In brief: Airport ceremony to include fighter jets
Fighter jets will swoop over Coeur d’Alene on Saturday.
They’re part of a ceremony at the Kootenai County Airport, which is being renamed to honor North Idaho native Gregory “Pappy” Boyington – a World War II ace who was one of the nation’s most decorated fighter pilots.
Boyington, who died in 1988, flew with the Black Sheep Squadron.
Fliers from the unit had wanted to be at the ceremony, but the unit’s overseas deployment was recently extended, said Kevin Gonzalez, with the local Marine Corps League Pappy Boyington Detachment 966, which is helping to organize the ceremony.
Saturday’s flyover by VMA 211, the Wake Island Avengers, is expected sometime between 1 and 2 p.m.
The planes will land at the airport for the 2 p.m. ceremony.
The public is welcome but encouraged to bring lawn chairs and arrive early because nearby parking is limited.
After months of pressure, county officials recently agreed to rename the airport to Coeur d’Alene Airport/Pappy Boyington Field.
– James Hagengruber
Two men held on kidnapping charges
Police arrested two men Wednesday after they allegedly kidnapped a man from his home and took him on a manhunt through Coeur d’Alene.
Jacob Moore was asleep with his girlfriend on his couch Sunday morning when his brother-in-law, Justin E. Farley, and Noah S. Patton unlocked the door and came in, according to a Coeur d’Alene Police news release. Farley started yelling that Moore’s sister was cheating on Farley, police said.
Farley beat Moore and pushed Moore’s girlfriend as Patton tried to get Farley to stop, police said, but Farley dragged Moore out to Patton’s car and all three sped off to find the man Farley believed was his wife’s lover, Jason Treantenou. At Treantenou’s house, his sister told Farley that Treantenou was at work at Jack in the Box, so the men drove there, the release states.
Treantenou’s sister called Jack in the Box to warn him, and when the alleged kidnappers arrived, Moore convinced Farley to let him get Treantenou from the restaurant, police said. Moore and Treantenou locked themselves in the Jack in the Box, and Farley and Patton eventually drove away.
Moore called police about 5 a.m. Sunday, and an investigation led detectives to Farley, 26, and Patton, 22. On Wednesday, they were each arrested on second-degree kidnapping charges.
– Nick Eaton
Boise
Exemption limit to rise for taxes
For 2008, Idaho’s maximum homeowner’s exemption from property taxes will rise to $100,938 from the current $89,325, the state Tax Commission announced Wednesday.
Under the homeowner’s exemption, up to 50 percent of the value of a homeowner’s primary residence – maxing out at the amount set by state law – is exempted from tax.
That maximum was fixed at $50,000 from 1983 to 2006, then rose to $75,000 and is now pegged to the price of housing in Idaho.
Federal figures show Idaho’s single-family home prices have gone up 8.42 percent in the past year.
When lawmakers debated increasing the exemption in 2006, many argued for setting it then at $100,000, to reflect inflation since 1983.
It’s now expected to reach that level in 2008.
– Betsy Z. Russell