Year in review: Notable news of 2013
<p>A trooper with Idaho State Police pauses while processing the scene of a fatal collision April 25 on Highway 41 near Twin Lakes.</p>
<p>A firefighter sprays water onto a burning tree July 22 as crews from several area agencies responded to a wildland fire near Q'Emiln Park in Post Falls.</p>
<p>James Neils, chief 702 with Hauser Lake Fire Protection District, holds a post as the northeast safety lookout over Lower Fifth Canyon in Q'emiln Park July 22 during a wildland fire.</p>
<p>Lawrence Young, of Coeur d'Alene, steers his boat toward the dock October 25 while fishing on Fernan Lake.</p>
<p>Driver Jimmy Shane celebrates with a thumbs up to his pit crew after finishing first in the 2013 Coeur d'Alene Diamond Cup on September 1, 2013.</p>
<p>Donald Evans rides a store scooter adorned with tin cans through the aisles of Walmart Friday, June 28, 2013 following his wedding at the Post Falls store.</p>
<p>A firefighting aircraft dumps retardant on a fire near Mica Bay estimated to be five acres in size near Doubletree Road on Tuesday, July 30, 2013.</p>
<p>The number 57 Fedco hydroplane, driven by Mark Evans with the Evans Brothers Racing team, flies into turn number two while performing a test run Friday August, 30 on Lake Coeur d'Alene.</p>
<p>Dick Stauffer answers questions and elaborates on features of the new McEuen Park Saturday October, 12 as members of the public toured the grounds for the first time since construction began.</p>
<p>Jenny Vanderhoef, left, and Erin Lyke, debate their position in support of non-discrimination regulations with two individuals who refused to give their names and do not support the regulations. Due to a maximum capacity of attendance at the June 5 meeting, many had to wait outside of the city council meeting at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library until space was available in the library's community room.</p>
It's been a year of change in Kootenai County.
We said goodbye to many longtime local officials, and are welcoming a fresh batch of newsmakers to government leadership positions.
A major change in the physical landscape of downtown Coeur d'Alene took place throughout the year, while there was a major shift in the political landscape.
Join us as we take a look back at some of the most noteworthy, talked-about news stories of the past 12 months.
McEuen Park comes alive
The McEuen Park transformation - an issue that since 2010 has launched countless meetings, news articles, letters to the editor, a few rallies and a failed attempt to recall elected Coeur d'Alene city officials who favored the plan - finally began taking solid shape in 2013.
The official groundbreaking took place in September 2012, but the bulk of the project didn't go to bid until last March. The $14.8 million contract for park enhancements went to Coeur d'Alene-based Contractors Northwest, Inc. and the work began last spring.
The estimated total cost of the project is $20.2 million, according to a cost breakdown available for download from the Lake City Development Corp.'s website, lcdc.org. The price tag includes $15.6 million for park improvements, the new parking facility, the new parking lot near City Hall and the Front Avenue promenade that overlooks the park. The additional costs cover street and infrastructure improvements and architect and engineering fees.
A section of the new parking structure opened in November. The rest of the parking facility is expected to open next spring, along with the new playground and splash pad, the sports courts and the plazas and pavilions.
Return of the hydroplanes
After a 45-year absence, hydroplane race fans and the lightning-fast boats they love to watch returned to Lake Coeur d'Alene.
The Diamond Cup Regatta, a three-day extravaganza, was held during Labor Day weekend just off Silver Beach. Organizers say the event attracted thousands of race fans to the Lake City.
Call for accountability
The owners and operators of the now-closed Coeur d'Alene coin shop CoiNuts have a trial coming up this year after the Idaho Attorney General's Office decided to take them to court in 2013.
The Attorney General's Office is seeking restitution for customers who claimed the owners and operators failed to deliver on gold and silver paid for in advance.
The Press ran a series of stories in 2013 on CoiNuts and its owner, Kevin E. Mitchell, exposing alleged shady dealings with customers and leading to the Attorney General's civil case.
Several former customers filed lawsuits against the business and Mitchell, claiming he swindled them out of tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. They alleged he either bought gold and coins with bad checks or charged for valuables he promised to order but never delivered on.
A trial is set for April 21. However, a motion for summary judgment has been scheduled for Jan. 17.
Local elections go partisan
In years past, any political office, that wasn't at least countywide, was considered nonpartisan. This year all of that changed.
