Scott Maben

A $32.7 million bond measure to renovate some of the oldest schools in the Coeur d’Alene School District was embraced by voters Tuesday night. The measure, which requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, received 71 percent yes votes.

A $32.7 million bond measure to renovate some of the oldest schools in the Coeur d’Alene School District was embraced by voters tonight.

KELLOGG – A Colorado man riding in a gondola during the weekend’s Brewsfest at Silver Mountain Resort apparently fell to his death, authorities said Monday. Dylan T. Crosby, 26, reportedly had climbed out a small side window of the gondola car he was in despite being warned repeatedly by a companion to get back inside, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.

Idaho’s unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent in July, a three-year low. It’s down from 7.7 percent in June, the Idaho Department of Labor said today.

A controversial advanced learning program for high school students will be pulled from the Coeur d’Alene School District. The school board voted 4-0 Monday night to end the district’s affiliation with International Baccalaureate, an optional course of rigorous study intended to give students a deeper understanding of world affairs and help them prepare for college.

A controversial advanced learning program for high school students will be pulled from the Coeur d’Alene School District.

Some of the oldest, most outdated schools in Coeur d’Alene will be renovated over the next three years if voters in the Coeur d’Alene School District approve a $32.7 million bond measure this month. It’s one of three school measures on the Aug. 28 ballot in Kootenai County. Lakeland Joint School District is seeking voter approval of a five-year maintenance levy, and Kootenai Joint School District is proposing a $2 million bond measure to upgrade its wastewater system.

A new interchange scheduled to open this year on Interstate 90 near the Idaho-Washington border could revive commercial development around Cabela’s starting next year. The outdoor recreation megastore has been something of a lone wolf since it opened in 2007, with only Wal-Mart moving into its territory in 2010.

Boys & Girls Club of Kootenai County will be able to finish its new building in Post Falls and put away extra money for programs following a big fundraiser this week at the lakefront home of Duane and Lola Hagadone. The club raised $501,000 Tuesday night at an auction hosted by the hospitality and publishing magnate and his wife at their Casco Bay estate on Lake Coeur d’Alene. That pushed the fundraising well past the $1.3 million goal for the 10,000-square-foot building under construction next to the Post Falls Library.

Six weeks after announcing hydroplane racing would return to Lake Coeur d’Alene this summer, organizers said Friday they need more time to line up sponsors for the Diamond Cup and have postponed it a year. The Coeur d’Alene Diamond Cup hydroplane event planned for Labor Day weekend will be pushed back to the same weekend in 2013, said Doug Miller, Diamond Cup president. That gives organizers enough time to sign new sponsors and ensure logistics run smoothly, Miller said.

Work could begin as early as next spring on a major street realignment to relieve traffic congestion in downtown Sandpoint. The Idaho Transportation Board on Thursday voted to expedite the $7.5 million project, known as “The Curve.” The state will build a more direct, graceful route for U.S. 2 through the city’s core.

We are drawn into the rivers and lakes to relax, explore, cool off. And every year, lives are lost in trade. Unseen hazards, poor swimmers and bad decisions add to the toll from drowning in the Spokane River, Lake Coeur d’Alene and other popular waters of the Inland Northwest.