Scott Maben

A 12-year-old boy in southwest Afghanistan is attending school, playing soccer and helping around his home with the aid of a prosthetic leg he received this year during a three-month stay in the Inland Northwest. Rahim – his full name and hometown are not revealed – was reunited with his family in late August after spending the summer with a Coeur d’Alene host family.

For a room where hundreds may be on the phone at once, it’s surprisingly serene on the floor of the US Bank Service Center in Coeur d’Alene. Seated here in a labyrinth of beige cubicles are the people on the other end of the line when you call about that credit card balance. The Inland Northwest is home to more than 20 call centers, with a total employment averaging about 3,000 this year in Kootenai and Spokane counties.

The stench of burning military waste in Iraq and Afghanistan – poisonous pollutants suspected of causing serious health problems for returning soldiers – has influenced a Coeur d’Alene man’s decision to pursue a career in environmental contamination. Jacob Odekirk, 24, is a Marine Corps combat veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and 2009 for a total of 14 months. He is one of thousands of service members exposed to the acrid smoke from open-air burn pits and left wondering if they’ll get sick from it one day.

Police and school officials across the Inland Northwest reacted cautiously to the idea of armed officers in every school, saying they’ll watch how the proposal plays out in Congress but warning that solutions to school violence are more complex. “It sort of takes my breath away,” said Coeur d’Alene School District Superintendent Hazel Bauman. “And yet, to some extent in our secondary schools we’re already doing that.”

Idaho State Police seize 120 lbs. of pot in I-90 stop

Episcopal priests soon will be authorized to perform church weddings for gay couples in Washington – the latest example of the American branch of Anglicanism striving to be more inclusive and diverse. On Friday, a day after the first same-sex couples received marriage licenses in Spokane County, the top leader of the Episcopal Church arrived in Spokane to begin a three-day swing through the Inland Northwest.

A Coeur d’Alene mathematics teacher who embraces technology in the classroom and carves out extra time for struggling students was named the 2013 Idaho Teacher of the Year in a surprise assembly Thursday morning at Canfield Middle School. Katie Pemberton, in her eighth year of teaching, was presented a $1,000 check from the state Department of Education and will receive a free trip to Washington, D.C., to meet President Barack Obama as the state’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.

A Coeur d’Alene mathematics teacher who embraces technology in the classroom and carves out lots of time for her students was named Idaho Teacher of the Year in a surprise assembly at Canfield Middle School this morning.

Concerned about the weak economy and taxpayer fatigue, the Coeur d’Alene School Board is considering lowering the amount of the school district’s supplemental tax levy, which comes up for renewal in March. Doing so would compound a serious budget shortfall – estimated at between $2 million and $3 million – for the coming school year due to declining income tax and sales tax revenues in Idaho.

With mounds of blingy jeans under a pink Christmas tree, the boutique women’s clothing store Vivo threw open its doors at the stroke of midnight Friday – as did about two-thirds of the retailers at Spokane Valley Mall. The throng assembled in the corridors may have numbered 1,000 or more, from what Jen Mitchell, Vivo’s district manager, could see.

Leasa Harmon is pursuing a new career guided by advice that may sound illogical, if not reckless, in a job market that remains erratic and scarce of opportunity. The Coeur d’Alene woman is following her heart instead of choosing one of the paths with the greatest potential for job growth.

The biggest and brightest holiday display around is back, bigger, brighter – and greener – than ever. The Coeur d’Alene Resort Holiday Light Show begins Friday evening with a scream of fireworks and a flip of the switch on 1.5 million lights. About 250 displays will be illuminated nightly until Jan. 1.