Top stories of 2012

CNN proclaimed 2012 "The year of 'meh.'"

In North Idaho, though, there were fireworks aplenty. Here are the top 10 stories of the year as selected by The Press editorial staff.

1. McEuen Field

The year began with two new city councilmen, Dan Gookin and Steve Adams, sworn to the seats they won in November. Both Gookin and Adams opposed the McEuen Field redevelopment project, and with councilman Ron Edinger, the three comprised a united front against the members of the City Council who approved moving forward with the project. Yet the opposition votes were not enough, and Mayor Sandi Bloem broke almost all tie votes on the project, which moved it forward. By spring, the controversy around the issue sparked an unsuccessful recall effort against the pro-development side of the council. Yet, the year concluded with the city breaking ground on the first step of the project. And in December, a month before the project is supposed to go out to bid so it can get built in 2013, the park designers suggested that the city seek $4 million more to enhance the project further, which would bring the total to roughly $17 million. The council will take up that issue Wednesday.

2. The Recall effort

The four incumbents who voted in favor of moving the McEuen Field project forward (and against issuing a public vote on the project) were targeted in a recall effort by a group of citizens, called Recall Cda. Recall Cda needed 4,311 signatures from valid Coeur d'Alene voters to prompt the election, and from April through June petitioners could be spotted soliciting signatures, while yards throughout town had signs stating stances on the issue. The effort came up between 185 and 251 certified signatures short of the 4,311 mark on each incumbent, so no vote occurred.

3. Lucky Friday mine

The primary access shaft for the Lucky Friday mine in Mullan was closed in 2012, ending production for the year and putting hundreds of miners out of work.

Miners average $100,000 a year in pay and benefits, pay that is nearly impossible to replace in this area.

The owner of the mine, Hecla Mining Co., had to spend tens of millions of dollars on cleanup and improvements to the Silver Shaft in 2012.

The shaft was closed in January 2012 following a streak of major accidents at the mine in 2011, including two fatal accidents.

Lucky Friday mine had gone 25 years without a fatality.

Hecla removed loose cement and sand material that had accumulated on the walls of the Silver Shaft, and removed unused utilities. It also constructed a metal barrier between the two halves of the shaft, installed a new power cable, and improved the shaft's functionality.

Federal safety regulators wanted the walls of the Silver Shaft, which is 18 feet in diameter and travels a mile down, cleaned.

The closure meant Hecla had to lay off about 200 of its workers, along with about 100 workers employed by contractors who work at the mine.

4. Embezzling

A finance employee with the city of Coeur d'Alene was caught last summer embezzling city funds. After other employees uncovered the fraud, which used the names of three vendors but primarily stole from an insurance company, research showed the fraud covered six years and accounted for $365,000. Nobody in the finance department was reprimanded for the theft, but Sheryl L. Carroll pleaded guilty to six counts of wire fraud in November. She faces up to 20 years on each count, and will be sentenced in February.

The year before, Kootenai former Kootenai County Chief Deputy Clerk Sandy Martinson was convicted of stealing $139,000 over 10 years from the county.

5. Coeur d'Alene school board shake-up

The Coeur d'Alene school board began moving in what some consider a new idealogical direction in 2011, with the election of two newcomers, Tom Hamilton and Terri Seymour, whose campaigns were backed by the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans. In 2012, the five-member board's make-up continued to shift, ending the year with three appointed trustees, each with just a few months of experience, and the two elected board members with 18 months under their belts.

A lawsuit brought last year by Hamilton and Seymour resulted in February in the nullification of board chair Wanda Quinn's 2011 appointment. That space was subsequently filled by Jim Purtee, by appointment. Two longtime board members, Diane Zipperer and Sid Fredrickson, later resigned, their spaces filled by appointment also, by Ann Seddon and Jim Hightower. Purtee resigned in November and Brent Regan was appointed in December to fill that seat.

The fledgling board made some big changes in the district this year.

