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COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- The death of three Idaho motorcyclists last weekend sets a grim stage for Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month organizers. A 63-year-old Moscow man died Friday near Worley when his motorcycle crashed into the back of a cargo van. A 51-year-old Boise man died that evening when his motorcycle went off state Highway 21. On Saturday, a man was thrown from his motorcycle and ...

A travel writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is touting Idaho as "one cool destination at a cool price." Writing for the Georgia paper, Clara Bosonetto mentions Coeur d'Alene in her article:

A 7-hour drive north of Boise is Lake Coeur d’Alene, created by glaciers and today an international resort destination with the town of Coeur d’Alene on its north shore and resorts nestled along 135 miles of shoreline. An ideal region for avid birdwatchers - Lake Coeur d’Alene has the largest nesting population of osprey in the western United States. More here.

Question: How do you describe Coeur d'Alene/North Idaho to people you meet elsewhere?

They call them weekend warriors, cooks that have mastered the art of barbecue in their backyard, but have never competed in a sanctioned competition. The Coeur d'Alene area is full of them, and Greg Prado, board member of the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association, wants to smoke them out with a new competition in Coeur d'Alene on June 29. The event, Bikes, Brews and BBQs, is designed to create a cheaper and less intimidating atmosphere for weekend warriors to transition into full-scale competition. "We created this one-day competition to get these guys off the fence," Prado said. "That is why I am on the board, I really want to grow the culture of barbecue in this area"/Jeff Selle, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (Facebook photo: Jeff Selle, left, & Commissioner Todd Tondee BBQing salmon)

Question: Who handles the BBQ tongs in your family?

Seattle Mariners fans sit with a sign as they wait for a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles to begin, Monday in Seattle. The NBA’s relocation committee voted unanimously Monday to recommend that owners reject the application for the Sacramento Kings basketball team to relocate to Seattle, the latest -- and by far the strongest -- in a long line of cities that almost landed the franchise. Story below. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• 2 boaters, dog rescued from Pend Oreille/AP
• Global conditions fuel demand for Idaho cheese/AP
• Spokane police can ticket smokers under new law/KREM
• Kings to stay in Sacramento/Bob Condotta, Seattle Times
• Post Falls vision open house set tonight/Brian Walker, Press
• Kids of marijuana activists put in foster care/Associated Press
• Idaho's Hispanic population fastest growing demographic/KTVB
• First divorce, now mistaken ID separate Montanan from macaw/AP
• Twin Falls urban renewal agency talks expansion/Joe Cadotte, TFTN
• Extreme athlete rejects lupus pain to compete/Julie Lilienkamp, Press
• Idaho elk meeting set Thursday in Coeur d'Alene/Rich Landers, Outdoors
• Former jail counselor concealed relationship w/prisoner/Jeff Humphrey, KXLY
• Educational 'gathering garden taking root at North Idaho College/David Cole, Press

I feel sorry for parents who don't take their kids fishing. They don't know what they're missing. See a few hints about what they're missing in my Sunday story about Saturday's opening day of Washington's lowland trout season. Please enjoy this short photo sequence of Quinn Connacher, 6, of Spokane, as he works at Williams Lake to catch his first fish. Once the trout was netted, the boy got a huge high five before he pranced and danced in celebration on the Bunker's Resort dock. Photo sequence here.

Question: Do/did you take your kids fishing?

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- The death of three Idaho motorcyclists last weekend sets a grim stage for Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month organizers. A 63-year-old Moscow man died Friday near Worley when his motorcycle crashed into the back of a cargo van. A 51-year-old Boise man died that evening when his motorcycle went off state Highway 21. On Saturday, a man was thrown from his motorcycle and ...

Cindy tweets: "Son #4 left for school quite glum. 'We have to dissect a frog today,' he said. To those who are about to slice, I salute you."

Question: Did you mind dissecting frogs, cats, fish, animal hearts and other dead things in high school biology class?

From her Facebook wall, Katie Boer of KREM2 posts: "I've been getting lots of calls to the weather center about planting times recently. I'd say if you haven't planted yet, give it another week or so. IF you already have a garden or plants in the ground--you'll want to cover them tonight. A Freeze Warning is in effect late tonight and tmrw. with most spots near or below freezing temperatures this morning and early Wednesday."

Question: Have you planted anything yet? What?

