Idaho Briefs March 28, 2010

Homeowners sue couple after crash; Officials approve wind farm; Poacher receives lifetime hunting ban; Boise considers new fire codes; Season pass maker stolen; Man faces benefits fraud charges

Homeowners sue couple after crash

LEWISTON — A North Idaho couple whose house was damaged by a vehicle has filed a lawsuit against a man and woman who the homeowners said had been drinking and were having sex when the man lost control of the 2003 Dodge pickup last month.

Homeowners Teresa A. Roesner-Weatherby and William Weatherby filed the lawsuit in 2nd District Court against Jonathan J. Schlee and Courtney Zimmerman, the Lewiston Tribune reported.

The homeowners are seeking a court order preventing Schlee and Zimmerman from being in a car at the same time. They are also seeking damages in excess of $10,000.

Schlee pleaded not guilty to a charge of misdemeanor driving under the influence following the Feb. 28 crash.

The lawsuit said the truck drove through the kitchen of the home and stopped in a nearby yard.

Officials approve wind farm

BLACKFOOT — The Bingham County Planning and Zoning Board has approved a 33-turbine wind farm on 2,971 acres in eastern Idaho.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Melody Halstead said no one appeared at the meeting last week to oppose the project proposed by Western Energy of Utah.

Halstead told the Idaho State Journal that the company can move forward with the project unless an appeal is filed within 10 days of the board’s decision.

Poacher receives lifetime hunting ban

SALMON — An Idaho Falls man who last month pleaded guilty to a felony violation of unlawful taking of multiple big-game animals has been stripped of his hunting privileges for life.

The sentence 54-year-old Jerry G. Ferguson received earlier this week in 7th District also includes 60 days in jail, a $7,500 fine, and a prohibition from being in hunting camps or possessing a firearm in the field for 10 years.

According to court documents Ferguson shot and killed five cow elk during a hunting trip near Salmon in central Idaho on Dec. 5, 2008.

Authorities said Ferguson retrieved one elk but left the others in the field.

Lemhi County Prosecuting Attorney Bruce Withers tells the Post Register it’s one of the most egregious poaching cases he’s ever seen.

Ferguson’s lifetime hunting ban can be reviewed in 10 years.

Boise considers new fire codes

BOISE — The Boise City Council will consider new fire codes intended to make homes better protected from wild fires in two zones where the city bumps up against natural areas that make them susceptible to quick blazes.

City officials estimate meeting the codes would add about $600 to the cost of a new 1,500-square-foot home.

The proposed changes are prompted by the Oregon Trail Fire in August 2008 that destroyed 10 homes in the Oregon Trail Heights subdivision, damaged up to 34 others, and killed Boise State University English professor Mary Ellen Ryder.

Boise Planning Director Hal Simmoms told the Idaho Statesman that the changes could be in place by May if the city council approves.

Season pass maker stolen

INKOM — An official at the Pebble Creek Ski Area in eastern Idaho saids that up to 400 season passes for next winter will have to be remade because someone stole the machine that makes them.

Director Mary Reichman said the $5,000 machine contains the artwork for next season’s passes, so anyone who already bought a pass for next season will have to turn it in to get different ones.

Reichman said someone broke in Feb. 21 and stole about $1,000 in cash.

She said a second break-in happened earlier this month but the cash box only had some change because employees started keeping the cash elsewhere.

Reichman said whoever broke in then took the pass making machine and a computer.

Man faces benefits fraud charges

TWIN FALLS — A south-central Idaho man who police said set up a scheme to collect unemployment checks while in the Twin Falls County Jail has been charged with four felonies.

Fifty-one-year-old Robert Latham Jr. was charged Friday in 5th District Court with misrepresentation to obtain unemployment benefits, two counts of aiding and abetting in the misrepresentation to obtain unemployment benefits, and conspiracy to misrepresentation to obtain unemployment benefits.