Susan Drumheller

RATHDRUM, Idaho – A bomb scare closed down state Highway 41 and a gas station mini-mart for much of Tuesday afternoon and evening following the discovery of a suspicious package outside the store. The package was detonated by a Spokane bomb squad shortly before 7 p.m. and found to be empty.

Nearly all students and employees at Coeur d'Alene High School were tested for tuberculosis Monday during a massive clinic set up by Panhandle Health District. Public health officials planned a two-day clinic to test everyone at the school after health workers confirmed last week that a hospitalized Coeur d'Alene High student has tuberculosis.

Friends of the arts gave scathing reviews of a state proposal to add more math and science credits to high school graduation requirements at a packed public hearing Wednesday night at North Idaho College. Nearly 200 people – including many students and educators – attended the hearing, the last in the state, on the Accelerated Learning Task Force's plan. The proposal calls for increasing high school math requirements from two years to four and science from two years to three, and mandating that students choose a career focus and take college entrance exams.

When Hurricane Katrina came calling at the Gulf Coast a month and a half ago, she brought more than devastating winds, a catastrophic storm surge, death and utter chaos. She also brought along love bugs.

PRIEST LAKE, Idaho – State legislators on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee got a sneak preview of agency budget requests for the next fiscal year during their tour of North Idaho this week. At a workshop Wednesday morning at Elkins Resort, legislative budget analysts shared with lawmakers requests from the state's largest departments: education, corrections, health and welfare, and higher education.

Kim Matzke has an early Christmas present to send to the National Guard soldiers serving in northern Iraq. Actually, she has 302 boxes to send – and she needs a little help with the postage.

Sim Man doesn't have a lot of personality. But he does have a heartbeat, albeit fake.

Dr. Leanne Rousseau, medical director at the Dirne Community Health Center, was presented the Bob LeBow Award for Exemplary Service Tuesday by the Idaho Primary Care Association. Before the Dirne clinic received a federal grant to become a federally funded community health center, it operated as a free clinic a couple of nights a week, staffed by volunteers.

BONNERS FERRY, Idaho – A Boundary County man charged with vehicular manslaughter confessed that he was drinking and driving the day of the accident, after initially denying it, an Idaho State Police trooper testified Friday. Luke Peterson, 26, is charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of aggravated DUI in the deaths of 21-year-old Tabitha C. Saunders, her fiance, Bart Bartron, 24, and their 2-year-old daughter, Kjestine Saunders.

BONNERS FERRY, Idaho – A Boundary County man charged with vehicular manslaughter confessed that he was drinking the day of the accident, an Idaho State Police trooper testified Friday. Luke Peterson, 26, is charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of aggravated DUI in the deaths of 21-year-old Tabitha C. Saunders; her fiance, Bart Bartron, 24; and their 2-year-old daughter, Kjestine Saunders.

Visitors to the BNSF Railway refueling depot last week were surprised to learn that the railroad had found an inch-thick sheen of petroleum products on top of the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer. The layer of fuel and oil was said to be about 15 feet in diameter, and was the result of last year's depot spill, said Barry Rosenberg of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, who attended the tour.