Susan Drumheller

Parents of elementary students in Spirit Lake and Athol want a place where their kids can go to get out of the rain during recess. Garwood Elementary teacher Debbie Shepherd wants a bigger room for her 20 students, who are now crammed into a space half the size of a regular classroom.

1. Looking for dope. K-9 officer Glenn Johnson of Rathdrum searches a Jeep owned by Lake City High student Mike Stevens. Stevens' rig came up clean. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Rhonda Williams, mother of student Rachel Cleavinger, discusses the drug raid with Coeur d'Alene High Principal Steve Casey. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review<

The developer of Riverbend Commerce Park is seeking special tax assistance under a new law tailor-made for Post Falls. Pat Leffel, manager of the business park owned by Jacklin Seed Co., requested Tuesday that the city's Urban Renewal Commission declare the Riverbend development a competitively disadvantaged area.

1. Making the grade. Students work in the recently opened school store at Kootenai Junior and Senior High. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Jeff Peterson works on a boot at Hoffman Boots, where he works about 15 hours a week. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

The school board voted this week to hold a May 21 election for a school facilities levy, but the action was not unanimous. Board member Ken Burchell cast the lone vote against the two-year property tax measure which would raise $9.5 million for a new middle school.

Faced with the prospects of a complex trial in April, state schools Superintendent Anne Fox and St. Vincent de Paul opted to settle their dispute out of court. The suit that Fox filed against the charity in 1994 was dismissed last week following the confidential settlement.

School officials overcame the first major obstacle to their proposed $10 million bond issue Monday when they won approval from health officials to expand Garwood Elementary School. At issue was the number of students the school district could put on Garwood school's septic system, which sits over the Rathdrum Aquifer.

1. The fictional tale "Behind the Lines" is based on the real-life adventures of Lt. Col. Wendell Fertig, above. 2. Pat Hudson and Tricia Forbes are the daughter and granddaughter of the famous Army Lt. Col. Wendell Fertig, who led the Philippine guerrilla army against the Japanese in World War II. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Problems at Leisure Park typify the pitfalls of homeowners associations. A group of residents in Post Falls' Riverside Harbor subdivision stumbled into similar woes. Both groups of homeowners have tried to wrest control of their neighborhoods from their subdivisions' developers.

Al Eborall is having a rocky time. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

North Idaho College is preparing to prove wrong anyone who considers history to be a dull subject. Next month, a dozen experts on famous people in history will bring those historical figures to life through dress and speech.

Builders may not like the idea of being forced to provide school facilities in new subdivisions, but they are open to other ideas on how to help ease school overcrowding, according to a local business group. On Wednesday, the North Idaho Building Contractor's Association is hosting a panel of school administrators that will discuss what the association can do to help schools. The association was among several business interests that have opposed a proposed amendment to the Post Falls land-use plan.

School administrators could not start a year-round schedule in Coeur d'Alene elementary schools by next school year, a committee studying elementary overcrowding concluded last week. The cost to go year-round would be about $200,000 per school. It would also require complex logistical arrangements to implement.

The addition of eight classrooms to Garwood Elementary School - a $600,000 portion of the Lakeland School District's proposed bond levy - is in jeopardy. School officials may have to negotiate with health officials if they want to add the classrooms to the school - even if the bond issue passes in March.

The mere mention of potholes Thursday was met with denial by public agencies around Kootenai County. "We don't have any," joked Herb Heisel, road supervisor with the Post Falls Highway District. A second later, he admitted that crews were out slinging cold asphalt mix in an attempt to save tires, brakes and wheel alignments.

With a limp, Rick Van Horn took the stand Wednesday to recall a car wreck more than a year ago that left three people injured and car parts scattered over two blocks of Harrison Avenue. He was testifying against Robert A. Thomas, 30, of Coeur d'Alene, who is charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. The charges resulted from a Jan. 6, 1995, accident that left Van Horn's sister, Vicky, in a coma for months.

Terry Baber, a volunteer with the Red Cross, stands outside the Coeur d'Alene office. Baber says a frustrated flood victim shot at her while she was in her car. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. Listen and learn. Middle schooler Miranda Fisher, left, practices listening as classmate Kristi Merch expresses some of her feelings during an exercise in a peer mediation class Friday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Norm Mahoney, who teaches peer mediation, led a special conflict resolution workshop Friday in Coeur d'Alene.

Public interests clashed Thursday as school and health officials tangled over whether to safeguard drinking water or add classrooms to a growing rural elementary school. The Lakeland School District wants permission to nearly double the capacity of Garwood Elementary School by adding seven classrooms. The school is not served by any municipal sewer system.

St. Pius Catholic Church parishioners will say goodbye this week to two of their own who were gunned down within days of each other. Teacher Leona "Lee" Caires and Ridpath Hotel waitress Marie Van Slate, both 49, were longtime members of the Catholic church in Coeur d'Alene.

After three public hearings, the city is about to reconstruct the makeshift intersection at Pleasantview Road and Fifth Avenue. The intersection serves the popular Flying J truck stop, McDonald's restaurant, the Watson & Associates Expo commercial development and several other businesses in the area.

You can't teach kids in an empty field, says Gus Johnson, Post Falls City Council member. The way the city's land-use plan is now written, Johnson worries that developers have a green light to build subdivisions without providing more than property for a school site.

Leona Caires

Steve and Leona Caires. Family photo