NEW THIS MORNING: Friday, Oct. 18

1. Community Resource Fair offers support, info for students with special needs, disabilities

Hunter Lange's smile was contagious as he visited different information tables and made a few new friends Wednesday evening.

He and his mom, Danielle Lange, attended the Coeur d'Alene School District's Community Resource Fair at Venture Academy to scope out post-high-school possibilities for Hunter, 14, who will be graduating before they know it.

He said so far, he's interested in art and cooking.

"I cook mac and cheese by myself," he said with his friendly smile.

“He cooks with me, too,” Danielle said, also smiling.

She said the Community Resource Fair was a helpful event for families.

"It lets the children and parents know they have some guidance in the real world after high school,” she said. “It gives them more of a subtle way into it rather than just, ‘OK, here you go.’”

2. St. Maries man pleads guilty to rape, faces more charges

A St. Maries man who pleaded guilty to raping a teen girl now faces additional charges for allegedly raping a different girl.

Jonathan R. Cummins, 22, pleaded guilty last week in a Kootenai County court to rape, a felony punishable by up to life in prison. 

The charges stem from July, when a 16-year-old girl reported to police that Cummins raped her after providing her with alcohol. Witnesses told police they walked in on an unclothed Cummins in the teen’s bedroom and, upon learning he was 22 years old, told him to leave. 

In exchange for Cummins’ guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a felony charge of sexual battery of a minor and recommended that the court retain jurisdiction over Cummins when it’s time for him to be sentenced. 

If the court retains jurisdiction over Cummins, he would enter a prison treatment program, called a rider, for up to one year before the judge decides to place him on probation or send him back to prison. 

3. Order native trees through Panhandle Seedling Program

The Kootenai Shoshone Soil and Water Conservation District is selling tree seedlings native to North Idaho through its Panhandle Seedling Program.

Species available this year are ponderosa, lodgepole and western white pine, western larch, western red cedar, Douglas fir and Engleman spruce.

Professional foresters with extensive knowledge of commercial and small landowner timber needs comprise the Panhandle Seedling Program board. The program was created to provide high-quality native seedlings to private landowners in the community to meet their goals for forest management health in realistic quantities at affordable prices.