Winda Benedetti

Kevin Merwin, convicted pf causing the death of toddler Alexander Buss, reads a statement asking for mercy Friday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

They have been neighbors, co-workers, and, for 17 years, good friends. But now, Pierce Clegg and Karl Thompson are rivals. Each is vying to become the top law enforcement officer in Kootenai County.

When 85 Kootenai County sheriff's deputies decided to unionize, they landed in the middle of a political controversy. Whether they did so intentionally has become fodder in the race for Kootenai County sheriff.

Tom Stiner Sr. figured his wife would be upset when he didn't return home Sunday night. But with darkness settling over the forest, two sons nearing hypothermia and his truck an eight-mile hike away through the snow, the Post Falls man thought he'd better stay put. Sure enough, his wife did get scared - enough to call out the Kootenai County Search and Rescue. More than 30 people, a helicopter and a search dog combed the Fourth of July Pass area from 2 a.m. Monday until about 1:30 p.m. looking for the three elk hunters.

A Spokane man burned a pack and some of his clothing Sunday night to keep warm after he got lost in the North Idaho woods. William R. Stuart, 26, was hunting north of Prichard in the late afternoon when he started tracking a bull elk and got lost, according to a Shoshone County sheriff's report.

Heads bowed over the table, Matt Blackburn and Travis Levi diligently penned answers to questions on the job applications in front of them. Cook, custodian, heavy equipment operator - they'll take any job. Pay? Whatever they can get. To be honest, they said, work is the second thing on their minds as they filled out applications for Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

Kevin Merwin always has proclaimed his innocence. And on Wednesday, he did so again - trying to overturn a jury verdict that declared him guilty. "This decision was a very emotional one, not based on reason, ... not based on the law," Fred Loats, Merwin's attorney, told 1st District Judge James Judd at Wednesday's acquittal hearing.

1. Five years after. Firefighter Gordon Maxwell, diving over a fence in a race to escape a wall of flames in the Spokane Valley's Ponderosa neighborhood, became a symbol of Firestorm '91. 2. The firestorm claimed the life of volunteer Joe Upchurch when a front-end loader he was driving overturned. Upchurch family photo 3. A firefighter directs his crew near Newman Lake, Wash. File/The Spokesman-Review

Hunting season is only two days old and already one hunter is dead and another has been lost in the woods. Alan Inman, 45, of Fall City, Wash., died Thursday when his all-terrain vehicle rolled on top of him as he was driving through the woods to an elk he had killed.

Federico Cortez leaves the courtroom Tuesday after his sentencing. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

It's been 16 years since North Idaho was given an additional district court judge. Since that time, the number of criminal cases filed each year has almost quadrupled. It often takes well over a year for many civil cases to get to trial. And North Idaho judges now carry the heaviest case loads of any in the state.

Young American justice Alli Jester, Randy Cooper, Chris Schwartz and Carrie Berdine have participated in the Youth Court. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

GTE Northwest issued an apology Friday for breaking a gas line that caused the evacuation of hundreds of Coeur d'Alene residents earlier this week. On Wednesday, phone company workers were using a backhoe to dig in the area of Prairie Avenue and Franklin Street when they accidentally hit one of Washington Water Power's 4-inch gas lines.

They planned to stand on the front steps of every county courthouse across the state - boldly declaring the names of government officials illegally holding office. But the scheduled day came and went without a single "town crier" showing up in North Idaho last weekend.

Wayne Longo of the Idaho Department of Law Enforcement displays some of the 2 pounds of methamphetamine, along with guns and marijuana, found in Wednesday's bust. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Students from Grace Bible Academy head back to class after being evacuated from their church building near Prairie and Franklin on Wednesday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

A former employee at Big Brothers and Big Sisters of North Idaho has filed a sexual harassment suit against the non-profit organization and its general manager. Shelley Olson of Coeur d'Alene says she was fired after complaining that director Don Kaufman made inappropriate comments about her breasts.

New CdA reserve firefighters Frank Catucci and Ken Connelly discuss how they'll handle a training maze. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Chief Wayne Nowacki and Gary Di Marzio, back, tackle the rapidly changing situation during a mock disaster drill as Kootenai County Sheriff Sgt. Dick White talks on a phone inside the mobile command center at Coeur d'Alene's airport. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

She was her mother's right hand, a girl dedicated to her family, to her friends and to her church. Then, in the span of four short days, 17-year-old Briana Ross became the most recent victim of a disease that has plagued the Northwest with increasing ferocity.

Both Coeur d'Alene and Lakeland high schools made counselors available to students Monday after a 17-year-old girl died in a crash over the weekend. Kelly M. Wright of Coeur d'Alene died about 8 p.m. Saturday.

Batter up. Billy "Bronco" Blalock gives the ball a ride Thursday during practice before the opening game of the tournament. Blalock is a member of the T.P.S. team from Atlanta. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review <

A 20-year-old man who was asked to leave North Idaho College and a Bible study group for harassing women was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. Joshua M. Lepinski may avoid prison, however, after spending 180 days in an evaluation program - possibly a boot camp for sexual offenders, 1st District Judge Gary Haman ordered.

A 49-year-old miner died after falling 250 feet at the Coeur mine near Osburn, Idaho, investigators said Monday. Federal investigators said Monday they suspect a sudden break in a sand line caused Kenneth A. Miller to tumble over a ledge to his death.