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| News | |||
| October 1 | |||
| Bonners Ferry Ranger District takes over fires management: A type 3 Bonners Ferry Ranger District incident management organization assumed command of the Kootenai River Complex today under the command of Brian Hicks and Mitch Prophett, with 155 personnel. The complex is now estimated at 22,559 acres in size, with the Russell Mountain Fire at 22,006 acres, Long Canyon at 201 and the Katka Fire at 351 acres. | |||
| September 30 | |||
|
South Boundary Fire Pancake
Breakfast, Silent Auction and Car Seat Clinic South Boundary Fire will host its annual Pancake Breakfast, Silent Auction, and Car Seat Clinic from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at Station 1 on School House Road in Naples! Many fantastic auction items have been donated by our amazing community, including auto detailing from North Idaho Collision and one ton of energy logs or wood pellets from Lignetics Inc., Under the Sun, Timber’s Road Side Grill, Pizza Factory, Lou’s Barber Shop, Grocery Outlet, Main Street Hair, Beck’s Furniture, Super 1 Foods, Wood’s meats, Community Thrift, Center Valley Veterinary Hospital as well as several community members and more have graciously donated goods and services. |
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 Bonners
Ferry man arrested in Sandpoint drug bust: Sandpoint
Police executed three search warrants this week at residences of
suspected drug dealers. On Monday, September 26, Sandpoint Police
assisted a DEA taskforce with a search warrant in south Sandpoint
that resulted in the discovery of an undisclosed amount of colored
fentanyl pills, commonly known as “Skittles,” and other drug
related paraphernalia. This warrant is related to an earlier
investigation that intercepted a large delivery of fentanyl to the
residence. |
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| County commission agenda, week of October 3 | |||
| September 29 | |||
 Bonners
Ferry girl needs community's help: Kellie Hayden
Nelson, who grew up in Bonners Ferry and graduated from Bonners
Ferry High School in 1983, was recently diagnosed with acute
myeloid leukemia. Now living in Townsend, Montana, she is
undergoing multiple rounds of chemotherapy and blood transfusions
at a Seattle hospital, a stay expected to last at least seven
months. |
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| Prescribed burning planned on IPNF: Favorable conditions are forecasted in the coming weeks to provide prescribed burning opportunities across the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Multiple prescribed burning projects are planned this fall, although the exact day of ignitions will depend upon conditions aligning with safe implementation. Prescribed burning is part of each Ranger District’s annual natural resource management program to reduce hazardous fuels, prepare areas for tree planting, and improve wildlife forage. | |||
 Mother
of state senator supports write-in candidate Steve Johnson:
“For someone who claims to be a Christian,” Gini Woodward said at
a recent gathering, “Steve’s opponent’s words and attitudes are
unchristian-like.” She earlier had given full-throated support to
Steve Johnson, lifelong farmer from Bonner County, to become
far-north Idaho’s next state senator. She addressed 15 residents
of northernmost Boundary County who gathered at the Mt Hall Fire
Station September to hear Johnson. |
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| Boundary County Commissioner's minutes, week of September 19 | |||
| Boundary County Commissioner's minutes, week of September 12 | |||
 Long
Canyon fire flares up: Wednesday was a much more
active fire day than the previous few days. A lot of smoke and fog
was held down at low elevations by the inversion, but parts of the
fire burning above the inversion were putting up straight columns
of smoke. An area in Long Canyon burned upslope Wednesday,
reaching the ridge line but stayed on the south slope of Long
Canyon Creek. The Kootenai River Complex fires are now estimated
to have charred 22,482 acres, with the Russell Mountain fire at
21,975 acres, Long Canyon now 157 acres and the Katka Fire at 349
acres. |
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| September 28 | |||
|
SD101 Executive Council nixes
gender identity policy Boundary County School District 101 Superintendent Jan Bayer said this afternoon's executive council meeting went well, with those in attendance all being respectful and kind. The council voted to recommend not moving forward with new policy #3281: Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, and to move the other policy amendments on the agenda forward for school board review with minor changes. |
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|
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 Car
rescued from river: At about 8 a.m. Thursday,
September 22, the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office received a
report of a vehicle in the Kootenai River at the public boat
launch off of Riverside Street in Bonners Ferry. Bonners Ferry
Fire, Bonners Ferry Police and Boundary County Sheriff’s Office
personnel responded and quickly determined that the vehicle was
unoccupied. |
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| September 27 | |||
 SD101
executive council meeting likely to be divisive: The
Boundary County School District 101 executive council will meet
tomorrow with an agenda almost certain to raise the ire of that
faction of our community concerned about our public library
facilitating the "grooming" of young patrons and "exposing" them
to what they consider to be inappropriate material. The council
will be considering updates to several existing school policies,
as well as a new one, "Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation." |
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| Sample ballot November 8 general election | |||