Last summer, citing lackluster exam scores and low class enrollment that did not substantiate the cost, they pulled the plug on the International Baccalaureate program, an advanced learning curriculum framework offered at Lake City High School. In October, the trustees terminated another International Baccalaureate Organization school offering, the Primary Years Programme at Hayden Meadows Elementary. During a 4-hour meeting that elicited testimony from 31 citizens with differing views on whether the PYP should be retained, and a petition with 630 signatures calling for program to remain in place, the trustees pulled PYP, stating it needed to go because it promotes the concept of global citizenship and has a social and philosophical agenda.

Under this board's direction, the district is now moving forward with major renovations and redesigns of five of its aging schools, and infrastructure improvements in buildings district-wide. Trustees asked voters to approve $32.7 million in bond debt to finance the school facility projects, and the measure passed with overwhelming approval at the polls on Aug. 28.

The trustees begin the new year tasked with running a supplemental levy campaign for a March election. They are considering asking voters to replace an expiring two-year, $12.9 million per year maintenance and operations levy with another levy for the same amount. The trustees are expected to set the levy amount when they meet on Jan. 7.

6. Long awaited highway projects

The new Interstate 90 interchange near the state line in Post Falls opened in late November. It is expected to lead to more business activity near Cabela's and Wal-Mart.

The $35 million project is the first to be used under the State Tax Anticipated Revenue (STAR) legislation approved by the state Legislature in 2007.

Meanwhile, another Interstate 90 project at Post Falls, an overpass at Greensferry Road, recently got new life when the city council approved extending the life of an urban renewal district to fund the project.

The overpass, which has been bantered for more than a decade but hasn't advanced due to the lack of state and federal funds, will create another north-south passage across the freeway and is intended to ease congestion and improve emergency response.

City and urban renewal officials have said construction could begin as early as 2014

7. Republican presidential caucuses in Idaho

Idaho held its first Super Tuesday Republican presidential caucus in March so the state could have a say in the presidential candidate nominating process.

As it turned out, southern Idaho spoke for Idaho before North Idaho even had a chance.

It took seven hours to select a winner in Kootenai County. It was the state's last county to report caucus results.

The state's winner by then was long known, with southern Idaho finishing up much earlier and deciding Mitt Romney would get the state's 32 delegates.

There was a lot of standing in lines at caucus locations as voters were eager to have an influence.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum won Kootenai County. Santorum visited Coeur d'Alene on the campaign trail, as did former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Texas Congressman Ron Paul visited Moscow and Sandpoint on the campaign trail.

It was a fun time in Idaho for once for presidential politics.

Look for changes the next time Idaho holds caucuses on Super Tuesday.

8. Record fundraising nets new club

After seven years of fundraising and several years of planning before that, the 10,000-square foot, $1.3 million Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County-Jordan Johnson Center was recently completed in Post Falls and will be open for after-school programs in January.

A summer fundraiser at the Lake Coeur d'Alene estate of Duane B. Hagadone, chairman of the Hagadone Corp., and his wife, Lola, raised more than $500,000 for the nonprofit. It was one of the largest amounts for a fundraiser in Kootenai County history.

The club has been operating after-school and summer programs for kids ages 6-18 out of the Nazarene Church in Post Falls across from Mullan Trail Elementary since 2007.

The nonprofit plans to eventually build a facility in Coeur d'Alene.

9. Ironman death

During the 10th anniversary of the race coming to Coeur d'Alene, a 44-year-old Seattle man competing in the swimming portion of the race died after losing consciousness in the water.

Sean Murphy was swimming in the June 24 event when his heart slipped into an abnormal rhythm, losing the necessary coordination to pump blood. He then lost consciousness. Murphy died at 1:07 p.m. on June 26.

It was the first death in the popular Coeur d'Alene race since it came to town 10 years ago.

10. Online commenter outed

Former Kootenai County Republican Party Central Committee chair Tina Jacobson took an anonymous online commenter on and won.

A judge in Kootenai County ruled that the Spokesman-Review newspaper must give Jacobson information that could lead to the identity of the anonymous commenter, who made comments on Feb. 14 on the blog Huckleberries Online.

The commenter, known as "almostinnocentbystander," suggested Jacobson stole $10,000 from the local party.

Right after the judge's ruling, the commenter unmasked herself - Linda Cook, herself a local Republican operative.

The outing of an online commenter attracted the attention of the national media, including National Public Radio and the Los Angles Times.