The fresh face of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Kootenai County's elections went relatively smoothly last night, with 86.86 percent voter turnout and 63,034 ballots cast, total. While the country may have voted otherwise, Republicans were the big winners locally, with McCain/Palin winning 61.38% of the vote in Kootenai County, Jim Risch with 59.7% in the Senate race, and Bill Sali at 50.61% for District 1 Representative.

Statewide, it's still a close race between Minnick and Sali for Representative with Minnick at 51% of the vote statewide and Sali at 49% statewide it is likely Democrat Minnick will claim the Representative seat from Republican incumbent Sali. At the time of this article, 6 precincts have not reported and the results of the elections are still considered unofficial, and in such a close race it's possible for those results to change, so this is a race to keep your eyes on.

Back to local results, Judith Meyer won 64% of the vote and will fill the North Idaho College Trustee position A. Running unopposed, Michael Armon will fill NIC Trustee position B. Republican Todd Tondee won 56.9% of the vote for First District County Commissioner and Elmer Currie, also Republican, won 53.36% of the vote for Second District Commissioner. Kootenai County's Rocky Watson will return for another term, getting a little more than 75% of the vote. Barry McHugh ran unopposed for prosecuting attorney.

Kootenai County voters flatly rejected the Facilities Bond with 64.1% voting "No." The .5% extra sales tax to fund new county jail facilities was also rejected with 61.5% voting "No." The county had also proposed tacking on an additional $24 to vehicle registration fees, and that measure was soundly beaten as almost 76% of voters said "No" to raising vehicle registration fees.

Update 11/5/08 9:00 am
It is now official that Minnick has defeated Sali for the US Representative seat. 954 of 956 precincts reporting

Coeur d'Alene's one busy town in November as we prepare for another cold and snowy winter. But the spirit of the town doesn't hibernate over winter, instead we gear up to enjoy the weather to come! The ski resorts are looking forward to opening by Thanksgiving weekend. Here's a look ahead at other events around Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho throughout the month of November. Remember to visit the Coeur d'Alene events page for more details and a calendar view of these upcoming events.

November starts off with a bang as the University of Idaho Vandals come off their victory over NMSU to face San Jose. Head down to Moscow's Kibbie Dome to cheer your UI football team on to another win! November 1, 2:00 pm. Tickets are available at the box office or through TicketsWest. General Admission is only $13. You'll find photos of the game on lovecda.com afterwards! Check out our current UI Vandal Football photos! Computer and Cell Phone Wallpapers available too, photos courtesy of 29k Productions

After the Vandals game you can catch a showing of "A Few Good Men" at the Lake City Playhouse at 7:30 on November 1. It also shows Nov 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, & 15. Tickets from $10-$16 and you can call the playhouse at 208.667.1323 to reserve your seats! Showtimes are 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday and 2:00 pm Sundays.

Go Vandals!

The University of Idaho football team shut down the New Mexico State University Aggies, breaking UI's 17-game WAC losing streak. This is the first Western Athletic Conference win for Idaho since 2006. Check out the full story of the game at WACSports.com The Vandals have another home game against San Jose on Saturday, November 1. The final home game of the 2008 season is against Boise State on Saturday November 15. Come on down and cheer your Idaho Vandals to victory again!

Check out the photos and game stats here!

Also the rest of the US, but we care more about Coeur d'Alene, right?

This year, the United States Daylight Saving Time ends on November 2. So as of 2:00 AM we get to return our clocks to standard time making it 1:00 AM. Huzzah for an extra hour of sleep before work and school on the 2nd! Except for those with overnight shifts who get to re-live the 1:00 hour again, I suppose. Don't worry though, if you have to re-live that hour twice at work this fall, next spring you'll get to skip an hour on March 8th.

For more information about the current laws regarding Daylight Saving Time in the United States, be sure to check out the wikipedia article about it.