|
Juvenile who threatened high
school cooperating with police, school administrators On Monday, September 26, Boundary County School District 101 and Bonners Ferry Police were made aware of threats of violence toward Bonners Ferry High School. The juvenile who made the threats has been investigated and is cooperating with law enforcement. The safety of our students and staff in Boundary County School District remains our number one priority. Parents/guardians were made aware of the situation last night via a phone message from the principal. ~ Superintendent Jan Bayer, Principal Lisa Iverson, BFPD Officer Brandon Johnson |
|||
 Kootenai
River Complex to be transitioned to district: Fire
behavior was a little more active causing widespread smoke and fog
at lower elevations due to an inversion layer coupled with light
winds. This made fire progression monitoring challenging for
operations at night and in the early mornings, including the
ability to monitor control lines by air. The Kootenai River
Complex is at 21,805 acres, Russell Mountain Fire 21,472 acres,
Katka Fire 333 acres, up 617 acres in the week since Wednesday,
September 21. |
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| September 26 | |||
| Boundary County First Judicial District Court dispositions | |||
| September 25 | |||
 Kootenai
River Complex fires at 85-percent completion: Smoke
and fog have been settling at low elevations and have been slow to
lift during the day. This has made monitoring difficult in the
mornings for firefighters but has also kept fire behavior
relatively low. Dead and down heavy fuels continue to be the main
source of fire and smoke. There are 221 personnel working the
Kootenai Complex Fires, completion is at 85-percent. |
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| September 24 | |||
| Boundary County Commission agenda, week of September 26 | |||
| September 23 | |||
 Homecoming
... bringing out the best of who we are: Homecoming
is an American tradition. It's tailor-made for the social customs
of high schools and universities all over this country, and being
so, it reflects the values of the cultures therein. It's named for
the coming-home (so to speak) of the alumni of whichever
institution is hosting it. Tonight, after a game last Friday far
away and gone clear down in Connell, Washington, the Bonners Ferry
Badgers of this season return home to face an opponent on the sod
upon which they trained, most for years. |
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| September 22 | |||
 Mt.
Hall Wildcats grateful for all the work: It’s back to
school season at Mt. Hall! As most know, we were delayed in
opening our doors due to construction, but now that we’re up and
running it’s as if staff and students haven’t missed a beat! We’ve
officially got restrooms and a cafeteria among tons of other
updates thanks to our incredible maintenance and custodial team in
Boundary County School District and BF Builders. By Principal
Kylee Guthrie |
|||
| Transportation board approves its largest ITIP: The Idaho Transportation Board approved the recommended FY2023-2029 Idaho Transportation Investment Program (ITIP) today during its monthly meeting in Boise. The ITIP is the department's seven-year investment plan, and reflects unprecedented funding levels created by Governor Brad Little's "Leading Idaho" initiatives and supported by the Idaho Legislature. This resulted in the most projects, and the largest ITIP that the department has ever had. | |||
 Skatepark
alliance having fun, making gains: The Boundary
County Skatepark Alliance, an all-volunteer skate park advocacy
group, formed as a special committee of the Boundary County Parks
and Recreation Department Board, is working on the long-term,
three to five year goal of replacing the existing and aging 2,000
square foot skate park with a beautiful 8,000 to 10,000 square
foot wheeled sports park, designed by our community for our
community for skaters, skateboarders, scooter riders, and maybe
even BMX bike riders, for decades to come. |
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| September 21 | |||
| Shred Day here Saturday: Boundary County is hosting a free community Shred Day event beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, September 24, at the county fairgrounds in the large gravel parking area, 6567 Recreation Park Road, Bonners Ferry. A mobile shredding truck will take household and business papers and securely shred them until 1 p.m. or until the truck reaches their maximum allowable weight. | |||
 Steve
Johnson visits Mt. Hall to talk senate campaign:
Idaho District 1 Senate write-in candidate Steve Johnson explained
to a group of voters in north Boundary County Tuesday his three
main objectives if he is elected in November. First and foremost,
he said, is to get the homeowner’s exemption to property taxes
doubled from its current $125,00 to $250,000 so that folks are
able to afford to live their lives in their own homes. He gave an
example of property near his longtime farm, a neighbor with 160
acres who is selling it in five-acre pieces. By Clarice
McKenney |
|||
 Kootenai
River Complex fires more active Tuesday: Fire
activity increased yesterday and overnight with winds from the
northeast gusting up the mountain slopes. The fire is still mainly
creeping and smoldering through the understory, with some
scattered flare ups reaching treetops. An infrared detection
flight occurred last night, so reported size has increased by 281
acres since the last detection on Saturday. The Russell Mountain
Fire is now 20,869 acres, the Katka Fire 319 acres. |
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| September 19 | |||
| Boundary County First Judicial District Court dispositions | |||
 Fire
activity expected to increase today: Active fires can
mean National Forest trail and road closures on National Forests.
