U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has issued an order declaring Joseph Duncan competent to proceed in his death penalty sentencing hearings, rejecting a motion from defense attorneys to declare the convicted killer mentally incompetent. You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com.

The judge’s decision ends nearly three months of haggling over the killer’s mental state, which was kicked off when he requested to sideline his legal team and instead act as his own attorney. Lodge then ordered a mental evaluation to confirm that Duncan was mentally competent to waive his constitutional right to an attorney. Before it was completed, however, the defense filed a motion to declare Duncan incompetent – which would have halted the sentencing proceedings until the defendant was again declared competent. Defense attorneys submitted reports from their own mental health experts to boost that argument. The judge ordered a second, more-extensive mental evaluation, for which Duncan was sent to the Bureau of Prisons in Seattle for a 45-day observation.

That’s now been completed, and today, the judge, without any further hearings, declared Duncan competent to proceed. He set a hearing for Monday on Duncan’s request to act as his own attorney, and said a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision will guide him in that decision – because it says the decision to allow a mentally ill defendant, even one ruled competent to undergo court proceedings, to represent himself is “a matter resting in the sound discretion of the trial judge.” You can read the judge's order here.

A June U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the right of mentally ill defendants to represent themselves in court could affect the case of Joseph Duncan, the notorious murderer and child molester who’s admitted to killing four members of a North Idaho family.

Though he has prominent capital defense lawyers assigned to represent him, Duncan told U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge in April that he instead wanted to act as his own lawyer, because, he said, “I don’t believe that they can ethically represent my ideology.” Lodge then ordered two mental evaluations to confirm that Duncan was competent to waive his constitutional right to a lawyer. As the judge now prepares to rule on that issue, defense attorneys this week filed a motion asking the judge to say what standard he’ll use, in light of the latest Supreme Court decision.

Before the high court reached its decision, the judge made it clear that case law dictated that if Duncan’s competent to undergo court proceedings at all, he’s competent to act as his own attorney. But the new decision, Indiana v. Edwards, opened the door to a different approach. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that “common sense” dictates that a mentally ill defendant might not be able to represent himself in court proceedings, though he could function just fine with the assistance of attorneys. “Insofar as a defendant’s lack of capacity threatens an improper conviction or sentence, self-representation in that exceptional context undercuts the most basic of the Constitution’s criminal law objectives, providing a fair trial,” Breyer wrote for the court’s majority. “The court said, ‘Let the trial judge decide,’” said Robert Bloom, a law professor at Boston College and an expert on constitutional rights and criminal procedures. “They gave a lot of discretion to the trial judge.”

Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas. Scalia called the majority’s decision “extraordinarily vague,” and wrote, “Trial judges will have every incentive to make their lives easier … by appointing knowledgeable and literate counsel.” You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com.

Idaho Department of Finance Director Gavin Gee said today that state-chartered banks and credit unions in Idaho are “safe and sound,” at a time when large financial institutions elsewhere are experiencing significant problems related to mortgage defaults. “Idaho commercial banks and savings institutions continued to outperform the nation during the first quarter 2008 and reported higher levels of capital, higher profitability, and lower non-performing loans and net charge-offs than institutions nationwide,” Gee announced in a statement. The percentage of Idaho mortgage delinquencies for the first quarter of 2008, 3.62 percent, is down from the fourth quarter 2007 figure of 3.86 percent. For the full year of 2007, mortgage delinquencies were lower than 10 of the past 20 years. “Idaho ranked better than 44 other states in percentage of mortgage loans seriously delinquent (90 days plus) or in foreclosure,” he reported.

A second, extensive mental evaluation of killer Joseph Duncan by federal Bureau of Prisons evaluator Dr. Cynthia Low has been filed under seal in federal court in Boise. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge today ordered the filing of the sealed report, and granted only a small portion of a motion from defense attorneys to redact certain items in the report because they related to confidential matters between the attorneys and their client, that the attorneys revealed to the federal evaluator. Redacting them would block them out so that prosecutors wouldn’t get to see them.

