Best Photos of 2013

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press A firefighter sprays water onto a burning tree Monday, July 22, 2013 as crews from several area agencies responded to a wildland fire near Q'Emiln Park in Post Falls.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press 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 Monday, July 22, 2013 during a wildland fire.</p>

<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press A trio of geese fight in a pond Tuesday April, 18 south of Coeur d'Alene near Mica Bay.</p>

<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/PressKootenai County Sheriff deputies prepare to move a suspect who was arrested Wednesday February, 7 for leading three law enforcement agencies on a high-speed chase through Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Coeur d'Alene. The suspect wrecked the vehicle he was in at Hubbard Avenue and Northwest Boulevard and then led police officers on a short foot pursuit through the education corridor before being apprehended.</p>

<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Coeur d'Alene High's Madison Sumner, right, battles Hallie Gennett from Post Falls High for a rebound Saturday February, 17 during the first half of the Idaho 5A State championship game at the Idaho Center in Nampa.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press A trooper with Idaho State Police pauses while processing the scene of a fatal collision Thursday, April 25, 2013 on Highway 41 near Twin Lakes.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Dressed in full tactical gear, an officer takes aim on the back side of a home on the corner 7th Street and Hattie Avenue Monday, July 1, 2013 as a Coeur d'Alene Police Department officer crouches behind a squad car during a standoff that closed several streets in the area for several hours.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press First place finisher in the second pro-class race Taylor Robert of Scottsdale, Arizona rounds a sharp turn through a mud pit at the endurocross races Friday July, 12 at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.</p>

<p>Gabe Green/Press From left, Lake City High seniors JJ Winger, Justin Pratt and Kyle Guice look to lead the Tmberwolf boys basketball team back to the state 5A tournament this year.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press New Idaho Teacher of The Year, Jamie Esler, a science teacher at Lake City High School thanks students and fellow teachers at a school assembly Friday morning after being presented with the award. The entire school was led to believe the assembly was related to a safety inspection. The announcement for teacher of the year was a surprise to all, including Esler’s mother Linda who was in attendance.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press In this March 5, 2013 photo, Casey Stangel is featured as the starting softball pitcher for Lake City High School for her fourth straight year.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press A cyclist plows through thousands of ash aphids that fill the air in the city park Wednesday, October 23, 2013 in Coeur d’Alene.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press Ken Ryan extends his hand to an orphaned hawk that he took in around four months ago. Ryan named the hawk Accipiter and has been caring for it at his home in Newman Lake.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Dennis Rachunok, of Hayden, searches for treasures Monday, January 21, 2013 with his metal detector in the shallow waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene.</p>

<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Nicholas Mattison keeps an eye on his dog Zoey Waddles as she pulls him down Sherman Avenue on his skateboard Monday February, 12 in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Mattison rescued his dog last year and takes her out for "pulls" two to three times a day. "She can't get enough of it," Mattison said about his pet. "I have five kids and they're always having her pull them in something."</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press A male Kokanee salmon swims up Hayden Creek a little over a mile North on Hayden Creek Road. Kokanee were first introduced to Hayden Lake in 2011.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press A combine harvests a field near Meyer Road on the afternoon of Tuesday August, 13.</p>

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press 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>SHAWN GUST/Press 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>SHAWN GUST/Press 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>GABE GREEN/Press NIC freshman 141 pound Terrance McKinney pins Northwest’s Zac Loveless one handed in the final seconds of their fourth round on Friday December, 13.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press Coeur d'Alene firefighters cut the door off of a car involved in a fatal three car collision at the intersection of Northwest Boulevard and River Avenue Tuesday August, 27.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press Playing as one of the Andrews Sisters, Alyssa Perry,10, sings a rendition of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Friday December, 6 at Winton Elementary during the school’s Pearl Harbor assembly. The other two sisters were played by MacKara McKenzie and Victoria Mattson, both 10.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press Kris Ratzlaff, a volunteer for the Pro-West Rodeo Finals, and his son Jacob, left, look on at saddle bronc riders as the sun goes down on the Kootenai County Fairgrounds Saturday October, 5.</p>

<p>GABE GREEN/Press NIC Freshman Cole Kesler bounds through Arizona Western players on his way to the hoop Saturday November, 16.</p>