Closures near the Westside Road are intended to keep people safe
from active fire and responding suppression equipment, but they
also keep visitors from areas where the risk of falling hazard
trees is extreme. Anyone looking to get out into the Selkirk
Mountains still has access to spots to the north or south of the
fire like Smith Creek or Roman Nose Mountain. |
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| September 18 | |||
| Kootenai River Complex growth slowing: The amount of daylight in a 24-hour period, also known as ‘diurnal effects,’ has an impact on wildland fire behavior, especially during late season fires. The temperature, wind and humidity values fluctuate throughout the day. When the sun sets earlier in the day, this creates shadier spots on south facing mountain slopes and minimizes the pre-heating and drying of vegetation resulting in lower fire intensity during peak burn times. | |||
| September 17 | |||
 Suspected
arsonist held without bond: An early morning fire
Monday at the U.S. Forest Service fire camp at the Boundary County
Fairgrounds is believed to have been deliberately set and a
suspect, Michael F. Mock, 30, Bonners Ferry, was arrested for
arson. According to a U.S. Forest Service incident report, two
people were sleeping in the yurt, one of nine set up in the camp,
when one woke to the smell of smoke, saw the fire on the opposite
side, and got them both outside. |
|||
 Folks
wonder why some fairgrounds events cancelled: Folks
have been asking why certain events are still happening at the
Boundary County Fairgrounds but why most have been cancelled. To
help you understand and to give you an ‘"inside" view, fair
personnel are sharing some photos of what a fire camp looks like
as the U.S. Forest Service has moved onto much of the fairgrounds
campus. The Forest Service is renting all three of the event
buildings – the Valley Event Center, Exhibit Hall and Memorial
Hall. |
|||
 Just
18 acres growth on Kootenai River Complex Fires:
Today is a transition day on the Kootenai River Complex Fires. The
Type 2 Eastern Gold Team is shadowing Northern Rockies Team 4 in
all aspects of managing this complex of fires. Personnel in all
functions will share information and details from what has been
experienced and completed over the past two weeks and help set up
the new team to be successful managing the fires moving forward.
Incident Management Teams are typically on assignment for 14 days,
so this transition is a regular part of managing a large fire. |
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| September 16 | |||
| Norris asks library board to withdraw from ALA, rescind collection policy: On Thursday, Adrienne Norris, one of the organizers of the recall petition seeking to unseat four of the five Boundary County Library board members who either voted in June to adopt a new Materials Selection and Collection Development Chapter to its policy manual or who weren't there to cast a vote, sent the following letter to the library board, asking for immediate withdrawal from the American Library Association and repeal of the June policy amendment. | |||
 Bonners
Ferry Truck & Tractor Pull going on as scheduled: The
Bonners Ferry Truck & Tractor Pull scheduled for Saturday,
September 17, will occur as scheduled. At the same time, large
portions of the county fairgrounds are still being used by the
Northern Rockies Incident Management Team as their fire camp.
