Lumber limbo in N. Idaho • How Idahoans are faring at the Olympics • ISU prof tapped to poke holes in Sasquatch hoax • Hell no, fluoride can't go (in the water) • Twin temple tour turnout • And speaking of the Times-News ...

Lumber limbo in N. Idaho

The Coeur d'Alene Press told the story of the closing of the JD Lumber Mill in Priest River — "a lumber town in limbo."

The closing of the mill gets rid of more than 200 jobs, and the paper says Priest River now "wavers between its possible fates, including bubbling into a tourist hub or fading into a ghost town."

"We'll recover, we've been through these tough times before," said City Councilman Doug Wagner, adding that several local mills have closed during his 30 years in Priest River.

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How Idahoans are faring at the Olympics

The New York Times on Sunday had a story about how air pollution in Beijing during the Olympics has been lower than expected.

The story quotes multiple athletes and regular fans (including an Eagle couple) who made the trip to catch some of the games.

Kathy and Scott Cleveland of Eagle arrived on Aug. 13.

They said once the pollution had dissipated, air quality had not been a problem. They had been concerned enough to bring masks, though they have not needed to use them. "Usually, with humidity and bad air, I have migraines, but I haven't had any," Kathy told the Times.

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ISU prof tapped to poke holes in Sasquatch hoax

When news broke Friday that two self-proclaimed sasquatch trackers in Georgia claimed to have one of the fabled beasts in their freezer, Idaho State professor Jeff Meldrum was quickly pulled into the story.

An associate professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University and an affiliate curator at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, Meldrum is one of the few PhDs conducting field work on Bigfoot so reporters started knocking on his door immediately.

The verdict?

"It was not compelling in the least," said Meldrum. "It didn't have the bulk or the mass. It seemed to be vacuous, the hair did not look natural and the face bears a striking resemblance to an off-the-shelf costume."

Meldrum, author of "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science," told Canada.com that such hoaxes as the one in Georgia are damaging to the few scientists researching the field.

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Hell no, fluoride can't go (in the water)

The Spokesman-Review writes about the controversial addition of fluoride to the water supply in Spokane and northern Idaho.

"A small, intensely focused group of anti-fluoride activists has waged aggressive campaigns for years to keep Spokane's water untreated."

Many dentists and public health advocates are frustrated by the opposition, saying the lack of fluoridation in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene discriminates against the poor, especially children whose parents don't encourage good dental hygiene.

The story says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention credits water fluoridation for the big drop in tooth decay and huge improvements in the nation's oral health.

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Twin temple tour turnout

The Times-News reports that officials with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were surprised by how many people wanted to see the new Twin Falls temple.

Church spokesman Terry McCurdy told the paper Sunday that 159,867 people - almost 10,000 more than the church's highest guess beforehand - toured the building during the month it was open to the public.

Church members will spend this week cleaning up the temple before Sunday's dedication ceremony. The ceremony will be broadcast statewide and repeated four times to accommodate large crowds.

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And speaking of the Times-News ...

Yesterday marked "the biggest change in the Times-News since the morning Twin Falls Times and the afternoon Twin Falls Daily News merged on Feb. 16, 1942."

The Times-News on Sunday became a single regional newspaper that incorporates the news and features of six different publications: The afternoon South Idaho Press of Burley and weekly newspapers formerly based in Gooding, Jerome, Shoshone and Rupert.

"Meeting the needs of a region the size of Belgium is a big responsibility," and the paper lays out its plans here.