Ken Olsen

As Vernon Baker’s family flew east for his memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week, workers tackled a roster of repair projects at the late World War II hero’s Benewah Valley home, from reroofing to rebuilding the drainage system. With hard labor, luck and more than $22,000 in donations from across the country, they hope to have all of the work finished by the time Baker’s widow, Heidy, her daughter Alexandra Pawlik and her grandson Vernon return on Sunday. That will include installing new skylights, replacing sheet-rock damaged by leaks, the new roof and a new woodshed to hold 10 cords of donated firewood.

In a surprise veto Tuesday, Gov. Phil Batt erased protection for the Spokane-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. Batt's veto puts him at odds with both houses of the Idaho Legislature, which had unanimously endorsed the $58,000 appropriation to the Panhandle Health District. If not fixed next session, it could cost small water districts hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in additional water tests, legislators say.

A railroad refueling depot proposed near Rathdrum will put far more chemicals above the area's primary drinking water source than originally proposed. The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad now wants to build at least eight storage tanks holding more than 2.2 million gallons of diesel fuel, lubricating oil and water laced with petroleum products, according to Kootenai County planning records.

Local Republican women are super mad over Superfund. It's leading to a war-room session with U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, officials from U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's office, the Kootenai County Commissioners and the mayors of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls. The objective: stop the EPA from using the Superfund program to clean up mining contamination outside of the Kellogg area.

The hotly contested proposal to repeal collective bargaining for city employees won't land before the City Council on April 7. The issue has been pushed back to the council's April 21 meeting, City Administrator Ken Thompson said. That will give the council more time to hear testimony on the issue.

Forest Service workers sealed several abandoned mine openings in 1996, drilling holes in the rock and then closing the entrances with dynamite. File/The Spokesman-Review

Eight Idaho environmental groups want the federal General Accounting Office to investigate a U.S. Forest Service study of hundreds of landslides that occurred on the Clearwater Forest the past two winters. Idaho's congressional delegation is being asked to initiate the GAO study in a letter mailed Friday by groups including the Idaho Conservation League, the Ecology Center and Friends of the Clearwater.

Dan Williams announces his candidacy Wednesday. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Cougar Bay developers have won a round in Kootenai County District Court but already face another lawsuit over their proposed $2.2 million subdivision. Judge James R. Michaud ruled last week against the Rural Kootenai Organization, which has opposed the Cougar Bay development since 1993. The organization sued Kootenai County commissioners, alleging they had broken the law when they approved the final plat for the Cougar Bay subdivision.

Coeur d'Alene city workers, who packed council chambers Monday, applaud fellow employees who took turns lambasting the General Services Committee. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Two North Idaho counties rank in the top 10 statewide in population growth from 1990 to 1997, the U.S. Census Bureau has announced. Kootenai County's population is 98,767, up 28,972 in those seven years, the second-largest increase in numbers in the state. Ada County - the state's most populous with 267,168 residents - gained the most people, 62,000.

A $2.8 million police station likely will get final approval from the City Council at its regular meeting tonight. Ground-breaking could be as early as August. The new station should be ready for badges and blue uniforms by spring 1999.

A 25-year-old white supremacist who escaped from jail in Bonner County last month was nabbed in Western Washington early Saturday. Matthew M. Bracken of Sandpoint had a loaded .22-caliber pistol and bomb-making material in the stolen car he was driving, according to the Washington State Patrol. The State Patrol arrested Bracken at the Toutle Hill Rest Area north of Castle Rock on Interstate 5 about 6:15 a.m.

Author Leonard Garment is in Coeur d'Alene for a panel discussion about the survival of independent bookstores. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

God would have trouble getting the Bible published in America today, Richard Nixon's former White House lawyer said Saturday. "The publisher and the chain bookstores only read the profile of the books," Leonard Garment said. With the Bible, "they would say, 'Oh, no. It's very repetitious. And it has all of those names. And what's this about the world being formed in six days?' "At best, the good book would get a tiny shot at the science fiction section."

Timber sales on national forests in the Inland Northwest will drop only about 8 million board feet this year if the Forest Service temporarily stops building roads in roadless areas. The Colville National Forest would drop its timber sale program from 60 million board feet to 57 million board feet. The Idaho Panhandle National Forests would reduce its timber sales from 63 million board feet to 61 million board feet.

New parade rules may be in place by the time the Aryan Nations resurrects its 100 Man Flag March in July. The Coeur d'Alene City Council will consider new ordinances giving the city the ability to control the time, place and manner of gatherings, Mayor Steve Judy said.

Cougar Bay developers can delay starting their housing development until lawsuits over the controversial project are settled. Kootenai County commissioners signed an order this week granting the extension.

The Ku Klux Klan won't rally as planned Saturday in a Chicago suburb in exchange for town officials making sure Klan literature goes to area homes. The town of Cicero found an anonymous donor willing to give $10,000 to pay for distribution of Klan literature, Betty Loren-Maltese, president of the town of Cicero said Wednesday.

The Jewish Defense League cannot stage a countermarch during a proposed Aryan Nations parade next month, city officials said Tuesday. The league says it will fight that ruling and is asking the American Civil Liberties Union for help. Mayor Steve Judy denied the league's application to hold a parade on Sherman Avenue on April 18 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. because it's the same time and place requested by the Aryan Nations.

Developers have not solved the basic problems with the Beauty Park subdivision, neighbors say. Although it's smaller and more upscale, they say, it will overwhelm already crowded schools, make traffic unbearable and reduce property values.

David Adler piles on one more book for his wife during the annual Used Book Sale and Raffle at the Silver Lake Mall on Sunday. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Travis Monroe, 3, runs across the outfield of McEuen Park Friday morning. A citizens group fears the Urban Renewal Commission of Coeur d'Alene is still considering plans to change the nature of the park. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Dale Loper searches for a report amid the crowded facilities in city hall. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review