Pesticide being sprayed near Hauser
A third round of pesticide spraying to kill Asian gypsy moths near Hauser, Idaho, is scheduled from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. today.
The Idaho Department of Lands is spraying the pesticide Foray 48B in a 600-acre area along State Highway 53 where a single Asian gypsy moth was found in September. The state hopes to eradicate the foreign bug before it multiplies and destroys local foliage to satisfy its voracious appetite.
The Department of Lands said the active ingredient in Foray 48B, Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that isn’t toxic to humans, animals, birds or any insects other than certain species of caterpillars.
Couple arrested for alleged attack on roommate
A husband and wife living in a Rathdrum trailer park were arrested on charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault, respectively, after the husband allegedly ran over one of their roommates with a car Thursday night.
Laurel A. Smith-Baker, 45, allegedly threatened one roommate with a gun while her husband, Michael P. Baker, 26, allegedly ran over another roommate, Jeffrey S. Almond. Almond, who suffered compound fractures and multiple cuts and bruises, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s report.
Baker chased down Almond and drove over him with a Ford Taurus station wagon in a vacant field following an altercation between Almond and Smith-Baker, witnesses told authorities.
Farragut adds second disc golf course
Farragut State Park has opened an 18-hole “professional-level” disc golf course called North Star.
The new course is located adjacent to the existing Wreckreator course, and is the first project to be completed under the park’s enhancement program, the park announced Friday.
“Disc golf at Farragut State Park is becoming increasingly popular,” Park Ranger Keith Jones said in a press release. “Enthusiasts now have the option of playing the two park courses separately, or blending the front nine holes of each course to create a third, unique 18-hole experience.”
The park is 35 miles north of Coeur d’Alene and four miles east of Athol on State Highway 54. A day pass is $4.
Emergency declared over highway mudslides
Helena Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Friday declared an emergency in Carbon County because of five massive mudslides that dropped onto U.S. Highway 212 a week ago and forced closure of the scenic route often used by tourists traveling to Yellowstone National Park.
The declaration clears the way for the state to request aid from the Federal Highway Administration to pay for clearing the slides and repairing the winding route also known as the Beartooth Highway.
Charity Watt Levis, spokeswoman for the state Transportation Department, said engineers and slide experts were on the scene for a second day Friday surveying the extent of the problem.
In some places, water has undermined the road. The damage occurred over about a 12-mile stretch of the highway.
The highway, which usually opens Memorial Day Weekend, is a well-traveled link between Red Lodge and Yellowstone.
Levis emphasized that the highway is closed to all traffic, including motorcycles and pedestrians, not just to motor vehicles.
More information is available at www.mdt.state.mt.us.
Prisoner petitions his case 23 years later
Grangeville, Idaho An Idaho man who has spent 23 years in prison for murder wants to be let out, claiming that the court where he was convicted in 1982 shouldn’t have had jurisdiction over his case.
William Wolfe was convicted in 2nd District Court, a state court, for shooting Scott Gold with a Beretta automatic pistol during an argument outside a northern Idaho bar where they’d been drinking.
In a petition reviewed by Judge John Bradbury this week, Wolfe now claims Gold was a member of the Nez Perce Indian tribe and that the case should have been heard in federal court.
Federal courts handle crimes involving tribal members.
The state has 45 days to respond to Wolfe’s petition.
Tribal authorities say they don’t have records showing Gold was a registered Nez Perce or a descendent of a Nez Perce tribal member.
“We have no record of him,” said Darren Williams, of the tribe.
Crapo part of delegation to Russia, Middle East
Boise Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, left Friday for a weeklong trip to Russia and the Middle East to review federally funded security and foreign aid programs in the regions as part of a congressional delegation.
The trip is led by Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that holds the purse strings to programs administrated by the State Department.
The delegation will visit Jordan, Russia, Latvia and Ukraine.
Oregon university stunned by violent fliers
Ashland, Ore. Students and campus officials at Southern Oregon University are stunned by a set of fliers placed on students’ doors that call for violence against homosexuals.
The threatening fliers, which suggest that gays should be murdered, have led to a police investigation and a campuswide safety alert.
Eric Rodriguez, Southern Oregon University’s interim security director, said several versions of the fliers were found attached to doors and in mailboxes on the Ashland campus. The early versions were more tame, he said – and then became “more and more” graphic and violent in nature.
Students held a campus protest Thursday. A vigil and rally were planned for Friday night.
The authors and distributors of the fliers could face charges of harassment and intimidation, Rodriguez said.