Organizers of the tractor pull coordinated with the IMT, the
Boundary County Fair Board, and county officials to ensure the
tractor pull event and IMT fire support activities will not
interfere with each other. |
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| Boundary County School District 101 board meeting, 6 p.m. Monday, September 19 | |||
 Reclaim
Idaho volunteers celebrate: Luke Mayville, a founder
of Reclaim Idaho, told the gathering of 50 volunteers in Sandpoint
Thursday why the grass roots group withdrew Proposition 1 from the
November ballot. “We’re here to celebrate because we forced the
legislature to support education by $410 million per year,”
Mayville told the crowd. By Clarice M McKenney |
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| Boundary County Commission agenda, week of September 19 | |||
| Fire evacuation status reduced to 'ready:' Residents of Westside Road are being advised they can reduce their evacuation preparation status to “ready.” They had been at “set” status since September 1, when the Scotch Creek Fire was unpredictable and could have reached the road and threatened homes there. The Scotch Creek Fire has since merged with the Russell Fire, which has made contact with fire control lines and is currently being mopped up along the west side of the road. No structures were damaged as the fire burned down to the control lines. | |||
 Fire
crews prepare for winds, mop up continues: Hazard
trees are fire-weakened or dead standing trees that have a high
probability of falling over at any time posing a threat to
firefighter or public safety. There are several sections of the
Westside Road where the fire reached the road and has affected
some standing trees, creating some hazard trees. As of this
morning, the Kootenai River Complex fires are estimated at 20,821
acres, with the Russell Mountain Fire at 20,511 acres and the
Katka Fire at 309 acres. There are 333 personnel working the fires
and completion remains at 79-percent. |
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| September 15 | |||
 Conservatives
are making gains: Idaho District 1, Seat A
Representative Heather Scott spoke to a largely appreciative
gathering Thursday, September 8, in the Ktunaxa Room at the
Kootenai River Inn, lauding the number of conservative liberty
candidates in Idaho who won their primaries in local and state
offices and the stand taken in Boundary County to keep porn out of
the hands of children in its public library. But she warned
patriots that there is still much to be done to ensure that "we,
the people" are heard in the halls of a government that disparages
them. |
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|
Air quality advisory issued The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality advisory for Boundary and Bonner Counties, with air expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups through Friday and degrade to unhealthy on Saturday. Open burning is currently prohibited. |
|||
 On
national forests, e-bikes are motorized vehicles:
Bicycles assisted by an electric motor— commonly called e-bikes—
are an increasingly popular way to enjoy the outdoors. Hunters
frequently use e-bikes, as well, for quiet access to remote areas
and assistance with game retrieval. With fall hunting season
underway, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests reminds riders that
e-bikes remain classified as “motorized vehicles” under the USDA
Forest Service’s Travel Management Rule. As such, they must
operate on the same routes designated for other motor vehicles. |
|||
 Fire
growth minimal, mop up begins: Yesterday,
thunderstorms moved over the fire area bringing both lightning and
varying amounts of rain from .45 inch on the south side and .10 to
.20 inch on the north side. This moisture has kept fire activity
minimal but has not put the fire out. The overnight infrared
detection flight did not get full coverage of the fire due to
scattered cloud cover. The total increase in the size of the
Complex was calculated to be two acres, with the size of the
Kootenai River Complex at 20,744 acres. There are 366 personnel
working the fires and completion remains at 79-percent. |
|||
 Naples
Elementary Wolverines start strong! The Naples
Wolverines are off and running into the 2022-2023 school year.
Some of them are hopping, galloping, or dancing. However you look
at it, they’re moving! The new school year brought exciting
changes to our building. New classroom cabinets, new gym paint,
and a few new walls to kick us off. Now that those jobs are
complete, we will begin to watch the new addition rise up on the
north end of the building. By Robin Merrifield |
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| September 14 | |||
| Library's future rests where it belongs; on the board: While the Boundary County Library Board got a reprieve from Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP) at their Tuesday board meeting, being granted a new 90-day policy that goes into effect when the one now in force expires September 31, chair Bob Blanford and former interim director Sandy Ashworth did not leave Boise unscathed, as the ICRMP board gave harsh review of the library board's laissez-faire management practices and gave until the next ICRMP board meeting in October to see progress or face losing its liability policy December 31. | |||
| Library board grateful to staff, ICRMP: The board of trustees for the Boundary County Library is pleased to announce a three-month extension to insurance coverage for the Boundary County Library. In a unanimous vote, the board of ICRMP, the insurance provider for the library and many of the public institutions for the state of Idaho, granted the library 90 days to rectify policy and administrative weaknesses that led to the original decision to cancel insurance coverage for the library as of October 2022. | |||
