Kindergartener Anthony Neff tries to name letters and sounds on cards held by teacher Jacque Dean in the all-day kindergarten class at Atlas Elementary in Hayden Friday. For kids who need reading and language help, the all-day kindergarten reinforces what half-day kindergarteners are learning/Jesse Tinsley, Spokesman-Review.

DFO: Like it or not, blogs are the future of news here.

1. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz ($1.23M worth), other top execs of the 20 biggest publicly held companies in the Puget Sound raked in perks galore, including some who were given bonuses at employee training expense, here.

2. An emergency room doctor has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $16M against the company that provides emergency room care at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, alleging defamation, civil conspiracy, wrongful discharge and other illegal acts. The suit includes allegations that Silvertip’s physicians covered up another physician’s alcohol abuse, ignored Rundle’s concerns over patient-care quality and made referrals more for financial gain than for patient care here.

3. The region’s only mad cow testing facility, a part of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at WSU, will no longer test for mad cow disease as a contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture comes to an end March 1. The facility began testing in June 2004, several months after a cow in the Yakima Valley tested positive for BSE, the first such case in the United States here.

4. A bill to require a parent's permission for an unmarried minor to receive an abortion has passed the full Idaho Senate, 23-12.
The bill requires girls younger than 18 years old to get a parent or guardian's permission before receiving an abortion, or to appeal to the judge for an exception for special cases, such as sexual abuse by a parent here.

5. Police investigators are interviewing an off-duty Spokane officer involved in a shooting this morning. According to police, 16-year-veteran officer James "Jay" Olsen shot and injured a man he believed was stealing his truck here.

6. IMHO-NW: John Blanchette/Spokesman-Review (Will Oscar committee ever get it right?), Bill Hall/Lewiston Tribune (Foolish Huckleberry Snickers mistakes), Cliff Harris/Coeur d'Alene Press (Throwing rocks at the greenhouse), Tecla Markosky/UI Argonaut (Fame doesn't equal brilliance), and James Reavis/WSU Evergreen (Controversial women provide liberation).

Online Poll: 55% of 727 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll said they'd feel comfortable submitting to an airport X-ray machine that shows the body's contours with blush-inducing clarity.

*Washington State drops to 13th in latest AP basketball poll here.

*Idaho natives Graham Watanabe and Pat and Nate Holland were shut out at the U.S. Snowboardcross Championships here.

*Bonners Ferry woman who stole police SUV sentenced to five years here.

*A retired race horse was euthanized after being attacked by two pitbulls in the Spokane Valley here.

Orbusmax Special: Controversial punishment at Oregon private school stirs debate here.

---

---