Region in brief: Carlson pleads guilty to cocaine charge

A once-prominent Coeur d’Alene insurance agent and school booster pleaded guilty Thursday to drug charges in U.S. District Court.

Jerald S. “Jerry” Carlson, 48, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempting to possess a kilo of cocaine with intent to deliver. Carlson was arrested in February after an investigation by the Idaho State Police.

The charge carries a sentence of five to 40 years in prison and up to a $2 million fine. Sentencing is set for April 14.

As part of a plea deal, Carlson also agreed to forfeit $20,000. Carlson’s attorney, Jim Siebe, said the intent to distribute was “presumed” because the quantity of cocaine was more than 500 grams.

Carlson has for years run a Farmers Insurance agency in Coeur d’Alene and has been a well-known supporter of the Coeur d’Alene High School booster club and the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

Alison Boggs

Students will feel pinch, NIC head says

BOISE – North Idaho College students will feel the impact of state holdbacks and budget cuts, NIC President Priscilla Bell told lawmakers Wednesday, because they come at a time of sharply increasing enrollment.

For next year, Gov. Butch Otter is proposing a 4 percent cut in state funding for community colleges.

NIC is getting more tuition revenue than anticipated with the increased enrollment and can handle holdbacks with “some position eliminations and deferred maintenance and that sort of thing, but over the long term, NIC students are going to feel the impact in a number of areas,” she said. “I submit to you that the state can make no better investment than investing in community colleges,” Bell told state lawmakers. “We are the workhorses of the higher education system.”

Enrollment at NIC is up about 20 percent from last spring, at 5,852 students, according to a news release.

Betsy Z. Russell

Child-luring case prompts caution

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies Thursday issued a caution for children and parents in the vicinity of Mountain View Elementary School after a 13-year-old boy was confronted by a masked man while walking home Wednesday evening.

The boy reported that a man in a newer, dark green, full-size, four-door Ford pickup asked the boy to approach the truck, but the student ran instead. The driver chased the boy a short distance but then left the area. The driver was wearing a dark ski mask with holes for the eyes and mouth.

The incident, which occurred about 5 p.m. in the 6000 block of North Chase Road, is being investigated as a child luring incident, said Sgt. Dave Reagan, sheriff’s spokesman.

Parents and children are being asked to talk to their kids about how to avoid being lured by a stranger, Reagan said. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Staff reports