Lewiston

The new owners of an Idaho hospital laid off 6 percent of its staff, including the chief medical officer and some nurses.

The St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston eliminated 62 positions on Thursday, leaving the hospital with 956 employees, the Lewiston Tribune reported. RCCH HealthCare Partners acquired the hospital located near the state's border with Washington in May.

It was a game of Russian roulette that led to the death of 18-year-old Tim Reeves while he and friends were camping in Idaho, witnesses said.

Friends, all juveniles, who were on the camping trip told the Latah County District Court on Wednesday that after a night of alcohol and marijuana use, Keagan Tennant pointed a rifle at Reeves. They said Reeves held a silver Smith and Wesson revolver and aimed it at Tennant, The Lewiston Tribune reported.

The Lewiston City Council has approved a 182-day moratorium on new or expanded homeless shelters in the city.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that on Monday the council voted in favor of the moratorium, which officials say will give the council time to enact new zoning codes and standards for the organizations.

Outdoor recreation company Vista Outdoor is planning a $70 million expansion to its ammunition plant in Lewiston.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that the Idaho Department of Commerce announced Monday that Lewiston beat offers from Minnesota, where the company already has a plant, and other states.

Clearwater Paper Company has agreed to pay a civil penalty and upgrade pollution control equipment at its Lewiston pulp and paper mill to address alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that Clearwater Paper will pay $300,000 in fines plus interest to the federal government and spend $800,000 to address problems that led to the violation.

Environmental groups and the Nez Perce Tribe have filed a lawsuit to prevent dredging of the lower Snake River that enables Lewiston, Idaho, to be the most inland seaport on the West Coast.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Seattle, challenges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' approval of a $6.7 million dredging project scheduled to begin next month.

The lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups.

Four Idaho cities have made the latest rankings of a national group that advocates for the rights of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender people. 

The Washington D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign released its third annual Municipal Equality Index Wednesday. Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian and Nampa are among the 353 cities ranked. The organization assigns cities a score based on "LGBT inclusion in municipal law and policy." It examines 47 different criteria in six categories.

A supermarket in north Idaho has banned a transgendered woman from the store after she used the women's restroom. Police issued Ally Robledo a trespass notice that will make it a misdemeanor for her to enter the store for one year.

Managers at the Rosauers in Lewiston told police they received complaints from women about Robledo using the restroom. Robledo was born male as Alberto, but identifies and dresses like a woman and is the process of transitioning physically.

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers wants to dredge a deeper channel for barges in the waters behind southeastern Washington’s Lower Granite Dam. Idaho’s Port of Lewiston says the work is important to keep the local economy moving. But some environmental groups opposed to the plan.

Damming the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington has turned the nearby town of Lewiston, Idaho into the Northwest’s most inland seaport. But the build-up of sediment is making the water too shallow for barges to navigate the waters behind the Lower Granite Dam.