“To conclude the material is privileged would be fundamentally unfair to the government, who is now faced with countering information considered by BOP (Bureau of Prisons) during the competency evaluation that it has never seen,” Lodge wrote in an order issued today. “The defense cannot provide the materials to BOP and then deny them from the government.” He cited case law showing that the privilege of keeping such material secret is forfeited if they are disclosed as part of “an attempt to gain a strategic advantage in litigation.” Duncan’s defense attorneys have taken a new tack in recent weeks, contending that the convicted murderer is mentally incompetent and therefore can’t go forward with court proceedings. The judge had ordered mental evaluations to confirm that he is, in fact, competent, as a precaution before allowing Duncan to exercise his right to act as his own attorney in his case. The two evaluations both are sealed and the judge has not yet ruled on the competency question.

Winds are gusting to 40 mph now, and the sky has turned dark as a typical Idaho summer rainstorm blows in – a lot of wind, a few drops, and it’s all over. A few fat raindrops just splattered against my window, and dust is billowing up where the wind hits it. Here’s the danger: Southwest Idaho firefighters have been busy with three wildfires in the past two days, none of which are yet entirely out. One along the Snake River a few miles east of Celebration Park was started by a campfire late Sunday afternoon. Another off Blacks Creek Road was ignited by “young adults … playing with fireworks,” according to the BLM. A lightning-caused fire has burned 125 acres about 15 miles east of Boise; all flames were out Monday on that one but suppression work is continuing today. Fire officials are asking for extreme caution with anything that could ignite a wildfire.

And now an update: Lots of thunder and lightning, a few brief downpours and some hail reports later, this one has moved out of the typical range. With luck, the wetness will offset the new lightning strikes...

With the federal minimum wage going up on Thursday, there’s little effect in states where state minimum wages already exceeded the federal level – but there’s a big impact in Idaho. The Idaho Department of Labor estimates that 42,000 Idaho workers are now paid less than the new minimum wage of $6.55 per hour. All of them will get their pay boosted to that level on Thursday.

Idaho’s minimum wage, by state law, matches the federal minimum. Last year, when the first phase of the three-stage federal minimum wage increase hit, 20,000 Idaho workers got raises because their pay was less than the current $5.85 per hour minimum. The state Department of Labor estimates that 6.5 percent of Idaho’s 640,000-plus jobs covered by unemployment insurance are held by low-wage workers who now fall below the new $6.55 minimum.

When Norm Semanko was a young Lakeland High School grad applying to the University of Idaho, he got a perfect score on the math portion of the ACT – but it was politics that really interested him. Now 41, he’s the newly elected chairman of the Idaho Republican Party, an overwhelmingly dominant state political party that’s also seriously fractured between libertarian Ron Paul supporters, values-driven religious voters, backers of legalization of marijuana, supporters of a return to the gold standard and office-holding moderates.

Semanko, a conservative, handily defeated moderate former party Chairman Kirk Sullivan – but he says he did it only because of the numbers. Sullivan would have lost to Rod Beck, a divisive former state Senate leader who’s clashed with party leadership, Semanko said, and he didn’t think that’d be good for the party. “Once the convention delegates had been selected, we knew who those roughly 400 people were and how they were going to vote,” Semanko said. “I had to put my name in.”

Now the Boise lawyer and water users association head has a huge volunteer job ahead of him: To unite the differing streams of the party to hold onto the GOP’s big edge in Idaho in November, in a year when minority Democrats are surging. You can read my full story here in today's Spokesman-Review.

In the latest bad news for Tamarack Resort, tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have dropped their plan to develop a 300-room Fairmont Hotel at the newly developing ski and summer resort near Donnelly, Idaho that's lately been dogged by litigation and bankruptcy filings. Click below to read the full story from AP reporter John Miller.

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A rolling anti-Bush museum-in-a-bus rolled into Boise today, showcasing the drawbacks of “The Bush Legacy” enroute from its last stop in Sioux Falls to its next gig in Seattle. Parked outside the downtown post office, the bus drew an appreciative, like-minded stream of visitors at its noon stop. “We’re very disappointed in what’s going on in our country the last eight years,” said Rick Deerfield, who brought his 4-year-old daughter, Samantha, with him to check out the displays. “We really just think it’s a horrible thing for our country.” Deerfield said it appeared to him that most of those touring the bus were of like mind, so it was “kind of preaching to the choir,” and he hoped some “people on the fence” would visit the displays critical of the current GOP administration.

