ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Picking your tasting

Every wine consumer we have met over the many years we have had the shop has their own personal taste in wine. Your preferences are the most important thing to us as wine professionals. Sure, we like to introduce you to new things, that is the fun of the wine world. It is not productive for any of us though to be recommending Merlot to someone who really doesn’t like the varietal, similarly if you prefer to drink bottles averaging under $40, we ought not to bother discussing the ones that are $400. It is our job to take your likes and dislikes into account with every recommendation and we take it seriously.

Ben Zimmerman, 82

Long time Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls resident Ben Edward Zimmerman 82, born January 7, 1941, to Ben and Regina Zimmerman, passed away August 24, 2023.

North Idaho Eye Institute expands in Post Falls

Expanding from six exam lanes to 18 when it moves from 1110 Polston Ave., North Idaho Eye Institute will soon open in the building that formerly was Teton House Restaurant at 1901 E. Seltice in Post Falls.

TownPlace Suites by Marriott Hotels to open in November

The TownPlace Suites by Marriott Hotels will open about the end of November where the Outback Steakhouse restaurant was in Northwood Center Court southeast of the intersection of Interstate 90 and Northwest Boulevard.

Major updates at Cork & Tap in Riverstone

Major changes and activities are happening at Cork & Tap at 2034 N. Main St. in Riverstone.

Avant Coeur Gymnastics expands its campus

Avant Coeur Gymnastics has more than doubled its size by expanding its campus from 6360 N. Sunshine St. (south of Hanley Ave.) to the former Tri-State Outfitters building at 6275 N. Sunshine St. (just east of U.S. 95).

Marty and Max: How To Ensure You Are Insured

Home values and building costs are rising. How can I ensure my home is protected so if my home burned to the ground I can afford to rebuild?

ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Harvest 2023 is underway

The 2023 wine grape harvest in the Western US has officially started, and while there are some small challenges, they are small and picking is progressing smoothly so far. This is the time of year when emotions run high, especially for winemakers and grape growers. No matter how good the growing season has been so far this is when much can go wrong. The grapes have gone through verasion making their skins porous to everything from rain water to smoke. Canopy management is also key once we get to September. The urge is to cut back the canopy of leaves that overhang the fruit to spur further ripening with the more angled sunlight late in the summer. It comes with risk though, if you get too aggressive in the cutting of leaves you can leave the bundles of grapes exposed to sun burn and raisining if temperature spike.

ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Then versus now

We have always marveled at how adept winemakers and grape growers are at adjusting to all that a vintage hurls at them. There are few truly “perfect” growing years when it comes to farming wine grapes. It has only become more complex and uncertain in recent years as the variable conditions from temperature to smoke to rain seem to have become more extreme. In talking to several winemakers over recent weeks, we have learned that in wine country around the west they now get smoke forecasts as often as they do weather forecasts, and I can tell you they pay very close attention to both.

ADVERTISING: Advertorial — The state of bubbles

Not all wine consumers like Champagne and sparkling wine, but most wine consumers like really good Champagne and sparkling wine. That is a key distinction. The intended implication is that like everything in the wine world there are really fabulous and delicious wines with bubbles and there are a lot of not so fabulous wines with bubbles. It seems to me both as a wine consumer, one who really likes “bubbly,” and as a wine professional that there are places that lend themselves to growing grapes for sparkling wines, and other places that don’t. There are winemakers who are really good at making sparkling wine, and others who should not be attempting the task of producing world class sparkling.

Amazon unveils a "smarter and more conversational" Alexa amid AI race among tech companies

The company says its also working on a “speech-to-speech” model that will, for example, allow Alexa to exhibit human-like attributes, such as laughter and phrases like “uh-huh” during conversations.

ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Right sizing the U.S. wine industry

For a bit over a year now the United States has topped the world in total amount of wine consumed. On a per capita basis the U.S. doesn’t even crack the top 15! As far as production the top five wine producing countries are Italy, France, Spain, the United Sates and Chile. As the saying goes “lies, damn lies and statistics.” When you combine these statistics with much anecdotal information and more importantly knowledge of what is going on in the wine industry a very interesting “snapshot” starts to come into focus, and somewhat sadly it is not a pretty picture for the domestic wine industry.

PATTERSON: 'Farcicle dribble intended to incite'

This morning I read with great sadness the political opinion piece regarding NIC.

A legacy of big block Chevrolets

Family prepares for auction of late father's extensive collection of muscle-era cars and parts

Rick Langlitz worked tirelessly Thursday, to finalize the details of his father’s estate. “I’ve lived here for 27 years. I just didn’t know the volume,” he said. It’s work he’s been doing since February with his two younger brothers, older sister, her husband, nephews, cousins and grandchildren. “There’s 117 cars here that are in various stages of disrepair, and there’s no way that a single person could restore them in their lifetime,” Rick Langlitz's sister Michelle Johnson said.

Oktoberfest a call to drink beer

Celebration begins Friday

It's almost beer time

Man accused of taking 'up skirt' photos

Camera had images from Target in Cd'A, Super 1 in Athol

A Florida man is facing a felony charge after he allegedly took photos under the skirts of teen girls without their knowledge.

MY TURN: Maybe the 'bad guys' are really the 'good guys'

Rumors and misinformation often align with group affiliations. Zeke Winchestor’s letter may be an example. He says the bad guys on the board at NIC are ‘the majority’ because they hired the wrong attorney. Newcomers unfamiliar with the backstory can get up to speed by reading “My Turn, Saving NIC from Its Friends" by Art Macomber, dated Nov. 1, 2022.

Bier, baby!

Oktoberfest kicks off with tapping of the keg, continues today

Drink up at Oktoberfest

Silver Valley Mining Wars: Part 1

Through the discovery of gold by Andrew Prichard in 1882 a human avalanche of 5,000 “gold rushers” soon descended on the area around Eagle Creek and Murray. But within a year, these prospectors began spilling over the Coeur d’Alene mountains to the south to prospect for additional gold deposits. However, lead-silver outcroppings were found, rather than gold, and claims were filed.

Weekend TV/Radio highlights

Television, radio and streaming highlights for upcoming weekend.