Bees spilled in highway crash

BURLEY (AP) -- Thousands of honeybees are doomed to die on a cold Southern Idaho highway after their hives spilled from a truck on Monday, Nov. 23.

Sixty-four hives tipped onto the asphalt at the junction of Idaho Highway 81 and Idaho Highway 24 in Burley when one of the cargo straps holding them onto a truck snapped.

The bees, from Belliston Brothers Apiaries Inc., were being transported to a cellar for storage over the winter. Bert Belliston, the owner of the bees, said they were sluggish due to the cold; those that couldn't be recovered will perish, he said.

The hives were part of the company's rental business and were due to be taken to California in February to pollinate some of that state's almond crop.

The 64 hives represent less than 2 percent of his business, which includes 4,070 hives. The bees also pollinate many Idaho crops, including clover and alfalfa, which are ideal for honey-making.

Motorists alerted to wolf traffic

OSBURN (AP) -- Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game say motorists in Northern Idaho should watch out for wolves on the road.

The Shoshone County Sheriff's Office said a black wolf was hit and killed by a sport utility vehicle last week on Interstate 90.

Capt. Jeremy Groves said it was the department's first vehicle vs. wolf call of the season, but more are likely to come.

Fuel depot found in compliance

COEUR d'ALENE (AP) -- The Burlington Northern Santa Fe refueling depot in Huetter is in compliance with local environmental regulations.

Kootenai County commissioners on Thursday, Nov. 19, voted unanimously that the massive depot met the conditions set when it was first opened in 2004.

Judge rules out water evidence

BOISE (AP) -- A federal judge says prosecutors failed to prove allegations that a Southern Idaho feedlot manager discharged fluids into the aquifer that were contaminated with manure and bacteria.

U.S. District Judge B. Linn Winmill issued the ruling Monday, Nov. 23, in the case of Cory King, manager of Double C Farms near Burley.

King was convicted by a jury in April of four counts of discharging fluids into the aquifer without a permit in 2005 and one count of lying to a state investigator.

He is scheduled to be sentenced next month, but the judge's latest ruling will play a key role in the sentencing.

At a hearing earlier this month, federal prosecutors argued the fluids diverted into the groundwater were tainted with manure.

But Winmill concluded that water samples presented by prosecutors failed to prove contamination.