Ward Sanderson

Vernon Baker, who threw out the first pitch in the Spokane Indians opener earlier this month, is a member of the Idaho Hall of Fame. File/The Spokesman-Review

The families of a Moscow couple are rallying for the maximum sentence for the drunken driver who ran a stop sign and smashed into the couple's station wagon, killing them and their baby. Douglas Dixon, 36, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter after that October 1996 wreck. But the parents of the victims, Dennis and Kristina Barnett, are worried the Adams County prosecutor will recommend just a three-year sentence. The families see that as a slap on the wrist.

1. Prepare for takeoff. Paul Harding helps Tony Workman prepare his J3 Cub model aircraft for the Sport Scale Division context Sunday at Farragut State Park. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review 2. An Extra 300s model is protected from the rain.

Joe Brown, Jack O'Brien and Jerry Sprouse prepare a platform for the jungle gym. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

This South Side cul-de-sac is an unlikely place to see venomous hate graffiti. But Friday afternoon, neighbors living at 64th and Regal stepped outside to see swastikas sprayed on four road signs. Another was painted in the street. And "Welcome 2 Nazi Court," "White Power" and a threatening racial epithet were scrawled on the sidewalk in green paint. Residents are sickened, saddened and a little scared. None would give his or her name for this story.

Bottles, plastic bags and empty cups litter the shoreline of Fernan Lake. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

The new AmeriTel Inn should open today, after a fire code wrangle delayed the project and almost resulted in a lawsuit. The $3 million, 118-room hotel was scheduled to open June 2. But the city denied its owners an occupancy permit. When an attorney for the Boise-based chain threatened a suit, the city granted the company a temporary occupancy permit.

The highway district here is asking police to dry up an annual summer scourge: annoying sprinklers. "Water over the roadway is a misdemeanor crime," said Sgt. Ray Danly of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department. "I know it's an irritation, and a lot of people complain about water hitting their vehicles."

The body of a Montana man was found by boaters on Lake Pend Oreille, Bonner County's coroner confirmed Sunday. Brandon Short, 39, died June 4 when a truck he was driving plunged through a wood-planked bridge on Derr Island. Short was swept away by the flood-swollen Clark Fork River and into the lake. About 2 p.m. Saturday, Bonner County marine deputies pulled Short's body from the water in the Pearl Island area near Hope, Coroner Dale Coffelt said.

No walk in the park. Participants in the Post Falls Biathlon start the first leg of the race through the park Sunday morning. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Three people were trapped for an hour inside a downtown elevator Saturday afternoon. Two women and a child were using an elevator at Riverpark Square when it stopped just before 2 p.m. They tried using the alarm buzzer, but no help arrived. One of the women then used her cellular telephone to call the fire department. The parking garage staff who are responsible for monitoring the alarm didn't hear it, fire Lt. Bruce Moline said. It took firefighters and an elevator technician about an hour to rescue the people.

Most people don't realize it: A speeding train takes a mile to stop. Cars in the way end up like recycled pop cans. Pedestrians fare even worse. "We'll find the car in two or three pieces, and two or three pieces of the victim," said Sgt. C.R. Kaffenberger of the Idaho State Police. "And in most cases, there isn't any damage to the train."

Spirit Lake makes the grade as modern when the roads are paved this summer. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Early Tuesday morning this bear was raoming at the Post Falls Factory Outlets mall. Photo courtesy of Post Falls Police.

The Shoshone County Sheriff's Department is looking for Mike Brown - the stepson of George Saunders, a Pinehurst, Idaho, man whose body was found Saturday in the woods north of Enaville, Idaho. Saunders, 54, had been missing since Nov. 14. He and Brown were on a hunting trip in the Coeur d'Alene River drainage when their truck rolled down an embankment, Brown had told police. Then Saunders supposedly left the truck to look for help. Brown said that when Saunders never returned, he left, too, winding up at the Enaville Resort the day after the wreck.

1. The third time Lloyd Babin was shot down by the Nazis during World War II was no charm. He spent a year in a POW camp before escaping in a cart carrying the dead. Only recently has he been able to discuss his experiences. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review 2. Babin's POW card from his capture by Germans during World War II.

It was still a little chilly, still a little windy. The sea gulls kept getting blown off course. Driftwood was strewn across the beach. But the sun was trying its best Sunday, shining brightly over the Lake City and luring its hardier worshippers outside. After last week's tornados, a breeze didn't seem like a big deal.

Entrepreneurship isn't about pinstripes and Porsches. It's about hard work, and lots of it, business owners told a group of high-achieving high school sophomores on Saturday. "Entrepreneurs bring passion to what they do," said Jill Smith, owner of Buckeye Beans and Herbs - a $7 million company she started with a friend 15 years ago. The 80 students attending the annual Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation seminar at Gonzaga University were nominated by principals from across Eastern and Central Washington.

Damage control. Electrical workers Randy Mann and Doug Balzer from Mountain Power Contractors of Post Falls work on a damaged powerline on Highway 57 just outside of Priest River on Monday. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

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1. Above, Para Draine from Spokane knocks Delores Lira into the ropes during the "Unfinished Business" fight May 14 at the House of Fury in the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's casino in Worley, Idaho. Photos by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. At right, boxing fans Tom Connolly, Carlos Ferreira and Marc Musgrove cheer on fighters during a May 14 bout. The fights have drawn so many fans from across the region that the tribe is planning to open a 3,000-seat arena in March 1998. 3. Rick Welliver from Spokane and Shawn Elliot from Portland duke it out during a May 14 match at the Coeur d'Alene tribal casino. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 4. Spokane's Frank Vassar has been one of the most popular draws. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Marathon kiss. Steve Bell gets a finisher's kiss Sunday from his wife, Karen Bell, after running the Coeur d'Alene Marathon, his 18th marathon. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Hoping to wrap their collective arms around welfare reform, church members and clergy have organized a public meeting with state officials. It's part of a new and necessary trend of private charities picking up where the state will soon leave off.

While hundreds of parents and children explore the playground, volunteer carpenters Bud Brisson Jr. and Tim Durkin do finish work Monday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review