In brief: Prisoner’s religious petition reinstated

A prisoner’s petition to practice his Native American religion was sent back to Ada County District Court on Thursday by the state Court of Appeals.

Since 1993, Steven Lee Hyde has been serving 25 years to life for armed robbery and is imprisoned at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, where a sweat lodge is not allowed and a no-tobacco policy prohibits burning of any kind, including kinnikinnik, used in religious ceremonies. Hyde also is prohibited from wearing a choker or possessing a feather or herbs and grasses of spiritual significance to him.

Representing himself, Hyde filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in 2001, claiming his religious rights were being violated.

An Ada County District Court judge dismissed Hyde’s petition largely because he had not filed a security bond and because the prosecution contended that habeas corpus was an improper vehicle for enforcing the laws protecting religious rights.

On Thursday, Appeals Court Judge Sergio Gutierrez remanded the case back to the lower court to be decided on the merits of his claims. Judges Darrel Perry and Karen Lansing concurred.

Coeur d’Alene

CdA police chief search expands

The Coeur d’Alene City Council has decided to conduct an outside search for a new police chief.

Chief Wendy Carpenter has announced she plans to retire sometime in the next year, though she hasn’t given a date. Mayor Sandi Bloem said Thursday the council decided to open the position to outside – as well as internal – candidates because “it is a very important position.”

The city’s human resources department is working on a proposal to present to the City Council for requirements for applicants, Bloem said.

Carpenter’s 30th anniversary with the Police Department is May 1. In a prior interview, Carpenter said she planned to give the city at least three to four months notice once she decides on a retirement date.

Anti-smoking ads hit local stations

A series of “hard-hitting” anti-smoking ads on local TV stations uses bleak imagery to influence teenagers.

One ad in the “truth” smoking prevention campaign features a cowboy who removes a bandanna from his neck to reveal a hole from a laryngectomy, according to a news release from the American Legacy Foundation.

The cowboy, using a hand-held electronic voice box, begins singing a song with the opening line, “You don’t always die from tobacco.”

The commercial concludes with the message: “Over 8.5 million Americans live with tobacco-related illnesses.”

The ads will run through Sept. 3, according to Patricia McLaughlin, a foundation spokeswoman.

The foundation is funding the campaign with a $3.6 million matching grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. McLaughlin said about $70,000 to $80,000 will be spent on the campaign in Idaho. According to the foundation, 15.8 percent of Idaho’s high school students and nearly 20 percent of Washington teens smoke.

McLaughlin said the TV ads will run during programs popular with teens, including “King of the Hill,” “Mad TV,” “The Simpsons,” “Smallville” and “Family Guy.”

Art sale will benefit charities

Local charities, including the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, will benefit from the sale of 100 signed and numbered prints of a painting that watercolor artist Thomas Kinkade painted on location at Lake Coeur d’Alene last year.

Steve Torres, director of construction for HST Group, said the sale of Kinkade’s “Coeur d’Alene” prints raise more than $40,000 for charity.

The framed canvas reproductions are $800 for a standard numbered edition or $900 for an artist proof edition.

Within two days, more than two dozen were sold. All of the profits are going to the Windermere Foundation, which supports the advocates program and other charitable causes.

To purchase one of the prints, contact Torres at (208) 691-5999.

Pullman

WSU astronomer has galactic find

A Washington State University astronomer has helped identify the closest “gravitational lens” to Earth – a rare alignment of the skies in which a huge galaxy deflects, magnifies and focuses light on its way to Earth.

John Blakeslee, a professor of physics and astronomy who studies images taken by the Hubble space telescope, helped direct the Hubble toward the galaxy in question, called ESO 325-G004.

“The galaxy was well-known, but the Hubble images reveal so much more detail about it, including the unexpected finding that it’s the nearest gravitational lens,” said Blakeslee in a news release.

The image, picked as “image of the month” by the Hubble Heritage Project Team, can be viewed at http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007 /08/index.html.

Blakeslee and his colleagues have conducted close studies of Hubble images that reveal the deepest galaxies in the universe – a picture backward in time of the early universe.

From staff reports