NEW THIS MORNING: Tuesday, Oct. 29
1. North Idaho scam calls keep coming
A scam that has callers impersonating law officers and threatening arrests unless money is paid continues to make the rounds in Kootenai County.
Most recently, Post Falls police said a caller poses as an officer speaking to an individual about outstanding warrants and tries to obtain money to offset the debt. The number they are calling from indicates it is from the police.
People receiving this call have reported that the callers request payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency to take care of the warrant.
Capt. Mark Brantl of Post Falls Police said that the scam has come up before in the last couple of years and that previous scams have “spoofed” or faked the department's phone number.
The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office also recently reported that locals have been targeted by the same scam.
2. Museum of North Idaho's move to new home delayed
The Museum of North Idaho initially hoped to open its new home at McEuen Park last spring. Due to construction delays, it was pushed back to fall.
October was the next target date, but again, construction delays.
Now, it's looking at renovations of the J.C. White House to be completed before Christmas. If that holds, it could begin moving in this winter, with a tentative grand opening in late March.
But don't pencil anything in just yet.
"Any time you're dealing with a renovated historic building, you don't know what work needs to be done until you get in there," said Britt Thurman, MNI executive director.
Despite previous delays, Thurman believes construction will be completed about mid-December.
"We're feeling confident that's when it will be done," Thurman said.
3. Continuous Composites wins $25 million patent infringement settlement
3D manufacturing company Continuous Composites will receive a $25 million settlement from another manufacturer for patent infringement, according to a settlement and patent license agreement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Continuous Composites, which was founded in Coeur d’Alene in 2012, sued 3D manufacturing company Markforged for patent infringement in 2021. The suit alleged that Markforged made and sold continuous fiber composite 3D printers that infringed Continuous Composites’ patented inventions, without permission and without compensation. Markforged asserted that it had invented the technology first.
A federal jury in the District of Delaware found in April that Markforged had infringed a patent and awarded $17.3 million in monetary damages to Continuous Composites. The damages accounted for sales of the infringing machines between Nov. 16, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2023.
Jurors found that a second patent claim brought at trial was invalid and that Markforged had not infringed.
“We are thankful for the jury’s diligence in recognizing Markforged’s infringement and our prior rights to Continuous Composites’ foundational patents,” Steve Starner, CEO of Continuous Composites, said in a statement issued after the verdict. “It confirms the value of our technology that the team has been working hard on since 2012 and we are committed to protecting our patents from those who wrongfully use them.”
4. Shoshone County partners with Post Falls for building inspections
The Shoshone County commissioners approved a contract with the city of Post Falls last week for a building inspector while it establishes its own enforcement department.
Post Falls and the county will split the revenue 65/35 from issuing new building permits until the county’s newly hired inspector can work on his own.
Previously, the county had shared a similar relationship with the city of Kellogg, but the split was 85/15 in favor of Kellogg. This constituted a reported $80,000 to $100,000 that Kellogg was making doing these inspections for the county.
According to Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman, moving away from Kellogg wasn’t a simple decision but part of the county making a bigger play toward generating revenue while also providing a missing level of enforcement.
“We made this decision to bring the building inspector in-house because of code enforcement,” Zimmerman said, “not because Kellogg wasn’t doing their job. We were lacking code enforcement. Our borders, from the St. Joe River to Kootenai County to the Coeur d’Alene River all the way up to Montana, we’ve got a large area.”