Susan Drumheller

An Amber Alert issued promptly after the alleged abduction of a 4-month-old North Idaho boy on Monday led directly to his recovery, according to law enforcement officials. "This is one case where it worked," said Shoshone County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Harris.

A Hayden man who prompted a 10-hour standoff after allegedly shooting a Kootenai County Sheriff's deputy last month was returned to jail on the charge of attempted murder following his preliminary court hearing Tuesday. Kootenai County Sheriff's Deputy Dennis Stinebaugh described during the hearing being shot by 48-year-old Daniel Deisz in Deisz's garage July 19.

Kootenai County is considering a $40 million expansion of its jail to hold an ever-growing inmate population. The expansion would be funded with revenue raised through continuation of a local-option half-cent sales tax, if approved by Kootenai County voters in November.

The 22-year-old Spokane man accused of killing two people in a head-on collision July 23 said he didn't have money to buy medication to prevent the seizure that prosecutors think caused the accident. That's what Kevin T. Culp told Idaho State Police Trooper Ron Sutton the day after the collision that killed Henrietta E. Lewis, 40, and Tonia M. Lewis, 30, both of Spokane Valley. Injured in the crash were four other passengers in the minivan driven by Henrietta Lewis, including a 9-month-old baby, Ebin Lewis, who remains at Sacred Heart Medical Center in serious condition.

Shasta Groene and a 12-year-old girl allegedly assaulted by her father, as well as other potential child sex abuse victims could benefit from a daylong event slated for Saturday at the Coeur d'Alene Greyhound Park. The event, called Protect the Innocence, is both a fund-raiser for two of Kootenai County's high profile sex-abuse victims and also a lobbying effort designed to strengthen state laws to protect children.

Shasta Groene and a 12-year-old girl allegedly assaulted by her father as well as other potential child sex abuse victims could benefit from a daylong event slated for Saturday at the Coeur d'Alene Greyhound Park. The event, called Protect the Innocence, is both a fund-raiser for two of Kootenai County's high profile sex-abuse victims and also a lobbying effort designed to strengthen state laws to protect children.

Lyssa Saunders, the infant who survived the July 29 car wreck that killed the rest of her family, was back in intensive care following surgery Wednesday to relieve pressure on her brain. Meanwhile, the man accused of killing her family by driving drunk, was released from the Boundary County Jail on Wednesday morning on a reduced bond.

Lyssa Saunders, the infant who survived the July 29 car wreck that killed the rest of her family, is back in intensive care following surgery Wednesday to relieve pressure on her brain. Meanwhile, the man accused of killing her family by driving drunk, was released from the Boundary County Jail Wednesday morning on a reduced bond.

Sheriff Rocky Watson's frustrations with the statewide Amber Alert system are still ripe two months after the abduction of the Groene children put it to the test. Sheriff's officials requested an Amber Alert in the early morning of May 17, but it took nearly seven hours for information on the missing children to reach local broadcasters, according to Watson.

Apparently despondent over his upcoming sentencing for a felony child molestation charge, Benjamin N. Wright killed himself with a handgun at home last week, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department. Wright, 26, was discovered Thursday afternoon by his mother in their Athol, Idaho, home, according to Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

A settlement agreement between Kootenai County's insurer and former Juvenile Education and Training Court coordinator Marina Kalani is a closed document, a district court judge has ruled. But an affidavit that may disclose the reasons for the $70,000 payout to Kalani should be opened, he ruled.

Pilot error appears to be the cause of a small plane crash in the mountains west of Bonners Ferry that left one man in critical condition, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Pilot Jacob Bushnell of Porthill, Idaho, was flying a single-engine airplane up a canyon at a low altitude Sunday and was unable to gain altitude fast enough to clear the trees, said Debra Eckrote, an investigator for the NTSB in Seattle.

Bonner County is in the middle of a land rush and its primary planning document that guides development is 26 years old. That document, the comprehensive plan, is being updated and the new version is nearing adoption by the County Commissioners.

Opponents of a controversial highway bypass through Sandpoint have filed suit against the Federal Highway Administration and the Idaho Department of Transportation to try to stop the project. The North Idaho Community Action Network filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Boise challenging the Sand Creek Byway project, a bypass designed to route through traffic around downtown Sandpoint.

Cruisers, a "drive-through" bar and grill for hot rods and motorbikes at Stateline, Idaho, has an outlet for people who want to help Shasta Groene and exercise their animosity toward her alleged kidnapper. On Sunday, Cruisers will be selling tickets for people to swing a sledgehammer into a totaled car donated by Spalding Auto Parts, said Cruisers owner Sheri Herberholz.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire that burned developer Marshall Chesrown's 12,000-square-foot Black Rock Ranch home to the ground Sunday. The Idaho state fire marshal and St. Maries Fire Protection District Chief Larry Naccarato spent most of Monday looking for clues to explain the massive fire that turned the two-story log home into a pile of smoldering debris.

Fearful of being sent back to prison, a Boundary County man swallowed half an ounce to an ounce of methamphetamine while waiting inside a car during a traffic stop last weekend, family members said Monday. Dale Allen Young, 42, wound up in jail anyway Friday night after being arrested by Bonners Ferry police on a drug possession charge. He then died Saturday morning of an apparent drug overdose, according to the Boundary County Sheriff.

A 23-year-old Post Falls man accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Coeur d'Alene's City Park on Monday is being held on a $1 million bond. Daniel Lee Dixon made his first appearance in court Tuesday on two felony charges – lewd conduct with a child under 16 and kidnapping, and misdemeanor charges – enticing children, possession of drug paraphernalia and malicious injury to property.