Twenty-eight-year-old bus driver Joel Parisoe said he’s gotten all kinds of reactions on the road. “I’ve had thumbs-ups, I’ve had waves, I’ve had fingers – a guy threw a sandwich at me the other day,” he said. A few people have tried to “brake-check” him by getting ahead of him on the road and slamming on their brakes. He’s not fazed, however, as a 10-year bus driver employed by Tour Bus Leasing of Nashville, where his more typical assignment is to drive heavy-metal or R&B bands from gig to gig.

The bus tour is sponsored by a group called “Americans United for Change,” which formed in 2005 to oppose Social Security privatization and has since branched out into other issues. Julie Blust, the group’s press secretary for the tour, said in a statement, “The Bush Legacy Bus is just one piece in an ongoing effort to redefine American political values and to create an enduring progressive majority in America. The bus serves to educate Americans about how the conservative policies President Bush and his allies in Congress have pursued have failed America and why progressive approaches to health care, the economy, foreign policy and other issues provide the solutions Americans are looking for.”

So why did the bus stop in Boise, capital of a state where President Bush won 68.4 percent in his re-election bid in 2004? Blust said the bus is making nearly 150 stops “in the hometowns of Bush’s allies in Congress,” and targeted 1st District GOP Congressman Bill Sali for supporting Bush Administration policies in Congress. Plus, Bush’s support in Idaho has dropped, according to recent polls. In materials distributed on the bus, Blust called Sali “a reliable vote for the conservative agenda.”

“Is that a criticism or are they trying to flatter us?” responded Wayne Hoffman, spokesman for Sali. “The congressman promised two years ago he’d go to Washington, D.C. and fight for conservative Idaho values, and he’s done exactly that.” However, Hoffman added, “Congressman Sali has not voted in lockstep with President Bush. In fact, he has criticized the president of a variety of different positions taken by the Bush Administration, and he has been open about that.” He cited Sali’s opposition to an energy bill that Bush signed into law, and his support for veto overrides on funding for water projects and farm legislation.

Blust cited a Congressional Quarterly study of all congressional votes that showed Sali supported Bush 90 percent of the time. In addition to the hometowns of Bush backers in Congress, the bus is stopping in major cities and will be at both political parties’ national conventions.

Julie Pipal, a well-known figure around the state capitol as the Idaho Transportation Department’s legislative liaison for the past five years, is the new legislative affairs director for the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, a regional economic development organization for the Boise metro area that includes, among others, the cities of Nampa, Meridian, Caldwell, Eagle and Star, along with chambers, educational institutions and businesses, and focuses on attracting and retaining jobs. Paul Hiller, executive director, said Pipal will serve as a full-time lobbyist for the group during the state legislative session “to help insure that issues relating to economic growth in our region are fully communicated,” including transportation, workforce development, infrastructure funding and education.

Pipal was manager of the Office of Budget, Policy and Intergovernmental Relations for ITD for the past five years, and before that was the public information officer for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Said Hiller, “With Julie’s 13 years experience in the legislative process, she will bring a wealth of knowledge about local and national legislation as well as a solid understanding of policy development and issues management.”

The federal court has announced another delay in the jury selection process in the Joseph Duncan sentencing proceedings, but this one is just for a week and a half – shorter than any of the earlier delays – suggesting the proceedings will be starting back up again soon. The pool of 300-plus prospective jurors – the largest ever called in federal court in Idaho – was instructed today to call back for further instructions after 9 a.m. on July 30, which is next Wednesday. “Potential jurors are free to go about their business or vacations so long as they notify the Jury Administrator if they plan to be out of the area for more than four days,” says the order from U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge. “The Court again apologizes for the delay in this case and is working expeditiously on the matters pending before it to avoid further delay. Your patience is much appreciated.”

The judge added, “The potential jurors are reminded to not read any news stories or articles or listen to any radio or television reports about the case or talk with others about this case, this process, or anything related to it until you are dismissed as potential jurors.” You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com.

Freshman Idaho Congressman Bill Sali is being out-fundraised by his Democratic challenger, and also is having such serious problems with the federal campaign finance reporting system that he still hasn’t filed his July 15 report and has filed nine amendments to earlier reports since June 1. Click below to read my full story from today's Spokesman-Review.

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Idaho Gov. Butch Otter’s communications director, Mark Warbis, had these comments tonight in reaction to the wolf ruling in Montana:

“The governor disagrees with the decision and is disappointed. The wolf population in Idaho is strong. The state of Idaho has developed a sound and responsible plan for managing wolves to maintain a sustainable population. We will be examining the decision and carefully considering the next step.”