From Coeur d'Alene Education Partnership Facebook wall: "CEP's Coeur d'Alene School Board Candidate Forum is TONIGHT! The Forum starts at 5:30 in the Library Community Room. Candidates from Zones 1, 4, and 5 have all been invited to participate. The Forum will be recorded and will be aired at a later time on CdA Channel 19. Candidates Christa Hazel, Brent Regan, Dave Eubanks and Tom Hearn will be in attendance. At this time, candidates Ann Seddon and Bjorn Handeen have declined to participate."

DFO: Seddon told me after the Mica Grange forum that she had a scheduling conflict with tonight's CEP/Coeur Group forum, which will be recorded and later televised on Coeur d'Alene TV Channel 19. Seems strange that Bjorn Handeen also has a scheduling conflict.'

Question: I believe candidates who refuse to show up for major debates are like job applicants who don't appear for work interviews -- not worthy to hold the job. What do you think?

From Zone 5 candidate Tom Hearn's Facebook wall: "When I heard the paranoia last night at the school board meeting particularly from a couple of our trustees about Common Core, I couldn't help but hear this song from the 60's in my head (video of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth"). This is a rare issue that I actually agree with State Superintendent Tom Luna about who is in support of Common Core and is not afraid of the big bad federal government on this issue."

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away (full lyrics here)

Question: Are you afraid of the "big, bad federal government"?

The Idaho Core Standards will be in place in Idaho K-12 classrooms this fall, and Coeur d'Alene school trustees are among a growing group of citizens who have concerns about the education benchmarks. "Suppose I wanted Idaho to have the best education in the nation. How do we do it with a nationalized standard?" asked Brent Regan, during a board workshop held Monday in Coeur d'Alene. The Common Core is a states-led effort to align and elevate education standards. Idaho Superintendent Tom Luna began working with other state education leaders and governors in 2007 to begin developing more rigorous standards for math and English language arts education in the nation. Gov. Butch Otter joined the effort in 2009. The Idaho Core Standards were given final approval by the Idaho Legislature in 2011/Maureen Dolan, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

• Myths & fact re: Idaho Core Standards

Question: I find it interesting that Coeur d'Alene school trustees are wary of Core Standards supported by conservative Superintendent Tom Lunar, don't you?

Held by college students sumo wresters, a couple of babies cry in their competition during Naki Sumo, or Crying Baby Contest, at Sensoji temple in Tokyo on Monday. The babies born in 2012 participated in the annual traditional ritual performed as a prayer for healthy growth of them. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Monday winner -- Charlie: "Calling for an Alpha male." Monday's photo & all 7 cutline entries here.

The seat Sen. Jim Risch will defend next year as Republicans eye control of the U.S. Senate has been in Republican hands since 1949, trailing in longevity only two Kansas seats which have been held by the GOP since 1919 and 1939. So reports Eric Ostermeier at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Ostermeier has a knack for such cocktail-party-chat lists. Earlier this month, he reported that former Idaho Govs. Cecil Andrus (No. 11) and Bob Smylie (No. 31) were among the nation’s 50 longest-serving governors/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Do you think a Democrat will win Risch's Senate seat between now and 2049, which would mean 100 years of dominance if it's still in Republican control?

Read more here: http://blogs.idahostatesman.com/idaho-seat-held-by-risch-third-longest-held-gop-senate-seat-in-usa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=idaho-seat-held-by-risch-third-longest-held-gop-senate-seat-in-usa#storylink=cpy

Item: The right site: NIC continues forums on where to build professional technical program facility/Jeff Selle, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: About 80 people from all walks of life attended North Idaho College's three-part forum on the expansion of its professional technical education program. Mark Browning, vice president of community relations and marketing, moderated the event and set the stage for what essentially became a community dialogue over the importance of where the facility is located, and how that will impact the students of those programs. Browning said the NIC Board of Trustees will eventually have to make a decision based primarily of the size of the facility, where it will be located and the skills that will be taught there.

Question: Where should North Idaho College locate an expanded professional education program -- on the current campus in Coeur d'Alene or on the Rathdrum Prairie near the new KTEC?

Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer

Tuesday - Partly cloudy with a chance of rain. High of 52F. Winds from the WSW at 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20%.

Tuesday Night - Partly cloudy in the evening, then clear. Low of 30F. Winds less than 5 mph.

Wednesday - Clear. High of 59F. Winds from the SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Temperature: 37.9°F | Humidity: 65% | Pressure: 30.04in (Steady) | Conditions: Clear | Wind Direction: SW | Wind Speed: 0.0mph

BOISE — Three medical marijuana advocates from southwest Idaho say their children were placed into state foster care after law enforcement searched their home and found marijuana.