Domestic violence trickles through nearly all of the cases seen by Court Appointed Special Advocates.

They are both witnesses and victims. They carry it with them, said CASA advocate supervisor Erin Cunningham.

CASAs are the eyes and ears of the court in North Idaho, reporting from a community standard.

Advocates help children find counseling and programs, but cases must eventually close, and sometimes the same families return.

"We can't leave cases open. Society can't afford it," she said.

According to information provided by Cunningham, at least half of the husbands who batter their wives also batter their children. A man may abuse the children in order to control the mother. Sometimes children are assaulted when they try to defend their mothers. And mothers who are subjected to violence are more likely to neglect or abuse their children.

Violence also affects school performance and attendance, bonding and relationships.

Violence becomes the norm, said Theresa Staples, who served with CASA and was also Court Program Manager for North Idaho Violence Prevention Center.

"Victims of child abuse often grow up to be abusive because that's what they know," she said.

Teachers try to help, but they have limitations and can't always get to the bottom of the problem, Cunningham said.

"How can you concentrate in school when you don't know what you're going home to?" said Susan Koerner, victim witness coordinator for the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office.

Family violence not only affects schools, it impacts entire neighborhoods, said Cunningham.

A family can move in and disrupt the neighborhood with poorly-parented children. Then someone moves out, and another problem moves in. Older neighbors whose children are gone are afraid to address the problem, and then more dissatisfied neighbors move out. Neighbors who do speak up don't know what happens to the child at home.

Neighbors need to be more aware and involved in each others' lives, supporting children who do not get the support they need at home, Cunningham said.

She recommended neighbors get to know each other and model healthy behavior to others where they live.

"You have to be a group. It's a little village," she said.

Tomorrow: Beyond the hurt - the high price of family violence.

About this series:

n October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This is the second of a four-part series about domestic violence in North Idaho.

Crisis call resource list:

n National Domestic Violence Hotline, 24-hour line - (800) 799-SAFE (7233)

n RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), 24-hour line - (800) 656-HOPE (4673)

n Post Falls Police Victim Services Unit, 24-hour line - (208) 773-1080

n North Idaho Violence Prevention Center, Coeur d'Alene, 24-hour line - (208) 664-1443

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) - For the second time in less than a week, a "sea serpent" attracted gawkers on a Southern California beach.

This time the rare, snakelike oarfish washed up Friday afternoon in Oceanside. It measured nearly 14 feet long and attracted a crowd of up to 75 people.

Oceanside police contacted SeaWorld San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Someone from NOAA retrieved the carcass, which was cut into sections for later study.

While it's unusual to find the deep-water fish near shore, on Sunday a snorkeler off Catalina Island found an 18-foot-long oarfish and dragged it onto the beach with the help of a dozen other people.