Hoop notes as season gets rolling

Some more thoughts on local high school basketball that didn’t make it into The Press’ winter sports special section inserted into today’s newspaper, and/or topics that may be expounded on in the near future:

McEuen contract won't be delayed

Council approves contract 4-2 despite postponement bid

COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Steve Adams says his attempt to postpone the McEuen Field financial contract pending a nearly 3-year-old court case wasn't a stall tactic aimed at boondoggling the controversial project.

Osteoarthritis relief

Osteoarthritis (OA), a type of arthritis characterized by the degeneration of cartilage in a joint, is one of many conditions with a seemingly hopeless prognosis. Typically, patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis are told that cartilage simply does not regenerate, and thus they are destined for a joint replacement or other surgical intervention. However, there is significant evidence supporting our clinical experience that cartilage can, in fact, repair itself. One study supporting this claim appeared in the Journal of Rheumatology in 2006. In this study of 124 individuals, their degree of “cartilage defects” were graded and they were tracked over a two year period. The remarkable finding in this study was that, although many of the participants who began with little to no cartilage defects did see minor to moderate degradation, those who began with moderate to severe cartilage defects often saw an improvement in their cartilage health. In fact, of those who began with a grade 4 defect (the most severe), 80% saw an improvement!

North Idaho mayors to gather at Innovation Den

Next week’s confab of area leaders will allow Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer to showcase one of the City’s forward-thinking locales: He’s hosting the North Idaho Mayors’ Coalition at the Innovation Den.

Housing strategies, solutions

Solving the housing crisis in North Idaho is not an unattainable goal. It may be a "BHAG" — a "big hairy audacious goal" — but those who are working to accomplish this feat realize it will take collaboration, communication and innovative ways of doing things to arrive at outcomes desirable for the whole community.

OPINION: Don’t be a useful idiot

When any political supporters blindly follow the lead of the authoritarians in charge, and don’t question or understand the reasons, yet still carry out their orders, they could be called “useful idiots.” The term sounds like a mean slur, but is actually a longtime political concept rooted in communist history and has been powerfully applied by leaders from Carl Marx to Saul Alinsky.

Front Porch Conversations: ‘Hearing about the past does bring hope’

Kellogg Front Porch Conversations nears end of speaker lineup

Worker housing one hot topic Monday

Growth group hopes to have recommendations this fall

Monday meeting features updates from regional and local worker studies

ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Dangers of HRT and restoring natural hormone production

Let’s face it: bioidentical hormones can be a “miracle” for many menopausal women, eliminating or significantly reducing hot flashes and helping them to sleep, think, and enjoy sex again.

Kovacs' salary on the agenda: County commissioners will consider reducing assessor's compensation when they meet today at 6 p.m.

A new agenda item was added Tuesday afternoon to the official notice of today's special meeting of the Kootenai County commissioners. The agenda for the 6 p.m. meeting, scheduled as a county budget hearing, was updated to include a new topic for discussion and possible action by the commissioners: "Elected Official Salary – Reduction in Assessor Salary." The initial agenda, posted last week, did not include this item referring to Kootenai County Assessor Bela Kovacs.

Hunter education opps abound in Panhandle

Here's what you need to know

Hunters, it's your time

Man dies from exposure to cold water

MEDIMONT - A 52-year-old Osburn man ended up dying after his boat overturned on Medicine Lake Wednesday afternoon.

School and Senior Lunches

School menus

PIGS: Shame on animal deserters

To whoever dumped their two guinea pigs last Sunday in the woods near the water tower on Wilber Avenue, shame on you! It saddens me that someone would do such a thing to these little animals with snow on the ground and 30-degree temperatures. Thanks to my granddaughter for helping me rescue these two and finding a home.

Termination temptation

We’ve all been there. You’re starved, and whatever it is that you are presently consuming just tastes so good that there is no question you’ll eat until it’s gone.

Thanksgiving proclamations reflect us as a nation

The tradition of Presidential Proclamations of Thanksgiving, initiated in 1789 by George Washington, in the form of a non-controversial executive order, quickly became a vessel for exaltation of blessings secured and those Americans hoped would endure, including cherished civil and religious liberties, as well as what Washington sought: enactment of “wise, just and constitutional laws.” The conclusions of war, or their diminution, often have evoked from presidents expressions of thanks that lives might be spared and peace restored. Poverty, afoot in America since the beginning, frequently has been singled out as a striking condition requiring correction.

Eat the ruby pink treat

Move over white chocolate, cocoa products have got a new coat to wear, and it's chic.

Breakfast in bed? Boring! Give Mom dessert in bed

Give mom the royal treatment this Mother's Day with these Brit-inspired trifles. Because face it, as nice as breakfast in bed is, dessert is better.

Everyone is a salesperson

Everyone is a salesperson, all of your life. Whether you are a mechanic, a teacher or a manager, you are selling ideas. You are negotiating. You are communicating, persuading, influencing.

Business leaders hope to set legislative agenda

COEUR d'ALENE — Business leaders from throughout Kootenai County attended an annual forum sponsored by four local chambers of commerce to discuss legislative priorities.