs. evil.

With the national media spotlight on them, two Gonzaga University roommates put on school probation for violating a weapons policy said they’ll appeal the sanction. Seniors Erik Fagan and Daniel McIntosh faced suspension or expulsion after one of them chased an aggressive intruder from their apartment at gunpoint. Instead, they’ll remain on probation for the rest of their time at Gonzaga, the university informed them Sunday by letter.

Moderates and progressives are leading in the Coeur d’Alene mayor and City Council races, preliminary results show.

Coeur d’Alene voters passed over a slate of hard-line conservatives and elected moderate or left-leaning candidates for mayor and City Council on Tuesday. Business owner Steve Widmyer will take over as mayor Jan. 7. He easily beat longtime City Hall critic Mary Souza 56 percent to 43 percent.

Coeur d’Alene’s history and literary life – yes, it has a literary life – will be featured on C-SPAN in December. A production team from the public affairs TV network will be in the Lake City next week to visit literary and historic sites and interview local historians, authors and civic leaders. Details will be revealed Monday at a kickoff event with Mayor Sandi Bloem at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.

Coeur d’Alene’s history and literary life – yes, it has literary life – will be featured on C-SPAN in December.

The school district serving the Sandpoint area is no longer considering a proposal to arm teachers and other staff members as a security measure, the superintendent said. There is little support among the district staff for such a measure, and the board of trustees is divided on the idea, Lake Pend Oreille School District Superintendent Shawn Woodward said.

ISP dash cam shows officers warning motorist to drop gun before firing

The school district serving the Sandpoint area is no longer considering a proposal to arm teachers and other staff members as a security measure, the superintendent said.

Nine metal emblems representing military branches and colleges have been pried off monuments in Kootenai County in the past two weeks.