Region in brief: CdA festival will cause road closures

An expansion of vendor space for Coeur d’Alene’s annual Downtown Street Fair will result in additional road closures this weekend.

Thousands of visitors are expected in Coeur d’Alene this weekend for the street fair, Art on the Green and Taste of the Coeur d’Alenes.

Starting Friday morning, Sherman Avenue will be closed from Independence Point east to Seventh Street for added vendor space. Traffic headed downtown on Northwest Boulevard will be routed onto Lakeside Avenue and then directed south on Third Street or north on Fourth Street.

Traffic leaving the Third Street parking lot will be directed east only and north on Fourth or Seventh streets. Traffic headed to the Coeur d’Alene Resort will be directed south on Second Street, and those leaving the resort will be routed east on Front Avenue.

The Downtown Street Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Staff reports

Forest supervisor leaving temporarily

Ranotta McNair, supervisor of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, will temporarily leave that post to take a job in Missoula.

McNair will become the acting deputy regional forester for the Forest Service’s Region 1 office, which oversees national forests and grasslands in North Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

McNair will work under acting Regional Forester Jane Cottrell, who has replaced Tom Tidwell. He was recently promoted to national chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

McNair has been at the Idaho Panhandle National Forests for eight years. Maggie Pittman will be acting forest supervisor while McNair is gone.

Becky Kramer

Several cities adopt county burning ban

A day after Spokane County banned outdoor burning because of dry conditions, the same restrictions have been adopted by Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Millwood.

The ban applies to unauthorized burning and recreational fires through Sept. 15. It does not cover field burning that has prior approval, backyard barbecues, chimneys or deck warmers if charcoal, seasoned firewood or propane is being used.

Anyone caught with an unapproved open fire in Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake or Millwood can be fined up to $500 if he or she doesn’t put it out immediately. The potential penalty in Spokane County for refusing to put out an unapproved fire is $1,000 and 90 days in jail.

Staff reports