Car d’Lane rolls into CdA today

Portions of downtown Coeur d’Alene will be closed to traffic today because of the Car d’Lane car show.

More than 500 vintage and restored cars will be on display today along Sherman and Lakeside avenues. Both Sherman and Lakeside will be closed to traffic between Second and Seventh streets. Vehicles will be allowed to travel along Third and Fourth streets, but traffic will be restricted on other north-south streets in the vicinity. The car show goes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an awards ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. at Fifth and Sherman. After the car show is over, there will be a street dance along Sherman Avenue. From 7 p.m. to midnight, Sherman will be closed between Fourth and Sixth streets, and Fifth Street will be closed between Lakeside and Front.

Other events are scheduled for the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, including an automotive swap meet from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and a demolition derby beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

I-90 bridge to close in CdA June 27

The Government Way bridge that crosses Interstate 90 in Coeur d’Alene will be closed starting June 27 for demolition and construction of a replacement.

The bridge needs to be replaced because girders underneath have been damaged from the impact of large trucks unable to clear the bridge from below, according to the Idaho Department of Transportation. Traffic has been restricted to the middle of the bridge for months because of the weakened girders.

It will take 18 months to build a new, four-lane bridge. Access to businesses will not be restricted, but drivers needing to cross I-90 will have to detour to other bridges, the next closest being on U.S. Highway 95 or Fourth Street.

A public information meeting on the project is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. June 23 at the Idaho Transportation Department’s regional office, 600 W. Prairie Ave.

For more information, call the project hotline at (208) 765-4301.

Wildfire burns 600 acres at Hanford

Richland A wildfire burned Friday across about 600 acres of the Hanford nuclear reservation.

The fire burned in brushland in an area called the Hammer training facility, where people are trained for waste cleanup, firefighting and other tasks. It was reported 100 percent contained by mid-afternoon, said Geoff Tyree, a spokesman for Fluor Hanford, the primary cleanup contractor at Hanford. No injuries were reported, and no Hanford facilities were threatened.

The fire apparently was caused by a so-called “flash-bang” device being used in a training exercise by the contractor that handles security at the site.

Seattle firefighters vote down contract

Seattle By a vote of 468-312, Seattle firefighters have said no to the city’s offer of a new contract, which Mayor Greg Nickels called “fair.”

They have been working without a contract since January.

“We negotiated a contract that was fair and would have resolved one of the union’s top priorities of establishing four-person crews,” Nickels said in a statement after Thursday’s vote.

“We’re all a little bit surprised it didn’t pass,” said Paul Atwater, president of Seattle Fire Fighters Union Local 27.

The city’s contract offer would have put four crew members on every engine but would have required two extra shifts per firefighter per year.

Atwater said the firefighters balked at working the extra shifts.