Winda Benedetti

Kootenai County sheriff's officials are warning boaters to be wary if they take a spin on North Idaho's swollen waterways. "There is a lot of debris that is coming down the rivers," said Kevin Mumford, a deputy with the sheriff's marine division. "There are lots of logs and there's lots of crud out there in the water."

Chalk it up to the perversity of human nature if you want. But there is no denying that - like moths to a bug zapper - we are often most entranced by those things that should repulse us. Road kill, open-casket funerals, that childish urge to pull back our Band-Aids and show off our gooey wounds. And, of course, car accidents.

Think of it as sculpting. Only instead of clay or stone, there is flesh. Lots of flesh. And lots of muscle. To see some of the finest human sculptures in the Northwest, you don't have to go to a stuffy museum. Instead, just drop by The Met Saturday for the 17th Annual Rocky Mountain States Body Building Championship.

Melven Evenson loved to drive. Growing up on a farm, he began driving tractors and farm trucks when he was 9 years old. As an adult, he spent much of his life running chip trucks, water trucks and cement trucks.

It's known as officer-assisted suicide, a scenario in which police find themselves the unwitting pawns of people bent on killing themselves without having to pull the trigger. Kootenai County Sheriff's Lt. Nile Shirley still bears the physical and emotional scars from such an encounter in 1985.

A body found in the back of an abandoned pickup Wednesday night has been identified as that of a Post Falls man missing since late March. Kootenai County sheriff's investigators say it appears Melven A. Evenson was murdered, although they have not yet released the cause of death.

The recently formed Mayfield Four are headlining at Outback Jack's tonight.

A 71-year-old long-time Coeur d'Alene businessman admitted this week that he hired an ex-convict to murder another man. James R. Chase pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to intent to commit murder for hire.

Two Coeur d'Alene residents were charged Monday with manufacturing illegal drugs after narcotics officers busted what they say is their fifth illegal drug lab in North Idaho this year. Linda G. Marquart, 37, and Thomas Froman, 30, were arrested at a home on Blue Creek Bay Road east of Coeur d'Alene on Friday.

A.J. Croce, son of Jim Croce, makes his first trip to Idaho this weekend for three sold-out performances.

Get ready for the sweet harmonic sounds of history to hit Spokane. More than 900 women with a love for old-time barbershop music will descend on Spokane as The Sweet Adelines International holds its regional competition and convention at the Opera House Friday and Saturday. The Sweet Adelines is a group of women dedicated to the four-part harmony, barbershop-style music of the '30s and '40s. It is music that influenced do-wop and, eventually, our own modern pop. The group's 30,000 members come from around the world - from the U.S. to Japan, Finland, Germany and many places in between. Starting Friday, members from across Region 13 - the Northwestern states - will arrive in Spokane to test their voices against those of their fellow Adelines. Quartets will compete Friday night starting at 7. Choruses begin competing Saturday at noon. The Festival of Champions will be held Saturday night at 8 with all the top winners showing off their stuff. Competitors will be judged in four categories: music, expression, sound and showmanship. Judy O'Brien, regional publicity chairwoman, says the event will be more than just singing. "This is like a Las Vegas show," she says. "Some of these choruses have 125 people on stage." They also combine some dancing/choreography, she said. In other Sweet Adelines events: Prepared to be bowled over by song at the "mass sing" Friday at 4:30 p.m. As many of the 900 competitors who can make it, will gather at the Red Wagon in Riverfront Park to belt out their beautiful music. Cherie Rodgers, new city council member, will give the welcoming address. Quartets will perform at the NorthTown mall and downtown sites at The Bon, Crescent Court, River Park Square and the Flour Mill on Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. A Young Women in Harmony chorus from the Tri-Cities will perform at the afternoon session of the chorus competition. Kathy Carmody, the new international president, will attend this weekend's event. She will direct the Top of the World Chorus from Anchorage. Tickets are available through G&B; Select-a-Seat, 325-SEAT, and at the door. Quartet and chorus competition tickets are $10 each. Festival of Champions tickets are $16.

Police arrested five teenagers Monday night after they allegedly stole a college basketball coach's Ford Explorer and fled from officers, according to a Kootenai County sheriff's report. About 11 p.m. Monday, Hugh Watson, North Idaho College men's basketball coach, and his wife, Anna, were at their home on Hayden Avenue in Hayden Lake.

A Coeur d'Alene man arrested for allegedly killing his father by causing the elderly man's heart attack has been released from jail. The Kootenai County Prosecutor decided Monday not to file charges against Ziva Filipov, 34, in regard to the Friday night death of 70-year-old Milorad Filipov.

About 600 St. Maries residents signed a petition to put a convicted sex offender back behind bars after he repeatedly violated the conditions of his probation. Their request was granted Friday when 1st District Judge Craig Kosonen ordered Edward J. Adams Jr., 36, to spend three years behind bars.

Inch's music can be fast and loud, or beautiful and haunting.

Forget the potatoes. Idaho's official nickname is The Gem State. So it only seems appropriate that a musical jewel would be found here - in one of the last places some might expect.

Tyson and Melissa Jones will be competing in the fiddle contest this weekend.

Francis Pearl Eyman's tombstone sat for two years in a police property room. File/The Spokesman-Review

Francis Eyman's tombstone was recovered two years ago. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

A Meridian, Idaho, teenager died Friday morning after the car he was driving careered into Fernan Lake. Jeffrey T. Seamons, 19, spent about 45 minutes under the frigid lake water before Kootenai County sheriff's dive team members were able to pull him out.

Loss

Peter Reckell

Wilson

Gary Callihan's minivan was struck by a speeding train at Ramsey and Diagonal roads. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review