Searchers comb terrain for mushroom hunter
Searchers scoured the brushy terrain of Fourth of July Pass east of Coeur d’Alene on Thursday evening, seeking a missing mushroom hunter from Milwaukee, Wis.
Bruce Francisco Jr., 62, failed to return to his car after a scheduled two-hour foraging outing that began before noon. His 83-year-old father, Bruce Francisco Sr., of Post Falls, called Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies when his son didn’t show up as scheduled.
About 20 searchers, a team of dogs and horse teams spent at least four hours canvassing a ridgetop about 20 miles east of Coeur d’Alene, between Lake Coeur d’Alene and Killarney Lake, said sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger.
“It’s real brushy, and it’s a lot of area to cover,” Wolfinger said.
The missing man was in fairly good health, suffering only from high blood pressure, Wolfinger said.
– JoNel Aleccia
Hearing planned on golf community
The public will get another chance to comment on plans for Black Rock North, the proposed 1,100-acre expansion of the area’s original exclusive golf community on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
The Kootenai County Commission decided Thursday to have a public hearing before they vote on whether to approve the proposal by owner Marshall Chesrown.
The hearing date hasn’t been set but will likely be in August or September.
A county hearing examiner recently recommended approval of the project just across Loff’s Bay Road from the Club at Black Rock, the exclusive community that opened three years ago. The proposal would add another 18-hole golf course, an equestrian facility, a spa and 325 more homes.
Club membership fees are around $100,000, plus monthly dues of $500, with required purchase of residential lots starting around $200,000.
Plans for Black Rock North have drawn opposition from county residents worried about putting 325 new homes in the rural area, drawing public water from Lake Coeur d’Alene for irrigation of a second private golf course, and other issues.
– Erica Curless
Firefighter leaves hospital after shock
Jon Cook, a volunteer firefighter with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, was released from the hospital Thursday, a week and a half after he received an electrical shock while fighting a fire in Post Falls and suffered nerve damage to his heart, arms and legs.
Cook will be in outpatient physical therapy for about three months, department spokesman Jim Lyon said.
“He went in in a wheelchair and came out on crutches,” Lyon said. “That’s pretty good for a week.”
Cook was released from Kootenai Medical Center over the weekend and was transferred to St. Luke’s Hospital in Spokane for occupational therapy.
Three other firefighters were injured May 3 at the fire in an apartment above the Stow and Go Self Storage office at 410 N. Greensferry Road. One sprained his leg and another injured his back after falling from a ladder. Another firefighter was shocked along with Cook.
– Taryn Brodwater