Authorities are investigating whether a hate crime has been committed against an openly gay University of Idaho student who lives on the Moscow campus.

Kory Larabee says he is afraid to leave his dorm room at night after derogatory messages threatening physical harm against him were recently scrawled on the door of his residence.

Larabee says the university has since responded and installed security cameras in the hallway of his campus dormitory.

The incident is being investigated by the university and the Moscow Police Department. (AP)

The Mexican government opened a temporary consulate in Boise last month, and officials expect to open a permanent office in December.

The U.S. State Department approved construction of a Mexican consulate in the state capitol earlier this year to help serve Southern Idaho’s Hispanic population. Supporters say the consulate will provide services to thousands of residents who have legal or family ties to Mexico.

The move came despite objections from Idaho Congressman Bill Sali, who wanted guarantees that the office wouldn’t aid illegal immigrants.

Mexico will have 50 consulates nationwide with the approval of sites in Idaho and Alaska earlier this year. (AP)

A University of Idaho researcher is back on the job, a year after an immigration case left her unemployed and facing deportation.

Katarzyna Dziewanowska, a Polish scientist who has studied possible ways to counter bioterrorism, among other things, was granted authorization to return to work in September and federal immigration officials re-opened her application for permanent residency. She returned to her position in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry last week.

Immigration officials denied her application for permanent residency last year after she spent 14 years as a researcher at the UI. She was recruited by the university, and worked on sensitive research that has on occasion required her to earn FBI security clearance. Immigration officials denied her application citing an eight-month period of unauthorized work in 2005.

She and her supporters say she followed the university’s erroneous advice regarding the status of her work permit – school administrators have declined to comment on the case. This summer the university issued a statement noting that immigration matters are ultimately the responsibility of the individual employee.

Dziewanowska’s husband is also a UI researcher studying treatment of retroviruses. The denial of the application limited his ability to receive grants, and blocked her son from applying for a scholarship program to attend college. (Spokesman Review)

The Seattle Mariners are reportedly interviewing five candidates this week to start the process of hiring a general manager.

In search of a replacement for Bill Bavasi, who was fired on June 16, the Mariners will interview Peter Woodfork, the Arizona Diamondbacks assistant general manager; Jerry DiPoto, Diamondbacks director of player personnel; Tony Bernazard, New York Mets vice president of player development; Kim Ng, Los Angeles Dodgers assistant general manager; and Tony LaCava, Toronto Blue Jays assistant general manager.

The Mariners are expected to talk to more candidates next week as they aim for an announcement shortly after the World Series. (The Seattle Times)

The Nez Perce Tribe has opened a commercial season on steelhead in the Snake and Clearwater rivers that could include the use of gill nets.

The tribe shared its intentions to open five short commercial and ceremonial and subsistence steelhead seasons this month during a recent conference call with fisheries managers from Idaho, Washington and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The first of those seasons opened Wednesday morning and runs through Friday. Other seasons could be held between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday through Oct. 16, Oct. 20 to Oct. 23 and Oct. 27 to Oct. 30.

The surplus of hatchery salmon and steelhead is split evenly between tribes and sport anglers, but the tribe has traditionally not taken its share of the steelhead run.  The tribe has said a commercial gill net season would allow it to begin approaching its share of available fish.

Gill netting is controversial because the nets kill all the fish that become entangled in them - that means some federally protected wild steelhead and fall chinook are likely to be taken in the fishery.

Idaho is among 46 states and the District of Columbia that secured a pledge from Shell Oil to reduce cigarette sales to children at the giant oil company’s service stations.

Shell and Motiva Enterprises, its partner in a gas station joint venture, have joined 10 other retailers who signed similar agreements to trim the sale of tobacco to kids. Shell will provide training to employees regarding laws governing tobacco sales to minors and do independent checks on whether its gas stations are actually complying.

Studies show most adult smokers begin smoking before 18 and young people can show signs of addiction after smoking only a few cigarettes. (AP)

Convicted rapist Kevin Coe says that he would pose no threat to women if released from state custody and is at “zero” risk to reoffend.

Coe, testifying Tuesday in court for the first time since his trials in the South Hill Rapist cases more than two decades ago, continued to maintain he is innocent of all the rape allegations against him. He also said he would not seek treatment for sexual deviancy if released, believing he would not need it.

Coe spent just over an hour on the witness stand in Spokane County Superior Court in a civil case in which the state seeks to hold him in custody indefinitely as a sexual predator. He has already served his 25-year sentence for the one rape he was convicted of, and two additional years in custody awaiting this trial.

Coe, 61, was called as a witness by the Washington Attorney General’s Office. Coe’s attorney declined to cross-examine his client, saying he would do that when he called Coe to testify during the defense portion of the trial. (AP)

Facing a tough economy, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire has announced immediate budget savings of about $240 million, including a 1 percent across-the-board cut at state agencies.

Gregoire’s plan, which could lead to government layoffs, is expected to boost the state’s surplus and help cut the next budget’s deficit nearly in half, from $3.2 billion to about $1.7 billion. The plan, which would also draw from the state’s rainy day fund, would boost the state’s surplus to more than $400 million dollars.

Some critical state programs, including education, social services and public safety, are exempt from the 1 percent cut to agencies under Gregoire’s control. 

However, Washington State University was told it will have to cut $6 million from its budget for this school year. The cut represents 2.4 percent of WSU’s state allocation of $254 million. Some progress towards the budget reduction had already been made after WSU president Elson Floyd directed university leadership in April to slow hiring and reduce other expenses in anticipation of an economic downturn.

Gregoire’s budget office is working on a no-new-taxes plan to solve the deficit projected for the 2009-2011 budget period, which begins next July. The next governor – either Gregoire or Republican Dino Rossi - and Legislature will have to solve the budget hole starting in January. (AP)