Week in Review
University of Idaho officials expected a small group Monday when they offered a chance for students to talk about grief. Instead, more than 200 showed up. “There is anger, there is disbelief, there are questions,” UI President Tim White said. “We should support each other at this time.” It was a tough week on the Moscow campus, where students were coping with the tragic deaths of three classmates. Jack Shannon and Jason Yearout were killed early Sunday when their motorcycle crashed into a tree. The third victim was Eric R. McMillan, cornerback on the Vandal football team, who was shot at the door of his apartment Sunday evening. Police arrested two men in connection with the murder, but have not been able to determine a motive. More than 400 people attended a memorial for McMillan on Wednesday. “I just wish I could see him one more day so I can tell him I love him,” a teammate said.
MONDAY
“ Milfoil, an aquatic weed that takes over shallow areas of lakes, has been discovered in the southern end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. “We’re concerned that 10 years from now you may not be able to swim or boat in a large part of the southern end,” said the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s director of lake management.
“ Most of the region’s colleges and universities are bursting with students, despite the ever-rising cost of tuition and fees. Many students are arriving with higher GPAs and more scholarships than their predecessors.
“ During their annual meeting this week in Spokane, Episcopal Church bishops will discuss the healing of rifts stemming from last year’s consecration of a gay bishop. It’s been 21 years since the bishops met here.
“ A proposed “water quality assurance” ordinance would block possible fluoridation of Spokane’s water. The ordinance backed by City Council members Bob Apple and Cherie Rodgers prohibits water additives unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But it’s the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that regulates additives.
TUESDAY
“ Among the 174 workers losing jobs at Sacred Heart Medical Center are six chaplains who minister to the spiritual needs of employees, patients and families. There will still be at least one chaplain at the hospital at all times.
“ Students at Deer Park High School are stunned at the news that a weekend accident left two classmates in critical condition and a third with less-severe injuries. Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies said the teens had been drinking and were not wearing seat belts.
“ Spokane County Interstate Fair has seen a steady attendance decline, drawing half as many people this year as in 1989. The fair director blames competing activities and changing interests. But some former fair-goers cite high prices for rides and food, a lack of new activities and a growing emphasis on commercial exhibits.
WEDNESDAY
“ Members of the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Nez Perce tribes were among 10,000 Native Americans who attended the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum, on the national mall in Washington, D.C., was 15 years in the making and has 800,000 artifacts.
“ Believers are finding different ways to vote their faith. While many conservative Christians look for candidates who oppose abortion rights and same-sex marriage, others look to issues like war, poverty and health care. American Catholic bishops, meanwhile, urge votes “for the person who will do the most amount of good and the least amount of harm on all issues.”
“ The Washington Department of Ecology has fined the federal government and two contractors $270,000 for shipping nuclear wastes from South Carolina to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation without proper manifests and records.
THURSDAY
“ The government dramatically downsized the area designated as “critical habitat” for bull trout. The final plan reduced by about 90 percent the miles of streams and acres of lakes where extra protection is considered necessary. Deleted, for instance, is every Montana lake and river that had been listed. But the Pend Oreille River in Washington is still on the list, as is Lake Coeur d’Alene.
“ A 61-year-old professional roper suffered severe head injuries when his cutting horse spooked at the sound of an approaching Spokane County dump truck. The Valleyford man was riding the 2-year-old horse on Valley Chapel Road.
“ Board members for Spokane Transit Authority say money raised from a sales tax increase approved in May will not be used to build a light rail system. The possibility was raised after passage of the tax increase, angering some supporters who felt misled. The increase was designed to prevent cutbacks in bus service.
FRIDAY
“ Five people from Idaho and Western Washington are accused of money laundering and conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes. The group’s illegal sale of untaxed cigarettes cost Washington an estimated $7 million in lost taxes, claims a federal indictment that seeks forfeiture of $2.2 million in cash, $1 million worth of cigarettes and The Warpath, a smoke shop on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation. Untaxed cigarettes are legally sold only to Indians.
“ An extensive new study shows Idaho tied for worst in the nation on disclosing legislators’ conflicts of interest on issues on which they vote. Washington scored best in the nation in the study by the Center for Public Integrity.
COMING UP
“ While American regulators spar with a Canadian mining company over cleanup of Columbia River pollution, U.S. taxpayers are paying to improve a Pend Oreille County road that will help the company’s bottom line. Read why supporters say the investment is justified, in Monday’s Spokesman-Review.