In April, Jeff Ward, of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, announced that the days of uncontested elections - even in the smallest nonpartisan taxing district races - were over.
"These taxing districts control hundreds of millions of tax dollars," he said. "This is public money we are talking about, and they are making decisions on how this money is spent."
Ward's organization had been quietly and successfully putting up Republican candidates in certain nonpartisan races and in 2012, wound up stacking a controversial majority voting block on the Coeur d'Alene School Board.
When the school district elections came up in May, Reagan Republicans not only backed their candidates with partisan literature, they also endorsed two candidates for the Kootenai Health Board of Directors.
The group also backed two candidates for the Post Falls School Board.
All of the Reagan Republican candidates wound up losing the May elections except for those Post Falls candidates.
They tried again in November during the city council and mayoral races in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene. This time they lost all of their races.
A tide turned in 2013 making it much more difficult for the Republican club to dominate the local elections.
Ward said during the school board and hospital district races, that a large number of new voters came into the race to oppose their candidates. The same thing happened in November. He said they do better in low-turnout elections.
The loss appears to be attributable in part to the rise of a new Political Action Committee called Balance North Idaho that was formed to support nonpartisan candidates.
Rise of the PACs
It started in April when the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans declared they were going to support partisan candidates for even the smallest taxing districts in Kootenai County.
The KCRR has a Political Action Committee designed to financially support Republican candidates endorse by its club.
That news prompted the formation of another PAC called Balance North Idaho, which founders say was formed to endorse and support qualified candidates for the nonpartisan elections regardless of the candidates' political affiliations.
BNI was successful in battling back the KCRR endorsed candidates during the nonpartisan elections in May and November.
But they were not alone. By the time the city elections came around in November, A total of eight PACs had formed or engaged in the nonpartisan race for the first time.
They included Reclaim North Idaho, Coeur d'Alene Fire PAC, Truth North Idaho, Kootenai Fire and Rescue Local 2856 PAC, Professional Firefighters Association and Coeur d'Alene Peace Officers Association.
ULUC tossed out
After several years of piecing together its new Unified Land Use Code, Kootenai County commissioners decided to toss out the roughly $400,000 effort and start over.
It started in June when the county commissioners asked its planning and zoning commission to begin holding hearings to adopt the new land use codes.
Opposition was brewing, however, and the first public hearing - in a series of public hearings on the issue - was shut down by the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department because the hearing room was over capacity with protesters.
The county commissioners suspended the rest of the hearings, and later decided to start over to create a more acceptable land use code.
The county planning commission just began that effort in November, and is hoping to have a new code completed by late summer of 2014.
Cd'A, Post Falls mayors give way to new leaders
Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem and Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin decided to not seek re-election during November's election.
Steve Widmyer was elected Coeur d'Alene's next mayor, defeating Mary Souza and Joe Kunka.
Ron Jacobson, a Post Falls City Council member, was elected that city's mayor over Kerri Thoreson, another council member.
Widmyer and Jacobson will take office in January.
Bloem is Coeur d'Alene's only three-term mayor and its only female mayor. Larkin has been Post Falls' mayor for 13 years, longer than any of the city's previous 35 mayors.
Anti-discrimination debate
One of the most contentious issues considered by Coeur d'Alene City Council members in 2013 was the anti-discrimination ordinance they voted to put on the books in June.
The municipal law protects lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people from discrimination when seeking housing, employment and public accommodation.
The council voted 5-1 to adopt the ordinance after five hours of public testimony and debate, during a meeting that attracted nearly 400 people to Coeur d'Alene Public Library. Attendees weighed in on both sides of the issue.
Coeur d'Alene and other cities in Idaho have adopted similar ordinances because the state's human rights laws do not include language that protects individuals from discrimination due to sexual orientation, and legislators have not been willing to change the law at the state level.
County clerk's death
The community was surprised and saddened by the unexpected death of Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes. The 62-year-old died at his home near Post Falls on Dec. 12.
Hayes served as Post Falls police chief for 22 years before he was elected county clerk.
More than 300 people attended a memorial service held the Saturday before Christmas at the Lions Grand Pavilion at Q'emiln Park in Post Falls.
The Kootenai County commissioners subsequently appointed Jim Brannon to serve as interim clerk. He will complete the final year of Hayes' term. The position will be on the ballot in November.