Displaced in Idaho
Judy Bittner reluctantly leaves her temporary cabin at Heybrun State Park. She hasn't been able to find permanent shelter since being displaced by floods in February. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review
An orange-and-white cable blocks access to the Post Falls boat launch, but that didn't keep people out of the water there over the Memorial Day holiday.
Sheriff's deputies told several people to get out of the river for fear they'd be sucked into the gaping maw of the Post Falls dam.
Stuck in traffic after the demolition, some people used the time to play on the sidewalk. From bottom left are Alex Gauper, 6, Laura Sanborn, 10, Carol Gauper, Linsey Gauper, 9, and Henry Sanborn, 5. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review
The Army Corps of Engineers is offering a free workshop on river mechanics for people interested in how flood waters affect land in the flood plain.
The workshop is geared toward landowners in the flood plains, policy makers such as county commissioners, political representatives and professionals who work with river mechanics to a limited extent.
One candidate promotes family values despite a trail of court records that raise questions about his marital fidelity.
The incumbent has trouble grasping the magnitude of the state budget.
DEQ hudrogeologist Brian Painter checks the depth of a well that will be used to remove tricholoroethylene threatening the acuifer. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review
1. Fire in the hole. A member of the Lucky Friday Mine rescue team assesses a fire obstacle Saturday during a rescue competition. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review
2. The Lucky Friday team makes its way down the final stretch of the disaster drill.
Unusually high nitrate levels have been found in two private wells south of the Spokane river near Post Falls during a state investigation, according to the Division of Environmental Quality.
Last week, the DEQ announced that two public water systems - the South River Water Association and the Parkview Water Association - were contaminated with high nitrate levels.
Last year, 14 people died in recreational boating accidents in Idaho.
That figure is four times the national per capita average.
With an estimated 400,000 people taking to Idaho's lakes and rivers this summer, the state Parks and Recreation Department is anxious to avoid a repeat of last year's deaths.
A letter promising flood relief brought sighs of relief Friday from officials in North Idaho counties.
Gov. Phil Batt officially informed the 10 northern counties that the state will assume their costs from damage caused by the disastrous February 9 flood.
Two community water systems south of Post Falls are not healthy for some residents to use as drinking water, state officials said Friday.
The South River Water Association and Parkview Water Association customers were advised Friday to find alternative drinking water sources for infants and pregnant women.
An army of federal emergency workers descended on North Idaho two months ago to lend aid to families, businesses and communities caught in the floodwaters.
The 180-strong flood-relief force set up shop in an abandoned two-story office building on Ironwood Drive, filling it with phones, forms, fax machines and computers.
The flood waters have receded, but emotions still are running high in parts of the Panhandle.
That was evident during a Friday morning meeting of 35 people from government agencies, environmental groups, and others involved in fighting February's disastrous flood.
A group of lakeside Samaritans is seeking ways to pay for upkeep of the Centennial Trail along Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive.
The new million-dollar parkway, with its exercise stations, restrooms, picnic tables, boat launch, docks and paved trail, is at risk of being orphaned by the state and falling into disrepair.
Waterfront property owners don't have free rein with their shorelines, despite a recent court ruling that lowered Lake Coeur d'Alene's official high water mark.
First District Court Judge Craig Kosonen ruled April 19 that the "ordinary and high water mark" of the lake is 2,121, not 2,128, as the state has claimed for years.
No room at the put-in. Cameron Nevins launches his boat at the Third Street dock. A proposal may limit commercial activity at the dock. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review <
As the flood waters sank back into the banks of the Coeur d'Alene River on Friday, Cataldo resident Vern Blalack was able to turn his attention home.
As a result of Wednesday's rainstorm, the water table rose, flooding some residential basements, including the Blalack's.