|
Library is open with new hours The Boundary County Library is open with new hours through September, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. In addition, the library board has negotiated a three-month extension on liability insurance with ICRMP. I have reached out for additional information and will report as soon as I hear. ~ Mike Weland |
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 Kootenai
River Complex now low-intensity ground fires: Smoke
filled skies and light winds kept fire activity minimal throughout
the day on Tuesday. The Katka, now at 305 acres, and Russell
Mountain Fires, 20,436 acres continue to burn as low intensity
ground fires. As of this morning's infrared overflight, the
Kootenai River Complex fires now encompass 20,742 acres and
objectives are 79-percent completed, with 369 personnel working
the fires. |
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| September 13 | |||
 Boundary
County women can win with mammogram: Breast cancer
has a very high survival rate when caught early, yet Boundary
County is significantly behind the rest of the state in the number
of annual breast cancer screenings! BCH wants to change that
statistic. To encourage more women to get screened for breast
cancer, we will enter every woman who schedules a mammogram in
September or October into a chance to win a Yeti Roadie Cooler or
a Yeti Tumbler! |
|||
 Kootenai
River Complex at 79-percent completion: Due to cloud
cover, the overnight infrared detection flight was not able to fly
last night and therefore no change in fire size was recorded
today. Completion, a newer phrase in Wildland Fire, relates to the
rate at which certain parts of the incident objectives have been
completed. At present 346 personnel working the fires have reached
79-percent completion, the rate at which firelines have been
completed alongside and using the Westside Road. |
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| Attention Boundary County Republicans: The November election is quickly approaching! The Boundary County Republican Central Committee voted last night that poll challengers and ballot witnesses need to contact them on or before our next regular scheduled meeting of October 3. Challengers/witnesses must be a registered Republican and a resident of Boundary County. | |||
 Naples
grizzly put down: On September 12, Idaho Fish and
Game along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA
Wildlife Services euthanized a large adult male grizzly bear in
Boundary County near the town of Naples. There has been a series
of livestock losses due to grizzly bears this spring and summer,
and this is the second grizzly bear to be euthanized in Boundary
County in 2022. |
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| September 12 | |||
|
Upcoming Second Harvest
distribution cancelled due to fires The Second Harvest food distribution truck for September 23 has been cancelled. The Boundary County Fairgrounds are being used for the Fire Command Center and it has not been possible to find a suitable alternate site. The next scheduled distribution will be October 14 at the fairgrounds. |
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| Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative Board meeting, 7 p.m. Monday, September 19 | |||
 West
side fires merge into one, reach firelines, road:
Slow growth on the Kootenai River Complex fires yesterday and over
night, adding 404 acres. The complex fires have burned 19,708
acres as of 8:09 a.m. today. The Russell Mountain and Trout Fires
burned together and will now be called the Russell Mountain Fire,
19,445 acres in size. The Katka Fire is at 262 acres, no change
from Sunday. |
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 Update
on county 'Ready, Set, Go' evacuation status: Shannon
Schaeffer photoFire reached the Westside Road on Saturday.Fires in
the Kootenai River Complex have now grown together and have all
become the Russell Mountain Fire. At the daily operations briefing
this morning the combined total acreage burned in all three fires
in the complex was at just over 19,700 acres. By Andrew O'Neel,
Boundary County Public Information |
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| Boundary County First Judicial District Court dispositions | |||
| Bonners Ferry air quality hazardous: At 3:05 a.m. today, air quality readings for the Bonners Ferry area, taken at the Kootenai Tribal Mission gauge, have degraded to hazardous. Readings at Mt. Hall and Porthill show unhealthy. In areas with unhealthy air, children, asthmatics and people with heart or lung conditions should avoid the outdoors and all others should reduce their outdoors exertion. When the Air Quality Index is “hazardous,” everyone is affected. | |||
| September 11 | |||
 Three
west side fires merge into two: Yesterday, the
Russell Mountain Fire continued to slowly back down the mountain
slope west of the Westside Road. The observed fire activity
continued to be low intensity, with backing ground fire slowly
moving downhill. The fire reached the constructed fireline and
Westside Road in several locations between Trout Creek Road and
Ball Creek Road as the Kootenai River Complex Fires grew to 19,304
acres, up 840 acres from Saturday morning. |
| Weather |
| Bonners Ferry, Idaho |
|
9B.News Mike Weland, Publisher mike@9b.news 6931 Main St. P.O. Box 1625 Bonners Ferry, ID 83805 (208) 295-1016 A 9B Media LLC publication |
| 9B News appreciates and welcomes press releases and news tips topical to Boundary County, Idaho. Call (208) 295-1016 or email mike@9b.news! |
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