Susan Drumheller

Learning together Jung Joo reads with Jessica Wiese in Mary Godbout's second-grade class at Bryan Elementary Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

For less than $10 million, officials in Lakeland School District are planning to build another junior high school, make improvements to nearly all other schools in the district, start a hot lunch program and purchase more property. All that can be accomplished without raising the district's bond levy rate, officials said Monday.

Schools all over Kootenai County are planning new ways to fit in more students. Some schools in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene already house far more students than they were designed to hold. The Lakeland School District is only a couple of years away from a similar squeeze.

Parents are right to be concerned about deviant sexual behavior in the schools, because it's a growing problem, experts say. But parents in Post Falls may have overreacted to recent rumors that a young sex offender is transferring to Prairie View Elementary School.

Treacherous roads. An Idaho state trooper and a firefighter examine the scene of a fatal accident on state Highway 41 Wednesday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The subject of juvenile sex offenders consumed a good portion of the Prairie View Parent-Teacher Organization's regular meeting Monday. In attendance were a half-dozen parents concerned about a rumor that a suspected sex offender may be transferring into the school. The rumors reached near-hysterical levels last week until school and law enforcement officials announced that no one charged or convicted of a crime was transferring into the district.

Greg Johnson discusses options with a mother. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Some families are beset with such a myriad of problems - homelessness, unemployment, substance abuse - that they fear they'll never escape. Lacking a support network and unsure of how to escape their predicaments, they often are too discouraged to apply for help.

Parents are circulating a rumor in Post Falls that an 11-year-old sex offender from Spokane is transferring to Prairie View Elementary School. But a Spokane County sheriff's official said the parents are going off "half-cocked." "They've started a flame and they've fanned that flame, and it starts vigilantism," said Sgt. Ron Etheridge of the Spokane County Sheriff's Department.

Post Falls school officials are hoping three is the magic number for bond levy attempts. The school board agreed Tuesday night to go ahead with plans for a $15.8 million bond election in March to build a new high school.

Coeur d'Alene High School Human Equality Club president Steve Steading discusses Martin Luther King Jr. Day last Friday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Spirit Lake will be the location of a new junior high school if the Lakeland School District is successful in a proposed spring bond election. The school board agreed in a Thursday night workshop to hold a bond election March 19 for the new school and classroom additions for other schools.

The Post Falls School District is proposing to add more portable classrooms in the short term and build a $16 million high school in the long term to handle its bulging student population. The school district administration made the recommendations at Monday's school board meeting, but the school trustees aren't expected to make a decision until the end of the month. Superintendent Richard Harris suggested holding a bond election on March 26 with two proposals on a "menu" ballot:

Parents of children living in the Wolf Lodge Bay area have accused a 15-year-old Coeur d'Alene student of sexually and physically abusing children on the school bus. The Kootenai County Sheriff's Department began investigating the allegations last week after children complained to their parents.

Nearly 170 acres worth of industrial and commercial development could get the initial OK at a planning and zoning meeting Tuesday night in Post Falls. Jacklin Land Co. is seeking preliminary approval to proceed on a 110-acre extension of Riverbend Commerce Park north of Interstate 90.

Susan Buckner helps kindergartner Cameron Gearry onto the bus that will take him from Ramsey Elementary to Hayden. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Overcrowding is the big issue facing the Post Falls School Board at its Monday meeting. As in Coeur d'Alene, the elementary and middle schools in Post Falls are rapidly running out of room, forcing parents and administrators to consider drastic solutions.

In a funeral chapel filled with the fragrance of flowers, more than 150 people bid Shannon Wilhelm farewell.

Dozens of parents, teachers and students witnessed the overthrow of the Coeur d'Alene school board's leadership Wednesday night. In a special meeting that school board Chairman Ken Burchell did not attend, three out of four attending board members voted to replace him with trustee Vern Newby.

1. Boning up on history. Despite rumors that men are buried in the basement of Wilson's, Mark Prim has only found old bottles. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Skeletons were found near the Dividend Building, now Dollar Rent-A-Car, which once housed a notorious saloon. Photo courtesy of the Museum of North Idaho

The police can't prevent kids from running away from home. The parks staff can't stop county residents from throwing their household garbage in park Dumpsters.

Scott and Connie Berger, with son, Nicholas, have a new appreciation of Christmas. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

They've driven the pothole-ridden streets of central Post Falls for years. They've complained about them for years, too.

Silverwood Theme Park employee Fred Grubb oversees the roller coaster project. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review