Susan Drumheller

Ilsa Burmeister with her daughter, Sammy, feels like she and her family are prepared for future floods at their home along the Coeur d'Alene River. The family raised the foundation of their home 12 feet. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Sheets from yellow legal pads littered the table in the operations center Wednesday at Kootenai Electric Cooperative. Operations manager Gene Pope sat at one end, with a telephone and a dispatch radio receiver on either ear, juggling crisis after crisis.

A media blitz to gain sympathy for jet boat operators is raising the ire of rafting outfitters, Hells Canyon preservationists and the U.S. Forest Service. Members of the Hells Canyon Alliance, which represents power boat interests, traveled through North Idaho this week to drum up opposition to a plan that limits power boats in the most popular section of Hells Canyon.

1. Dan and Jana Evans pile their destroyed bushes at the Spokane incinerator. "They were flattened" by Tuesday's ice storm, Jana Evans said. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Paul Lanning, right, and Ken Smith get supplies from the Spokane Food Bank. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 3. Eve Vines steps over her son Timothy, 3, as she tries to get the family's wash done at an East Sprague laundry Saturday. "I haven't done this since I was in college," said Vines, who lost her electricity Tuesday. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 4. Richard Heinzen clears a tree from his house in the 1000 block of West Shannon on Saturday. The locust tree fell against the roof during the ice storm. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Kootenai Medical Center was swamped with victims of the region's ice storm. But the influx was less from the injured and the ailing. Instead, the hospital was flooded with the hungry and the cold.

Assessor Tom Moore's deathbed political conversion does not hold legal weight, according to a written opinion issued Monday by Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas. Moore, who was serving his fourth term as Kootenai County assessor, died Nov. 12 after a long battle with cancer.

The Board of Health and Welfare on Friday rejected an appeal from the Idaho Conservation League to add eight more streams to a list of 18 nominated as "outstanding resource waters." Among the streams rejected for special protection were North Idaho's upper St. Joe River, White Sand Creek, a tributary of the Lochsa River, and Kelly-Cayuse Creeks.

Decked out in rain slickers from head to toe, rescue workers from Harrison looked like overgrown children as they took turns playing with a Hovercraft Thursday. The red Hovercraft, with its ballooning neoprene nylon skirt, resembled a big bumper car as emergency medical technicians zoomed around the parking area of the Rainy Hill boat launch.

In 1994, only half of the 2-year-olds in Idaho were getting the immunizations they needed. A rash of whooping cough and a newly launched volunteer program helped boost immunization rates in 1995 to 61 percent.

A mysterious virus attacked elderly residents of the Camlu Apartments recently, making some senior citizens so ill they were hospitalized. About 30 of the 70 tenants of the retirement apartment complex came down with vomiting and diarrhea in the past two weeks, prompting alarmed administrators to call health officials.

Steep thrills. Terry Gosline of Pinehurst, Idaho, enjoys the snow after making his way to Lookout Pass Ski Area at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Murky problem. Hayden Lake firefighters pump out approximately 150,000 gallons of water to flush the Avondale water system. Several North Idaho water systems have had problems with bacteria. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Suspected burglar Stephen D. Foraker apparently thought his victims were an easy target. The newspapers on the doorstep of Michael J. Smith's Post Falls home were a "dead giveaway" that no one was home, Foraker told Post Falls Police Detective Dave Beck recently, according to police.

Larry Kenck, right, District 2 Democratic challenger, greets Don Heikkila at the Democrats' party at the Iron Horse on Tuesday evening. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho races The faces in Idaho's statewide political landscape changed little Tuesday, and voters appeared reluctant to change much else, judging by the failure of most ballot initiatives. Sen. Larry Craig handily trounced challenger Walt Minnick, who failed to overcome Craig's strong GOP support.

Feeling spry again 1. Retired millworker Ray Hansen suffers from the constant pain of rheumatoid arthritis. He participated in an experimental drug program and says the pain eased and his joints loosened up. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Dr. Craig Wiesenhutter

Kootenai County mail clerk carries an armload of absentee ballots Friday. The ballots will be logged in and placed in a locked box until election day. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The motto of the Central Shoshone County Water District is "From snowflakes to pure water via dependable distribution systems." Overall, the district lives up to the motto. The water, which is filtered from Big Creek and McFarren Creek, normally is quite good.

Voters in District 2 can't go wrong if they're looking for a candidate who will champion North Idaho interests. All the candidates in the Senate and House races are in general agreement on the need for strong representation from the Panhandle. Where they disagree are on environmental and labor issues.

Six candidates in District 4 are battling for voters in their three-county district. In the Senate race, doctor and entrepreneur Jack Riggs has run an aggressive campaign to push 12-year Democrat incumbent Mary Lou Reed out of office.

November 2, 1996, page B3, Idaho edition: CHALLENGERS ATTACK SHOSHONE SHERIFF In the race for Shoshone County sheriff, most of the campaign revolves around the record of incumbent Dan Schierman. While his challengers question his management, Schierman says he's improved relations with other law enforcement agencies and improved the tools and training for deputies. Write-in candidate Larry Irvine blames most of the department's turnover on Schierman's poor management. Independent candidate Tim Castle also questions whether employees are happy with Schierman. "He is spending a tremendous amount of money training officers who wind up working for other police agencies," Castle said. Those criticisms of Schierman were attributed inadvertently to county Commissioner Jim Vergobbi in an article that appeared in Thursday's Election '96 voters guide.

Work on the St. Joe River Road started Monday after Shoshone County officials received a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put fill material on the river's flood plain. About 1,000 people who were worried that conservation groups might stop the work signed a petition urging the county, the Corps and other agencies to move forward with the project.

Two political newcomers hope to return Shoshone County to its tradition as a Democratic stronghold on Nov. 5. Challenging the two District 4 Republican incumbents - who narrowly won their seats in the 1994 election - are Don Heikkila and Larry Watson.

Jack Riggs isn't afraid of trying something new, and he hopes the voters in Legislative District 4 aren't either. Riggs is taking on veteran lawmaker Mary Lou Reed in the general election, and is counting on some voter discontent to sweep her out of office.