Kramer's HOF selection tops 2018

From business expansions and student accomplishments, to plea deals and life sentences, 2018 was a busy year for Bonner County.

This is the second in a series looking back at the top stories of the year, continuing with January and February. Stories are listed in no particular order.

- Two new Northside Fire commissioners were sworn in on Jan. 18, replacing two-thirds of the board. Vernon Roof and Danny Knott were elected as the newest Northside commissioners during the November election. The duo replaced outgoing commissioners Lewis Rich and Leo Addison.

- Sandpoint officially took over ownership of its downtown streets, which had recently been converted to two-way traffic. Portions of Cedar, Pine and Superior streets, as well as First Avenue, were previously under control of the state. City Council members approved a quit claim deed during the Jan. 17 meeting, which relinquished control of those streets from the state to the city.

- Priest Lake Search & Rescue Inc. unanimously voted to transfer operational control of the outfit to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office and dissolve its fundraising apparatus. Former commander Mike Nielsen said the PSLAR board recognized that it was time to dissolve the organization and turn the bulk of its assets over to the sheriff’s office, which already has a close working relation with PLSAR. The outfit was re-christened the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office Volunteer Search & Rescue unit.

- A Bonner County man was arrested Jan. 18 for allegedly striking a woman with a steak knife and a set of keys during a domestic dispute. Jeffrey Allen Bartlett was charged with aggravated assault, a felony, and misdemeanor domestic battery. Bartlett made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Jan. 19. The alleged victim told a sheriff’s deputy that Bartlett struck her in the head with a thrown set of keys. She was also struck in the chest by a knife thrown by Bartlett during an argument, according to a probable cause affidavit. The woman declined medical treatment. Bartlett, 59, has been charged repeatedly with domestic violence, but was seldom convicted, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository.

- A trial date was set for a ritualized and sexual abuse case pending against a Priest River man. No resolution to the case against Dana Andrew Furtney was reported during a pretrial hearing in 1st District Court on Jan. 19, so his trial was set to start on Feb. 13. A grand jury indicted Furtney on 10 counts of lewd conduct and lone counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16, ritualized abuse, felony injury to a child and felony domestic battery resulting in traumatic injury. Furtney, 48, pleaded not guilty to all 14 felony counts and was held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

- The second North Idaho Women’s March was held in Sandpoint on Jan. 20. The theme of the march, “First She Walked, Then She Ran,” was meant to encourage women to run for office. This brought Rep. Paulette Jordan to Sandpoint as the keynote speaker for the event. A member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Jordan was the Democratic nominee for Idaho governor in the 2018 election.

- Lake Pend Oreille School District officials hosted a series of stakeholder engagement meetings in January as part of the district’s strategic planning process. The strategic planning process began in October 2017 in an effort to drive future decisions by outlining needs and goals over the short- and long-term.

- Citing personal family matters, Sandpoint head football coach George Yarno tendered his resignation on Jan. 18, capping a two-year stint that saw his teams go 7-13 and make the state tournament both years. Last season, Yarno, 33, was named 4A Inland Empire League Coach of the Year in just his second season as a head coach. He installed a new pistol offense, finishing 3-7 against a salty schedule and winning the two league games handily to earn a home playoff game. Yarno boasts a strong coaching lineage, having played center in college under Chris Ault at Nevada and also at Idaho State. His father George Yarno Sr. played 10 seasons in the NFL and was a longtime college and pro offensive line coach, passing away shortly after Yarno Jr. took the Sandpoint job.

Sandpoint head swim coach Mike Brosnahan also tendered his resignation in January, leaving a sterling legacy in his wake after starting the Bulldog swim team a quarter century ago. Brosnahan coached two girls teams to 4A state championships, also finishing second several times and third a handful of times while stewarding one of the consistently-best swim teams in North Idaho for the past 25 years.

- A Clark Fork man was arrested Jan. 21 for allegedly attacking a neighbor with a pickax-like implement during an altercation. Michael Phillip Baker was subsequently charged with aggravated assault and made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Monday, Jan. 22, where Judge Tera Harden sustained his $20,000 bail and entered an order forbidding him from contacting the alleged victim in the case. The alleged victim told deputies he got into a verbal argument with Baker outside their homes and he was threatened with a folding knife. Baker, 58, sped off in a vehicle, but returned and the argument escalated further, though no bloodshed was reported.

- Two Sandpoint officials were elected to new positions during Association of Idaho Cities meetings in Boise in January. Sandpoint City Council President Shannon Williamson was elected to a two-year term as District 1 representative for the AIC Municipal Water Users Group oversight group, and City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton was elected president of the Idaho City Management Association.

