In brief: Mitigation sought for hillside road
Coeur d’Alene is asking a Fernan Lake homeowner who cut an illegal road into the steep hillside to hire an engineer and hydrologist to determine what mediation is needed.
The city also asked Gregg Larson to immediately put up silt fences and other precautions to keep stormwater out of Fernan Lake.
The city alleges that Larson is the first property owner to make an “egregious” violation of the new hillside law aimed at protecting the endangered lake.
City Attorney Mike Gridley said city officials met with Larson Friday and asked him to try to make the curvy dirt road compliant with the city’s laws. The city isn’t yet pursuing criminal action, Gridley said.
The city wants a response within two weeks.
Larson, who lives at 3350 E. Fernan Terrace Dr., recently cut the path from his home down the steep hillside to Fernan Lake Road.
Gridley said Larsen also didn’t get encroachment permits from the city or East Side Highway District to access either East Fernan Terrace Drive or Fernan Lake Road.
CdA getting grant to build sidewalks
Coeur d’Alene has received $101,600 to help build sidewalks along 15th Street to make it safer for Lakes Middle School children.
The Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee recommended Coeur d’Alene receive the federal aid. The Idaho Transportation Department Board confirmed the recommendation. The state will make an official announcement Friday.
City Attorney Mike Gridley said 15th Street is missing pieces of sidewalk and pedestrian ramps, making it difficult for children to walk and bike. The street is on either side of the Interstate 90 overpass.
The money will help build sidewalks and put a flashing signal at the crosswalk in front of the school.
In the grant application, the city said about 600 students attend Lakes Middle School.
The principal said he’s not comfortable encouraging children to walk along 15th Street until it’s fixed for safety.
BILLINGS
Woman held in Priest Lake slaying
A woman held in the Yellowstone County jail on a probation violation was served Tuesday with an Idaho warrant charging her with first-degree murder.
Tyrah B. Brown, 25, appeared in Justice Court by video from the jail on a warrant issued in Bonner County.
She and her husband are charged in the January shooting death of a Priest Lake man, the Bonner County Daily Bee reported.
Judge Pedro Hernandez honored a request on the warrant and set Brown’s bail at $5 million. Hernandez ordered Brown to appear in District Court on June 4.
The warrant also charges Brown with theft.
She is charged in Yellowstone County with violating the conditions of her probation from a 2003 felony escape conviction. A hearing on that charge is set for July 16.
Chief Deputy County Attorney Mark Murphy said his office received the Idaho warrant over the weekend. He said Brown was arrested in Florida on the Yellowstone County warrant for the probation violation.
The prosecutor in Bonner County handling the case against Brown was not immediately available for comment Tuesday evening.
However, the Daily Bee reported that Brown and her husband, Keith A. Brown, 46, are accused of fatally shooting a man on Jan. 23. A state employee marking trees found the body of Leslie C. Breaw, 48, of Priest Lake, near Breaw’s home.
Keith Brown has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held in Bonner County on $5 million bail, the newspaper reported.
Adams County
Skeleton found in shallow grave
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible homicide after the discovery of a skeleton in a shallow grave.
An orchard worker discovered a skull just before 7 a.m. at Saddle Mountain Orchard, 2560 W. Highway 24, south of Othello. Investigators from the Washington State Patrol’s crime laboratory later uncovered the rest of the skeleton.
The skeletal remains will be examined today by a forensic anthropologist to determine age, sex and ethnicity – and perhaps the cause of death and length of time in the ground, said Adams County Sheriff Doug Barger.
Helena
Montana plans to kill 300 bison
Montana livestock officials plan to capture and kill roughly 300 Yellowstone National Park bison, including as many as 100 calves, in the wake of the state’s first positive test for brucellosis.
The state Board of Livestock said the move was expedited to help make sure Montana does not lose its brucellosis-free status, which will happen if a second herd tests positive.
The board was told at an emergency meeting Tuesday that a large number of bison are resisting hazing efforts in the West Yellowstone area and won’t stay in the park. Board members told the state veterinarian they would agree with her decision to capture the animals.
Normally, state and federal officials capture and slaughter a large number of bison in the winter.
Testing continues on cattle connected to a herd near Bridger that tested positive earlier this month for brucellosis. Two more herds were confirmed free of the disease Tuesday, but more tests are coming, said state veterinarian Jeanne Rankin.
From staff and wire reports