The numbers of people floating the Middle Fork and wild and scenic section of the Salmon River were down in 2009 and Middle Fork Ranger Chris Grove attributes that to the poor economy.

Candis Donicht, Idaho's School Superintendent of the Year for 2009, says she will retire in July.

An Eastern Idaho man who works in Haiti has returned home after the devastating earthquake that has crippled the country.

Ah, the book. The best seller. The literary instrument that often directs impassioned fans into movie theaters to see if a film is as good as the novel they read.

The commissionersa phones were ringing off the hook last fall as they listened to numerous complaints from local residents about flat tires, large rocks and dirt berms left on Forest Service roads, Commissioner Wayne Butts said.

In Peter Jackson's new film, "The Lovely Bones," the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy director brings Alice Sebold's 2002 bestseller to the big screen in an adaptation that is as uplifting as it is unnerving.

The Book of Eli- Another addition to the ever-growing canon of post-apocalyptic films, The Book of Eli follows Eli on his trek across the wasteland that once was America.

New material about hoof maintenance, shoes and boots, and diagnostics has been added to the revised edition of Heather Smith Thomas' Understanding Equine Hoof Care, now available from Eclipse Press .

Following the completion of a recent market survey, the Veterans Administration plans to open a new outreach clinic in Mountain Home by March.

A Flood Advisory continues for Lemhi County in central Idaho. The flooding is due to ice jams along the Salmon River.

Transportation was an issue the Custer County commissioners considered from several angles at their last meeting of 2009.

The movie theater here in Salmon, Idaho, is called the "River Cinema." It's a duplex in the original old-time theater building a mere block from my front door.

A 10-pound steelhead hooked in the Snake River near Heller Bar is brought aboard a fishing boat by Aaron Donnelly of Moscow.

An eastern Idaho man has pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of child pornography.

Polsinelli Shughart PC has become the fifth law firm to sign on with the CityScape project in downtown Phoenix.

Artist at work...Mary Lea painted pastel portraits of many Challis-area locals. Above, she is pictured doing the same at a shopping mall in her new home, Walla Walla, Washington.

A Canadian mining company has gotten initial federal approval of its plan to mine cobalt for hybrid car batteries and jet engines from the mountains of central Idaho, putting it on track to begin operations in 2011.

Enter to win a pair of screening passes to see The Slammin' Salmon! Opening Night! MEET THE STARS OF OPENING WEEKEND! Special appearances by BROKEN LIZARD at the AMC VILLAGE 7 66 3rd Avenue FRIDAY, DEC 11TH 8:00PM SCREENING SPECIAL INTRODUCTION AND party with broken lizard at the AFTER PARTY AT 64 Third Ave.

Seven years seems like the mere blink of an eye or a small eternity. Founding member of Leftover Salmon and banjoist for the ages, Mark Vann, passed into history in March 2002 at age 39, after a couple of decades of practically redefining the banjo along with a half-year counterpunching the indifferent cruelties of melanoma.

Healthy horses handle frigid temperatures better than we do, but their extremities still are vulnerable to frostbite.