In brief: Community effort will move library

If you’re nostalgic about the old Coeur d’Alene library, time’s running out to say goodbye. The city library at 201 E. Harrison Ave. will close for good Sunday, and movers will begin ferrying thousands of books to the new library, at 702 E. Front Ave., on Monday.

As a symbolic start for the big move, library patrons will parade books from the old library to the new $6.6 million building Saturday morning. The Family Book Brigade will begin at 10 a.m. and cover the 1.4 miles to the new library. Participants will start lining up at 9 a.m. on the Harrison side of the old building.

The books will be for the Friends of the Library’s new bookstore, Second Story Books, at the new building. The parade will end at the park side of the new library and include refreshments and a tour of the new bookmobile operated by the Kootenai-Shoshone Area Libraries. The new, 38,500-square-foot library won’t be open for tours.

A public dedication of the new library is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 9. The first day of operations will be Sept. 10.

– Staff reports

State appealing mother’s parole

A Kootenai County judge ruled that the time a Hayden woman spent on probation for drug charges makes her eligible for parole, but the Idaho attorney general’s office is appealing 1st District Judge John T. Mitchell’s ruling.

At issue is whether Mitchell had the legal authority to credit the 1 ½ years Kendra Goodrick spent on probation toward her prison sentence.

Goodrick, who was convicted of possessing meth with the intent to deliver, was placed on probation by Mitchell in January 2006. Prosecutors successfully appealed Mitchell’s decision granting Goodrick probation, saying he didn’t make that ruling in time.

The Idaho Court of Appeals ordered Goodrick, who had married and given birth to a son, to return to prison.

Goodrick was taken into custody following a July hearing during which Mitchell considered her request for credit for the time she was on probation. The next day, Mitchell granted that motion.

The Idaho attorney general’s office on Aug. 17 filed notice that it is appealing Mitchell’s ruling.

Goodrick is scheduled to appear before the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole in December. In the meantime, her attorneys have filed a civil suit in an attempt to have her released earlier.

– Taryn Brodwater

Planning panel to hear growth ideas

Eight neighborhoods across Kootenai County will give recommendations to the county Planning Commission tonight on how residents want to see their area grow.

The groups have been working since June to create growth plans for their regions. Kootenai Environmental Alliance had workshops to help the neighborhoods craft their proposals, which the groups hope the commission will use in the rewrite of the county’s comprehensive plan.

The groups tried to include developers in their brainstorming sessions. In a press release Wednesday, KEA said only the North Kootenai and Fernan areas had developer participation.

The 6 p.m. meeting is at the Kootenai Administration Building, 451 Government Way.

For more information, call the Kootenai Environmental Alliance at (208) 667-9093 or the county Planning Department at (208) 446-1070.

– Erica Curless