Gaining ground

Home sales tick up to highest in 3 1/2 years

Home sales increase in North Idaho

MLS reports 800 homes have been sold from Jan. 1 to May 31

COEUR d'ALENE - Home sales are on the rise around the five Northern counties so far in 2010, the highest they've been at this point in the year since 2007.

Interest rates dip slightly

Interest for 30-year mortgages dipped last week to equal the lowest in six weeks. These lower rates not only encourage those looking for homes, but have caused refinancing applications to increase as well. While applications for new mortgages increased 1.3 percent, refinancing applications increased 6.9 percent over the previous week according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Freddie Mac reports that the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan last week was 4.27 percent, down from 4.34 percent the prior week. Still, that rate is .86 percent higher than last year at this time.

Hospitals try cooking up better food

Movement is toward tastier, more nutritious fare for patients

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Haute cuisine is to hospital food as coq au vin is to mystery meat, right?

As cheap gas shifts car buyers' habits, automakers power on

Neighborhood of the week: Coeur d'Alene Place

Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realtor and Project Manager Rob Brickett loves his job, and it shows. He has spent the last 15 years watching Coeur d'Alene Place grow from a dream into a reality and as the primary Realtor, is an expert on all that this master planned community has to offer.

Here comes the crud

We've had so much sunshine, some people have actually started to complain about the monotony of blue skies and warm temperatures.

Chinese stocks drop, but impact in U.S. is seen as limited

GAS: Put blame on the consumer

To the 42 percent of people who voted on the online poll that President Obama is to blame for the recent rise in gas prices, thank you for showing just how ignorant you are. Typical Right Wing Republican response.

Betting on the sun

Idaho solar developer fights to keep project alive

BOISE - The developer of a proposed $180 million southern Idaho solar energy project hopes to be delivering electricity within months, despite past rejections by regulators.

Vintages: Review and preview

We have started to see some of the wines from the troubled 2010 vintage here in our market so it seems a good time to update you the consumers on what we think of the wines so far. Last year was one of the worst recent vintages for all of the western appellations with California experiencing the coldest summer in 50 years, followed by an intense four-day fall heat wave, and the Northwest experiencing an early cool down in the fall. This for both areas led to long hang time, but slow or no ripening followed by early rains that caused many of the varietal crops in California to rot on the vine ultimately being dropped and never harvested.

Oregon governor takes sweeping action to cut global warming

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — In an end run around Republican legislators, Oregon's Democratic governor ordered the state on Tuesday to lower greenhouse gas emissions, directing a state agency to set and enforce caps on pollution from industry and transportation fuels.

Degree is a 'lifesaving' experience

COEUR d'ALENE - Loretta Galan told her story in shorthand on Facebook recently, when she posted: "U-Idaho Coeur d'Alene changed my life and saved my life."

More Idaho drunk drivers face felony charges

IDAHO FALLS (AP) - The number of felony prosecutions of drunk drivers in Idaho increased 25 percent in 2010 from the previous year, state officials say.

Online Coronavirus Tests Are Just The Latest Iffy Products Marketed To Anxious Consumers

Companies with experience in the “at-home” testing market began announcing in mid-March that they would be offering direct-to-consumer test kits for COVID-19.

JUDD JONES: Hot Stuff!

Ok, if you are like me, you love fresh jalapeños, habaneros, thai peppers and some of you may even dive into the smoking hot flames of the Carolina Reaper or Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers.

Controlled hunt tags must be purchased by Aug. 1

Conversations this time of year among hunters often start with the question “Did you draw any controlled hunt tags?”

Stepdad guilty of killing boy

A jury late Friday found Joseph J. Davis guilty of murdering his 17-month-old stepson.

Step Talk: To discipline or not to discipline?

ALEXANDRA MORTENSEN / Contributing Writer

World/Nation