Overdue hunter is ‘safe and sound’

An Idaho hunter who was the subject of a search after he went missing Thursday returned to his Cocolalla home Friday night.

David R. Hess, 67, apparently was not lost or injured, a Boundary County sheriff’s dispatcher said. He spent the night in his Ford Bronco, which was stuck in a ditch.

Another hunter helped pull the SUV from the ditch sometime Friday.

“He is home safe and sound,” the dispatcher said. “He was out there more than 24 hours.”

The Boundary County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Hess on Thursday night, when he was reported overdue from a trip into the woods. The search, which included aerial help from the Civil Air Patrol, concentrated on an area in eastern Boundary County.

It is not clear where Hess’ SUV was stuck.

More info needed on golf, lake club

The developers of a proposed $150 million golf and lake club overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene must give the county more information before the approval process will continue.

County hearing examiner Gary Young wrote in a Nov. 2 letter that he was unable to make a recommendation on the Chateau De Loire Golf and Lake Club because the application lacked sufficient information regarding access along state Highway 97 and the protection of area streams and wetlands.

Young asked the county planning director to review the application and make a decision on how to proceed with the request for the 18-hole golf course and 475 luxury homes and condos overlooking Moscow Bay.

Young’s comments were in agreement with the county planning department, which had asked Kirk Hughes Development LLC to postpone the October public hearing with Young because too many substantial changes were made to the project at the last minute.

The company argued the county’s concerns were unfounded and kept the hearing date. A spokesman also said the postponement request raised concerns about the “process and fairness” of the planning department.

In September, the Las Vegas firm revised plans for the development, adding an athletic center, outdoor amphitheater, hiking trails, community dock and destination spa.

Third-graders put on seat belt patrol

If you know a third-grader and have questionable seat belt-wearing habits, beware.

On Monday, local police will visit Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls-area schools and enlist kids as Junior Seatbelt Officers – encouraging them to “ticket” anyone caught not buckling up.

A pre-determined fine, 25 cents or so, will be collected and marked into a log book. At the end of the three-week program, one child from each school will be treated to a free dinner at the Hot Rod Café in Post Falls, courtesy of the Inland Northwest AAA, for writing the most tickets.

This program is part of a statewide effort to increase seat belt usage and reduce accident injuries, said Nick Knoll of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.

Sixty percent of people killed in vehicle accidents are not wearing seat belts, Knoll added.

The Post Falls Police Department and Idaho State Police are also participating in the program.

EPA leader makes recusal permanent

Boise The Pacific Northwest administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency has removed himself from decisions involving any Idaho state agency, more than 40 regional companies and one of the nation’s largest Superfund cleanup projects, the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

In a Nov. 3 memorandum to EPA officials obtained by the Associated Press, Regional Administrator L. Michael Bogert said he was permanently recusing himself from participating in any EPA matter involving parties that he had represented during his previous job as counsel to Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.

Bogert wrote that unless advised otherwise by EPA attorneys, he will permanently remove himself from overseeing issues such as the fight over air pollution from grass-field burning in northern Idaho, the battle between the state and EPA over pollution inspections of livestock feed lots, and the cleanup of decades of toxic Bunker Hill mining waste in the 1,500-square-mile Coeur d’Alene drainage.

He said his recusals won’t alter the agency’s commitment to clean up the Coeur d’Alene Basin.