Tubbs Hill closed in search for body
Tubbs Hill was closed for more than an hour late Friday afternoon as law enforcement officials investigated a report of a possible body in Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Ultimately, no body was found.
A vacationing family from Washington reported finding a sock and a cut-off pony tail, hair-band included, in the water off the hill that’s popular with swimmers and hikers. They were about 100 yards from the 3rd Street dock.
Coeur d’Alene police officers and Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded, shutting off access to the popular city park while two divers searched in 10 feet of water.
No other traces of a body were found.
– Meghann M. Cuniff
region
Wind shift blows smoke into area
Smoke from the Tripod Complex fire blew into Eastern Washington and North Idaho as westerly winds shifted and started blowing out of the northwest Friday evening.
Jeffrey Cote, forecaster for the National Weather Service, said the haze should continue into Sunday when winds are expected to shift.
Satellite images showed a long band of smoke drifting east from the fire, located in north-central Washington on national forest land.
The 41,000-acre, lightning-caused fire continued to burn largely out of control.
Only 5 percent of the fire was contained in its western zone while it was zero percent contained in its eastern zone, according to a Web site posting Friday.
– Mike Prager
North Idaho
Citylink doing well in first year
Less than a year after the buses first started rolling, Citylink bus service has logged more than half a million miles, accident-free. Operated by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, it has transported almost 110,000 people over an 80-mile stretch between Post Falls and DeSmet, south of Plummer.
Citylink began operating its southern loop in September and its northern loop in November. The service is offered 20 hours a day, seven days a week. Rides are free.
“The system is working as planned,” Tribal Chairman Chief Allan said in a statement Friday. Citylink is the first free public transit system in the nation stemming from cooperative efforts of tribal and local governments. Ridership grew from 8,630 in November to 14,426 in July.
Its northern loop serves Coeur d’Alene, Hayden and Post Falls. The southern loop serves DeSmet, Tensed, Plummer and Worley.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s casino resort is among the most popular stops.
– From staff reports