Briefly

Woman dies from fall injuries

Coeur d’Alene A Spokane woman who fell off a cliff while on a Fourth of July picnic along Lake Coeur d’Alene died Wednesday from her injuries, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.

Karen Stevens, 47, had been on an outing with a friend to some vacant property on a bluff above Powderhorn Bay near Harrison on July 4. As the friend prepared dinner, Stevens sat down at the edge of the bluff when the edge apparently gave way and sent her plunging more than 40 feet to a rocky beach below.

Stevens suffered massive head trauma and was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on July 5. She died there Wednesday from injuries suffered in the fall, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. The fall has been determined to be an accident, and the case is closed, the sheriff’s announcement said.

Paving projects scheduled for several areas

Coeur d’Alene Nothing says hot summer days quite like a blast of hot asphalt, and city road crews are set to begin annual summer paving projects at several locations next week, possibly raising temperatures for motorists.

Third Street, which has already seen restricted traffic lanes in preparation for repaving, will get a new overlay of asphalt from Interstate 90 all the way downtown to Lakeside Avenue. Paving the west side of the arterial begins Monday, the east-side lanes on Tuesday.

Crews will next move to 15th Street, paving it from Best Avenue to Thomas Lane on Wednesday and Thursday. Busy Appleway will get a coat of asphalt from Fourth Street to Julia Avenue on July 26 and 27.

The streets will be open, but traffic will be reduced to one lane.

Error delays housing development hearing

Coeur d’Alene An error is causing the Kootenai County Commission to postpone until Aug. 12 its public hearing on a controversial proposal for a housing development near Rimrock Road.

Local real estate agent John Beutler forgot to notify neighbors of the July 22 hearing, which is required by county law. So the planning staff moved the hearing to August.

A county hearing examiner recommended denial of plans for the 80-lot subdivision because of possible traffic problems on U.S. Highway 95 and Lancaster Road. The County Commission will make the final decision.

The commission rejected the proposal in June 2003 because of concerns about putting the homes on the 60 acres marked by high groundwater and crossed by two creeks. Beutler resubmitted the plans and addressed most of the commission’s concerns about the wetlands. The 6 p.m. hearing will be at the Kootenai County Administration Building, 451 Government Way. For information, call 446-1070.

Woman says she was raped by gunman

A 22-year-old woman told Cheney police on Thursday that a gun-wielding man raped her as she exited her shower.

The woman lives alone on First Street, which is Cheney’s main arterial. Police found no witnesses, interim Cheney Police Chief Rick Campbell said.

“This will be a high priority until we know more,” Campbell said.

The woman called police about 9:15 a.m. and said she had just been raped by an unknown man who threatened her with a handgun. The man then fled, she told police.

The woman’s apartment was placed on prowl check, which means a police officer comes by every eight hours to check for suspicious activity, Campbell said.

It was the third report the woman has filed since July 10, when she told Cheney police that she was being stalked, Campbell said.

On Tuesday, the woman called police at 11:40 p.m. to say she had been assaulted.

“But she couldn’t provide us with details because she was unconscious at the time,” Campbell said. “We asked her to submit to a rape examination, and she declined.”

The woman had some scratches but no other signs of trauma, he said.

After the Thursday report, the woman had a rape examination at a local hospital.

She described the stalker on July 10 and her attacker Thursday as 5 feet 11 inches or 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. She said he was black with short hair and a big belly. She said he was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt, Campbell said.

“We took several pieces of evidence from the apartment,” he said. “We don’t know how he gained entry. There were no obvious signs of forced entry.”

Anyone with information about the alleged assault can call Cheney police at 498-9235.

Teens get jail time for making pipe bomb

Idaho Falls Two teenagers have been sentenced to 20 days in jail and two years probation for making a pipe bomb that exploded in a wheat field when bomb experts tried to dismantle it.

Steven Beau Winn and Dustin Catlin, both 18 and from Idaho Falls, must also write a letter to Magistrate Colin Luke every three months about their activities and whether they have gotten into any more trouble. They will pay for the investigation, which could cost thousands of dollars. No one was injured in the detonation.

“We wanted to send the message that the boys’ behavior will not be tolerated while recognizing that they’re young and didn’t intend to hurt any people or property,” Bonneville County Prosecutor Dane Watkins Jr. said after the two pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor explosives charge.

Investigators said Winn and Catlin built the bomb – an 18-inch long pipe about 2 inches in diameter stuffed with explosive powder – to detonate at the sand dunes near St. Anthony.

But they dropped the device out of their truck while headed for the dunes on June 7 when they were pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy for a possible traffic violation. They said they intended to retrieve the bomb the next day, but when they went back, police were already on the scene.

A bomb team from the Tooele Army Base in Utah was called in. The experts moved the device to a wheat field where it exploded as the technicians tried to remove the end caps.