Here’s a bulletin from the AP:

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A federal judge in Montana has ordered gray wolves in the Northern Rockies be returned to the endangered species list. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy granted a preliminary injunction Friday, restoring federal protections for the wolves. The predator was removed from the endangered species list in March, following a decade-long restoration effort. Environmentalists sued to overturn the decision. Officials in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have been moving forward with plans for public hunts. Molloy's ruling is expected to derail those plans. The region has an estimated 2,000 wolves, a population that has been soaring and increasingly preying on livestock.

Gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains were removed from the federal endangered species list on March 28, and Idaho’s Fish & Game Department stepped in to manage Idaho’s wolf population, which now numbers more than 700. Wolves were reintroduced to the region about 13 years ago, when 66 gray wolves were released in central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. Today, they number 1,500 in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah, according to Idaho Fish & Game.

With the wolves coming off the endangered species list this spring, Idaho enacted a law allowing people to kill wolves to protect livestock or domestic animals. No permit is required for such killings, but they’re required to be reported to Fish & Game within 72 hours. The state also has been working on plans for wolf hunts as part of its overall plan to manage the gray wolf as a big game species. None of that was permitted under the federal endangered species listing. Gov. Butch Otter said earlier that he’d like to bid on the chance to be the first to shoot a wolf when Idaho opens its first wolf-hunting season.

The Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Idaho Department of Lands issued a joint news release today warning that conditions are ripe for Idaho’s wildfire season to kick off to a roaring start – just as it did last year at this time. “Although the wildland fire season has been relatively quiet in Idaho, recent record high temperatures are drying our rangelands just in time for summer lightning storms,” the agencies reported. “The forests are also drying, particularly at the mid-elevation areas. Typically, late July is the beginning of potential large fires in the west central Idaho Mountains. Last year at this time, dry lightning storms ignited almost 100 fires throughout Idaho, which eventually burned over 2 million acres and contributed to the worst fire season Idaho had experienced since 1910.”

They’re offering tips for Idahoans on what to do in case of wildfires; click below to read the full press release.

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Idaho’s state Board of Examiners, which consists of the governor, secretary of state, and attorney general with the state controller serving as secretary, voted today to spend up to $5 million to track down and test cattle that could be infected with bovine tuberculosis. Several hundred dairy bulls from a California facility where the disease has shown up were imported into Idaho; the state Department of Agriculture has declared an emergency to track them down, test them, and see whether they could have spread TB to other herds or other animals. “It’s obviously a concern, and any time you have an outbreak like that, to ensure safety is something that needs to be done,” said Jon Hanian, spokesman for Gov. Butch Otter, who chairs the Board of Examiners. The money will be paid via deficiency warrants, the same procedure the state uses to pay for unexpected wildfire fighting costs.

State Agriculture Director Celia Gould, in a memo to the Board of Examiners, said bovine TB can affect both humans and animals, but there’s very low risk of it spreading to humans because it’s not spread in meat and pasteurizing kills it in milk products. However, people who consume unpasteurized raw milk products containing the bacteria could be at risk, as could people who are in close contact with infected cattle. The disease also can be spread from one animal to another through coughing or exhalations.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Brad Hoaglun, spokesman for state Controller Donna Jones. “They’re trying to find where these bulls went throughout the state.” Hundreds of cattle already have been tested, and tests have been negative so far, Hoaglun said. Tens of thousands could potentially be tested. Gould wrote, “The majority of infected animals do not display clinical signs of the disease and may be infected for years before any signs appear. The most common clinical signs of TB include a cough, weight and production loss, variable appetite and fluctuating fevers.”

Gov. Butch Otter has named former Twin Falls Times-News publisher Stephen Hartgen to the state House, to serve out the term of Rep. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, who earlier was appointed to replace the late Sen. Tom Gannon, R-Buhl. Hartgen, 63, is a Republican and a member of the state Capitol Commission. He’s been employed in his own consulting business since 2005. Below is the governor’s full press release.

