North Idaho Briefs June 20, 2012

Property taxes are due today

Kootenai County Treasurer Tom Malzahn said the second half of the 2011 property taxes are due and payable no later than today.

Payments may be made:

* At the counter. Operating hours will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. through today. If you use the early hours, please enter the building from the lower level parking lot.

* By mail. Please ensure mailed payments are postmarked by the Post Office by today, to be considered paid on time.

* Drop Box. You may put your payment in the drop box in any of the following US Bank branch locations in Coeur d'Alene, Sherman Avenue; Fourth Street; Government Way, Dalton Gardens and Seltice Way, Post Falls

* Credit Card. You may pay your taxes by credit card at either of the following two sites. There is an additional convenience fee assessed for credit card use.

a. Kootenai County website - www.kcgov.us - follow the link on the right side of the page for property taxes

b. Official Payments website www.officialpayments.com selecting "Local Payments"

c. Telephone. (800) 272-9829 using jurisdiction code 2213

Payments received after today will become delinquent and have a 2 percent late charge added to the tax, and 1 percent interest per month beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

Info: 446-1005

Lakeland class of 1982 to reunite

Lakeland High School class of 1982 will be celebrating its 30-year reunion during the weekend of July 27-29.

Info: Keith Erickson at [email protected] or Ladd Serwat at [email protected]. Or www.facebook.com/#!/ LakelandClassOf

1982Reunion.

Co-conspirators to be sentenced

COEUR d'ALENE - Two Oregon men entered guilty pleas in United States District Court in Coeur d'Alene to conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

Robert Wayne Baucum, 56, of Scio, and Ronald Clifford Underwood, 55, of Albany, entered the pleas on Tuesday.

Co-defendant Raymond Earl Hogle, 50, also of Albany, pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy charge in April.

Statements made during the plea hearing indicate that between 2004 and 2011, the three men conspired to grow marijuana in Idaho.

Some of the marijuana was grown in barns on property owned by Baucum in Naples. The conspiracy involved at least 1,000 marijuana plants.

The charge is punishable by imprisonment for not less than 10 years, a maximum fine of $10 million, and up to five years of supervised release.

Baucum, Underwood and Hogle are scheduled to be sentenced on July 17 before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene.

Co-defendants Justin Egner of Springfield, Ore., and Charles Goodenough of Willow, Alaska, are set for trial on July 17.

Home ransacked by burglars

COEUR d'ALENE - A Coeur d'Alene home was ransacked by burglars while the owner was away, police said.

The homeowner told police someone broke into her house in the 1300 block of North 13th Street sometime between Sunday night when she left, and Monday afternoon when she returned.

The victim said when she entered her home she found the kitchen cupboards open and items strewn about. She found the same thing throughout her house, with drawers pulled out and the contents dumped.

"Every room of her home had been ransacked," according to a police report.

A laptop valued at $600 and jewelry valued at $1,000 were reported missing.

The report said it appeared someone entered through an unlocked window.