Home on the range • Aggressive dancing in Twin brings felony, club closure • Say hello to my little friend • Feds want hostile bighorn takeover • We don't want you either • F&G wants fee increase

Home on the range

Reopening Farragut State Park's shooting range is a priority for the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, even if neighbors don't like the idea.

The Spokesman-Review reports that the range in the state park on Lake Pend Oreille, which dates to Farragut's days as a World War II naval training station, was closed by a 2007 court order related to noise levels and errant bullets.

But the shooting range could reopen next year with soundproofing designed to muffle the whine of rifle shots and safety barriers to block stray bullets.

"It's important for hunter recruitment and retention," Chip Corsi, regional supervisor for F&G in Coeur d'Alene said. Fish and Game generates most of its revenue from sales of hunting and fishing licenses.

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Aggressive dancing in Twin brings felony, club closure

Say goodbye to the mule kick, the cartwheel of doom and the windmill.

Twin Falls authorities have ruled that a man's dancefloor move at a dance and music venue that left another dancer with a brain injury was illegal.

Authorities arrested Justin Michael Sweat, of Boise, and he was charged last month with felony aggravated battery, after he allegedly looked over his shoulder and then kicked Devin Boudreaux in the face at a show at The Shop on Oct. 29, the Times-News reports.

Since the incident, Twin Falls city officials said the The Shop can no longer operate unless it obtains a special use permit.

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Say hello to my little friend

Things got nasty in Lava Hot Springs when a man allowed his pit bull to attack patrons of a local bar.

The Bannock County Sheriff's office says patrons at the Blue Moon Bar in Lava Hot Springs reported they escorted Bradley Maxwell from the bar after his pit bull attacked them early Sunday morning. Law enforcement officers arrested Maxwell a short time later.

Maxwell has been charged with disturbing the peace, resisting and obstructing, driving without privileges, drunken driving, assault on an officer, failure to display proof of insurance and eluding police.

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Feds want hostile bighorn takeover

The Bush administration wants to give Western wildlife officials one more present before leaving office.

The Jackson Hole Star Tribune reports that without notifying any state agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have drafted an agreement that would, in effect, take jurisdiction over the transplantation of bighorn sheep on national forests.

Reintroduction of bighorns to national forests would also require approval by the Forest Service.

Gray Thornton, president of the Cody, Wyoming-based Wild Sheep Foundation, said the move was ultimately made to address wild sheep-domestic sheep conflicts in Idaho, not in Wyoming.

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We don't want you either

Georgia Tech, which has played in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise in two of the last five years, is hoping for a different bowl bid this year following a 9-3 season.

"Anywhere but Idaho," said quarterback Josh Nesbitt when asked about his bowl preference after the win over archrival Georgia.

The Statesman is reporting on a possible a "Battle of Unbeatens" between No. 9 Boise State (12-0) and No. 12 Ball State (12-0) in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 30 at Bronco Stadium.

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F&G wants fee increase

The Mtn. Express reports that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is seeking its first increase in fishing and hunting license and tag fees in several years.

Fish and Game officials will go over the proposed fee increases they intend to bring before this year's Idaho legislative session during a series of public meetings throughout the state.

The proposal would raise almost $7 million for the agency annually.

Fish and Game was granted its last revenue increase in July 2005, when the legislature approved a 10 percent boost.