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Convicted killer Joseph Duncan has now been through two extensive mental competency evaluations, and his lawyers are contending he’s not competent to represent himself in his death penalty hearings. Federal prosecutors disagree, and the court hasn’t issued its ruling yet. If Duncan were ruled incompetent, the proceedings would be halted and he’d be moved to a secure mental facility until he’s again found competent to go through court proceedings to determine whether he should get the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Duncan already has pleaded guilty to all charges in a 10-count federal indictment for kidnapping and molesting two North Idaho children and killing one in 2005. He also has pleaded guilty in state court to killing the children’s 13-year-old brother, mother and mother’s fiancée in a brutal attack at the family’s home in order to kidnap the two youngsters.

This morning in court, attorneys for both sides wrangled over the competency issue, with Deputy U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson noting that the court already ruled that Duncan was competent, and merely ordered the evaluations to confirm that. Defense attorney Tom Monaghan countered, “We now have contesting viewpoints on that matter between the parties.”

Duncan was present, dressed in yellow scrubs with faded block letters on the back that said “Ada County Jail.” His long hair was pulled into a tight knot at the nape of his neck, and he’s now grown a full beard. Throughout the proceedings, he appeared lethargic and unresponsive, often closing his eyes and resting his chin on his hands. When the judge told him, “Good morning, Mr. Duncan,” he didn’t respond.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said he’s taken under advisement a request for a competency hearing, at which the experts who examined Duncan could be cross-examined. “The court intends to rule on that … forthwith,” he declared. You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has reversed himself and ordered tomorrow’s status hearing in killer Joseph Duncan’s death sentencing proceedings opened to the press and public. Meanwhile, prosecutors filed a motion characterizing the defense’s newfound aversion to secrecy in the case as “attempts to further delay these proceedings.”

Lodge scolded the defense attorneys in his order, noting that much of the secrecy in the case has occurred because they filed court documents under seal, without even filing the required motion to seal them. “They attempt to down-play their role as merely having ‘gone along with’ this practice,” the judge wrote. “The Court takes issue with such a characterization which entirely mischaracterizes these proceedings.”

Lodge wrote that he had found a valid basis for closing tomorrow’s court hearing, but “in light of defense counsel’s latest position favoring opening the proceedings, regardless of Mr. Duncan’s privacy interests, the Court will unseal the status conference.” Click here to read the judge's full order.

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, who was sued by the Idaho Republican Party in their effort to force the closure of the state’s GOP primaries to anyone but registered Republicans, today filed his answer to the party’s lawsuit. The seven-page court filing mostly consists of denying all allegations in the complaint, but it also states that Idaho’s current election laws don’t infringe on the party’s rights of association, and that “the issues presented in the complaint are political questions.” The state’s filing asks that the lawsuit be dismissed and the state be awarded attorney fees and costs; click here to read the state’s answer, and click here to read the original complaint.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s office has issued a 12-page opinion concluding that there was nothing illegal about the secret tax deals struck by the state Tax Commission with large multistate corporations, excusing them from paying part of their Idaho taxes. The deals were revealed in a whistleblower’s report submitted to the governor and Legislature by a longtime state tax auditor, who complained that the deals have become so frequent that such corporations now routinely protest their taxes in order to get their “Idaho tax break.”

The Attorney General’s review, by Steven L. Olsen, chief of the civil litigation division, looked only at whether state law had been violated. It found that tax commissioners are empowered by state law with the discretion to settle tax cases, as they did in those cited in the report. “Further, the confidentiality of the settlements is mandated by statute,” Olsen wrote in the opinion.

Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, one of two state lawmakers who requested the Attorney General’s review, called it a “thorough, and thankfully understandable, review of a very narrow question, which is did anything illegal happen. I think it’s helpful,” she said. “But it of course leaves begging the question of whether or not the law underlying the actions that took place is the appropriate law.”

Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, also requested the review. He said he was pleased with the opinion. “I feel very good about their conclusions and agree with them entirely,” Hill said. However, like Kelly, he said that’s just the first part of the issue – the next piece is determining whether legislation is needed to improve the way the Tax Commission handles such cases. “It’s not a matter now of pointing blame, as much as it is making the whole process better and more efficient,” Hill said.

The Legislative Services Office is gathering information for all legislators on how Idaho’s tax commission practices compare to other states and to best practices, and that report will be complete by mid-August, Hill said. At the same time, Gov. Butch Otter has appointed a special auditor to review the Tax Commission’s actions and the allegations in the whistleblower’s report. Hill said once both those reviews are complete, “we may very well see some changes that need to be made in the law.”

