Winda Benedetti

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

Jerrene Loss told a jury Friday that she has a hard time keeping all of her lies straight. She said she lied to deputies when she told them that her husband purposely kicked her in the nose.

When Kootenai County deputies pulled alongside James Loss' boat as it drifted on Lake Coeur d'Alene, what they found was enough to make one officer draw his gun on the owner. They saw a bloody towel, clots of hair and blood splattered on chairs, windows, railings and a marine radio.

Dogs and cats marked for death at the Kootenai Humane Society will not be handed over to Washington State University to be used as teaching tools for veterinary students. In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the shelter's board of directors turned down WSU's offer to take abandoned animals scheduled for euthanasia.

The Kootenai County Humane Society will hold a public meeting and open house tonight to hear comment on a proposal that would send shelter animals to Washington State University's veterinary school. It is a proposal that has sparked strong debate among animal lovers. WSU's proposal has two parts. First, the veterinary school would take animals to the school for spaying and neutering. Students, under close supervision, would do the procedures for free and return the animals to Kootenai County for adoption.

Across the country, children sit wide-eyed in front of television sets, watching in rapt attention as cartoon characters punch each other in the face and push each other off cliffs. Advertisements flicker across the screen telling kids they, too, can be beautiful, popular and happy if they chew a certain type of gum or eat a certain type of cereal.

Michael Kapfer

Krahmer

Bob Brown, a former city councilman and Coeur d'Alene attorney, pleaded guilty Monday to lewd conduct with a minor. In doing so, the 60-year-old community activist admitted that he had molested his 14-year-old step-grandson.

Johnston

This symbol was found spray painted on buildings around Coeur d'Alene on Thursday morning. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review