- Two people were buried in the snow on Jan. 24 after Schweitzer Mountain Resort saw 12 inches of new snow overnight on Tuesday, with an additional eight inches by Wednesday afternoon. Dig Chrismer, Schweitzer’s marketing manager, said they were dug out immediately and there were no injuries. She also clarified that it was not the result of an avalanche. Due to the consistency of the snow, however, some natural sloughing occurred. Chrismer said it is important, particularly in these conditions, to ski with a buddy and make sure to stay close to one another and to keep an eye on each other.

- A Cocolalla man who accidentally struck and injured a student at a bus stop was ordered on Jan. 24 to stand trial in February for leaving the scene of an injury crash. The charge flows from an October 2017 collision at a bus stop on Gun Club Road, where Jason Dwight Newsome reportedly struck a 7-year-old boy with his vehicle.

- While drug and alcohol use is strictly against Lake Pend Oreille School District policy, the district does not currently have a testing policy for students in extracurricular activities. After discussing the issue on Jan. 23, however, district trustees agreed the policy is working, and unanimously decided they were not interested in introducing a policy for voluntary or required testing at this time.

- A waterfront home was completely destroyed by a structure fire on Jan. 30, according to Selkirk Fire Rescue & EMS officials. Bonner County Dispatch received multiple reports of the fire in 2000 block of Wooded Acres Drive at about 11:20 a.m. The two-story home overlooking the Pend Oreille River was fully involved when firefighters from Selkirk Fire and Northside Fire arrived on the scene, said Chief Ron Stocking. No firefighters were injured battling the blaze and the home was not occupied.

- Shannon Syth, the driving force behind the scenes of city happenings for 16 years, embarked on a new adventure on Jan. 31 after announcing her retirement the year before. Before becoming city treasurer, Syth served as treasurer for Bonner County for about seven years. Prior to that, she worked in the assessor’s office. Before her retirement went into effect, Syth spent nine months training her replacement, Sarah Lynds. Leaving the position of treasurer in the “capable” hands of Lynds, Syth said she planned to take three to five years to do something she has always wanted to do — travel the United States.

- Litehouse celebrated the $6.2 million expansion of its Ella production facility. The 26,000-square-foot expansion includes a new cooler, shipping and receiving center, loading docks, updated employee break rooms and facilities and a 4,000-square-foot wastewater treatment facility. The new cooler adds roughly 1,350 new refrigerated pallet locations as well as approximately 150 freezer pallet locations. Litehouse has grown to be the No. 1 refrigerated salad dressing brand across the U.S. and Canada and to support that growth, the company chose to improve the capacity of local facilities and invest in improving production capabilities.

- The Priest River Times was replaced by a countywide edition of the Daily Bee each Wednesday, delivered to weekly subscribers every Thursday.

- Citing a desire to be more involved with her family, Erin Roos stepped down as volleyball coach at Sandpoint after a successful four year run. Roos, a former Bulldog who went on to play four years as a setter at the University of Michigan in the Big 10, compiled a 67-69 record and took two teams to state during her tenure.

- Sandpoint celebrated the announcement of former Bulldog, Vandal and Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer’s induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, as well as Sandpoint native Cal Method’s induction into the National Hot Rod Association Hall of Fame.

- Weekend meals are provided to elementary students throughout the Lake Pend Oreille School District who are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The cost for Kootenai Elementary School alone is approximately $17,000. To help offset some of that cost, the local Washington Trust Bank donated $9,200 to feed the Kootenai kids for the remainder of the school year.

- An Elmira man turned himself in on allegations that he accidentally shot a minor in the face while target practicing. Brandon Guy Bowman is charged with injuring another by discharging a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm due to a prior assault conviction in Washington state, court records show. Bowman made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Feb. 1.

- Nine Washington Elementary sixth-graders competed against teams of seventh- and eighth-graders at the regional Future City competition in Boise. There were 25 awards and 36 teams and the two Washington teams took two of those awards, including “Best City Presentation” and the “Most Multimodal Transportation Network” award.

- An access dispute arose between an elderly couple and the county regarding East River Spur Road north of Priest River. Todd Sudick helped broker an agreement with the Idaho Department of Lands in 2016 in which the county agreed to maintain East River Spur Road and replace a deteriorating bridge across the North Fork of East River. The easement was meant to preserve access to the home of Boris and Rachel Vrbeta. The current board of commissioners, however, unsuccessfully tried to terminate the easement on grounds that the county would be expending “substantial sums” of public funds for the private benefit of one couple. The bridge was ultimately repaired in the spring.

- Cleanup began at the S&W trailer park, which was later finished up as all the trailers have since been removed.

- Sandpoint officials continued a public engagement process regarding the University of Idaho property on Boyer Avenue that began in the fall of 2017. During the outreach campaign, a recreation center, open space and affordable housing were some of the ideas from the community for the property, which the city hoped to purchase, though they were unable to obtain the funding.