Attorneys for admitted multiple murderer and child molester Joseph Duncan now say there’s been too much secrecy in the killer’s death sentence proceedings, and they’re objecting to a planned closed court hearing set for Thursday. The defense attorneys said the extensive secrecy in the case, from filing documents under seal to actual closure of proceedings, violates both the 1st Amendment and Duncan’s 6th Amendment right to a public trial. “The defense acknowledges its participation in the culture of secrecy in this case up to this point,” the attorneys, led by Seattle attorney Mark Larranaga, wrote in today’s filings. “Having now considered the issues implicated by such practices, the defense believes it has mistakenly gone along with the same in the past. The instant motion has been brought to avoid allowing that improper practice to continue.” They asked U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge to rule swiftly on their motion, and if he denies it to stay Thursday’s hearing so they can appeal his decision to the 9th Circuit. You can read my full story here at spokesmanreview.com.

Here’s the first report from AP on today’s campaign finance filings in the Idaho congressional races:

Republican Senate candidate Jim Risch has a four-to-one cash advantage over Democrat Larry LaRocco in the race to replace outgoing Sen. Larry Craig. LaRocco has $242,229, while Risch has just over $1 million. Risch's campaign manager and son, Jason Risch, called the disparity a "financial disaster" for LaRocco. LaRocco countered he's building an organization poised to take advantage of dissatisfaction with the GOP he expects will peak later this year. In Idaho's 2nd District congressional race, Republican incumbent Mike Simpson had $135,000, to just $1,600 for Democrat Debbie Holmes. Walt Minnick, the Democrat challenging GOP Rep. Bill Sali in the 1st District, had about $400,000 in cash. Figures for Sali weren't immediately available.

As of right now, 230 people have participated so far in the day of meetings in Caldwell that’s kicking off a round of such gatherings around the state on Idaho’s transportation funding shortfall. In the first of three hour-long information and public comment sessions running from 4-7 p.m., “They had just about every seat filled, and there were people standing in back,” said Jon Hanian, Gov. Butch Otter’s press secretary. The governor, who welcomed the group at 4, was “definitely pleased by the turnout,” Hanian said. “We definitely got a lot of input.” The transportation meetings move to Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday and Lewiston on Thursday, to be followed by several more southern Idaho sessions in the coming weeks.

Lucky Peak Reservoir is one of Boise’s playgrounds, with its handy location just eight miles from town and cool waters that beckon fishermen, boaters, waterskiers, windsurfers, beach-goers, boat-campers and others on summer weekends. It hardly seems like wilderness. But the Idaho Fish & Game Department says several incidents in the past week are reminders that the area around Lucky Peak is bear country.

In one incident, a young black bear followed an 11-year-old boy down a boat dock as he was about to board a canoe. The boy’s parents, who were in the canoe, frightened off the bear by banging their paddles against the dock.

On Saturday, a bear fitting the same description was spotted in a wooded area called Charcoal Flat along the shore of the lake at a boat-access campsite. “First my grandson saw it from the dock, and he said, ‘There’s a bear,’” said Ron Fritz, who happens to be state hunter education coordinator for Fish & Game. “I thought, ‘I don’t know of any bears here, that’s the first time I heard that.’ So I walked through the brush, and about 25 feet in front of me, about a year- or 2-year-old black bear crossed in front of me.” The bear made its way to the picnic table and “started chowing down,” clawing up a cooler to get it open, rejecting some coleslaw after a single bite and passing over tomatoes but gobbling up all the campers’ chips and doughnuts. “They were sitting on the table, because we had no inkling there was any problem at the time,” Fritz said. So he suggested some public notice. “I thought it might be a good idea to let people know there’s at least one in the area and there may be others,” he said.

Jon Rachael, wildlife manager for Fish & Game's southwest region, said people "don't often necessarily think of Lucky Peak as being bear habitat, but we want to make sure that people are guarding their food and keeping it where bears can't get to it." If bears become accustomed to eating humans' food, they can become aggressive. "We end up having to remove and kill them; none of us want that to happen," Rachael said. The department warns, “If you see a bear, watch it from a distance and leave it alone. Black bears are not usually aggressive, but the danger may increase if a bear loses its fear of humans.”