Comprehensive plan comments sought
It’s open mic night Thursday in Kootenai County, but there likely won’t be any singing or poetry reading.
Instead, the Kootenai County Planning Commission is having the monthly session to get comments on the rewrite of the comprehensive plan, the foundation of all land-use decisions.
This inaugural open mic will focus on how to create growth plans for regions of the county with distinctive characteristics – areas such as Mica Flats or the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
The planning commission said it’s an opportunity for residents to share what makes their neighborhoods unique. The commission plans to have open mic sessions the fourth Thursday of each month during the yearlong rewrite.
The 6 p.m. meeting will be at the Kootenai County Administration Building, 451 Government Way. For more information, call (208) 446-1070.
Thief finds his prayers answered
A man claiming to be conducting a prayer chain for a Baptist church is suspected of burglarizing a retirement center last weekend in Coeur d’Alene, according to police.
Two residents reported cash missing from their rooms Saturday after a stocky white man in his late 20s to early 40s, entered Heritage Place on Walnut Avenue during breakfast, according to a Coeur d’Alene police report.
The building is usually locked, but a door may have been propped open, the police report said. The man reportedly entered a few apartments and offered to pray with tenants. No one had seen the man around the building previously, the police report said.
Two tenants reported about $130 missing, according to police.
Boise
Hundreds mourn slain soldier
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery for the burial of one of the three Idaho soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq this month.
Sgt. James Holtom, 22, was a hero “who died right,” Holtom’s father, Dave Holtom, of Rexburg, said in front of about 1,000 people who attended a morning memorial service at a Meridian church.
Gov. Butch Otter spoke briefly at the interment ceremony, thanking Holtom’s family “for your great gift and sacrifice.” The burial included a 21-gun salute. Holtom’s mother and fiancee were presented with folded flags.
Holtom was killed Feb. 8 along with Sgt. Ross A. Clevenger, 21, and Pfc. Raymond M. Werner, 22, when a roadside bomb exploded next to their truck. All three were serving with the Boise-based 321st Engineer Battalion.
Chicago
AMA hears protests to girl’s treatment
The American Medical Association bowed to pressure from disability activists and met Tuesday to hear their opposition to growth-stunting treatment performed on a severely brain-damaged girl.
The 9-year-old, identified only as “Ashley,” had surgery in Seattle to remove her womb and breast buds, and was given hormones to keep her permanently child-sized – treatment some activists say amounted to mutilation.
She was diagnosed with severe brain damage shortly after birth. She can’t walk, talk, sit or stand and functions like a young infant.
Advocacy groups including Feminist Response in Disability Activism, Not Dead Yet and Access Living asked the AMA to condemn the treatment. They also sought support for proposed federal legislation that would give families more resources to care for disabled people at home. Five activists from the grass-roots groups met Tuesday with Dr. Michael Maves, AMA’s chief executive officer, and Dr. Cecil Wilson, chairman of the AMA’s board of trustees. While Maves and Wilson made no promises during the meeting at AMA headquarters, the groups said just getting the nation’s largest group of doctors to hear their concerns was a victory.