- Steven Michael Gervasi was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 6 and will have to serve at least 12 years of the sentence before he can be considered for parole, according to the terms of a binding plea agreement that resulted from civil mediation in the case. Gervasi, 27, was charged in Idaho with burglary, grand theft, aggravated assault, burglary, first-degree arson, unlawful possession of a firearm and robbery. He was charged in Washington state with attempted murder of a law officer, methamphetamine possession and unlawful weapon possession.

- Pamela Ann McGrath made an initial appearance in court of Feb. 2 on accusations of embezzlement. She was charged with grand theft, burglary and forgery. McGrath, 52, was accused of forging co-workers’ signatures in order to cash checks on an account belonging to Sandpoint Title Insurance, where she had been employed as an escrow officer.

- Jurors took up the case of Priest River man accused of using his religious beliefs to engage in ritualized, physical and sexual abuse with his former wife and children. Dana Andrew Furtney was tried on 14 felony counts ranging from ritualized abuse, sexual abuse of a child, lewd conduct, domestic battery and injury to a child. The alleged misconduct occurred at the former couple’s secluded Peninsula Loop Road home north of Priest River between 2009 and 2013. The jury convicted Furtney and he was later sentenced to life in prison, where he will have to serve 25 years before he can be considered for release on parole.

- A Coeur d’Alene man faced drug trafficking charges after a traffic stop led to the discovery of more than a pound of marijuana. Josef Laurence Senesac was stopped by Sandpoint Police on Feb. 9 after making an improper turn at the corner of U.S. Highway 2 and Boyer Avenue. A K9 officer alerted to the presence of controlled substances in the vehicle, prompting its search.

- Two Sandpoint High School seniors took top spots in the Skills USA regional welding competition. Miles Luce and Tanner Kohal placed first and third respectively in the Flux Core Arc Welding category.

- Sandpoint High School senior Cienna Roget was named a National Merit finalist. Out of more than 1.6 million juniors across more than 22,000 schools in the nation who entered the competition by taking the qualifying PSAT, Roget was among the 16,000 students named National Merit semi-finalists in September 2017. Of the 16,000, approximately 15,000 advanced to finalist level.

- A trio of Spokane residents filed a lawsuit against Western Pleasure Guest Ranch after they said they were injured when horses pulling a sleigh bolted without a driver. Barbara Chapman, John Rose and Jennifer Rose said they suffered lasting injuries during the incident at the ranch in December 2016.

- The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce and area businesses hosted the 45th annual Winter Carnival, complete with a parade, events at Schweitzer, a K9 keg pull and more.

- Bonner County commissioners voted unanimously to place the Scotchman Peaks wilderness designation question on the ballot for the May 15 primary election.

- A local attorney accused of felony battery pleaded guilty to reduced charges of disturbing the peace. Rex Adam Moyle Finney entered the pleas the same day he was scheduled to undergo a preliminary hearing on aggravated battery charges in Bonner County Magistrate Court. Finney, 43, and his 21-year-old son were accused of either directly breaking a man’s collarbone or aiding and abetting others in the infliction of great bodily harm, according to court documents. The elder Finney was further accused of kicking a man in the head during the clash outside the Cabinet Mountain Bar & Grill in Clark Fork on April 22, 2017.

- Brandon Scott Cramer, of Sagle, entered a plea to resolve his criminal case. Cramer, 32, was originally charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of misdemeanor battery in connection with an Oct. 17, 2017, confrontation near Oldtown. Cramer entered into a pretrial settlement agreement in which he entered an Alford plea to one count of aggravated assault. In exchange for the pleas, a second aggravated assault count and the misdemeanor battery counts were dismissed. The state also dismissed a sentencing enhancement for using a deadly weapon during the commission of the crime, court records show.

- A Kootenai family who helped pass a legislative bill to raise awareness about cytomegalovirus in 2017 had another win in Boise in February 2018 when the resolution to make June CMV Awareness Month passed the print hearing.

- Despite a snowstorm, more than 100 people took part in the Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter’s march through downtown Newport on Feb. 24.

- An Idaho State Police report revealed that drug impairment and excessive speed were a factor in a May 2017 rollover crash on Spirit Lake Cutoff Road that killed a juvenile passenger.

- Off the Wall Drama proved that Priest River’s got talent as local youth performed a musical production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

- #YouMatter. That’s the message at the core of a movement started by Washington Elementary sixth-graders as part of their Design for Change project. The students continued the mission of suicide prevention started by their DFC predecessors the year before.

- Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad hosted a panel on the proposed Newport Silicon Smelter and its potential impact to North Idaho.

- Spencer Sedwick and Randy Stuart were named Priest River Lamanna High School’s class of 2018 valedictorian and salutatorian.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.