VA to answer questions on clinic
Officials from the Veterans Affairs Department will be available to answer questions about a proposed Community Based Outpatient Clinic for North Idaho during a public meeting Monday in Coeur d’Alene.
A panel that will include Sharon Helman, the acting director of the VA Medical Center in Spokane, and Dennis Lewis, the network director for the VA’s Northwest region, will also discuss other changes in veterans programs.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, 506 W. Appleway Ave.
Deputies find lost berry picker
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue found a missing woman early Thursday after five hours of searching Wednesday night when she became separated from her husband while picking huckleberries near Coeur d’Alene Lake’s Wolf Lodge Bay.
Angelo Moulaxart called for help about 8:30 p.m., saying he hadn’t seen his wife, Pengsy Moulaxart, since 3 p.m. The two were picking berries near Marie Saddle.
Searchers finally located Pengsy Moulaxart near Wolf Lodge Saddle about 1:20 a.m.
Cattle truck flips, kills Idaho woman
A Lewiston woman was killed Thursday afternoon when a cattle truck flipped and crushed her vehicle, sprawling cows across Highway 75 near Galena Summit in Idaho.
Marlene Triplett, 66, was driving south when the truck crossed the center line while rounding a turn and flipped, according to an Idaho State Police report. Triplett died at the scene, and the truck driver, Castleford resident Larry Grimm, 59, was airlifted about 100 miles west to a Boise hospital. Both were wearing seat belts. Grimm’s condition was unavailable late Thursday.
At least two cattle also died in the crash, an ISP dispatcher said. The crash is under investigation.
BOISE
Otter picks Fisher for wildlife office
Gov. Butch Otter on Thursday chose Nate Fisher, who has served as a natural resources policy adviser to two top Idaho officials, to lead the state’s Office of Species Conservation.
Fisher, 46, who has served as environmental liaison in the agency since 2001, takes over immediately for James Caswell, who moved to Washington, D.C., last month to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Fisher’s appointment must still be confirmed by the Idaho Senate.
Before taking the job with the department, Fisher served as natural resources policy adviser for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig when the Republican served in the U.S. House from 1986 to 1989. In the mid ‘90s, Fisher held a similar job with then-Gov. Phil Batt, and from 1996-2001 Fisher served as regional coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Quality, focusing on water quality and soil conservation.