Levy change brings tax relief

Thanks to taxpayers on the West Side, property owners in Spokane County’s largest school district will get some tax relief.

Spokane Public Schools board members announced a levy rollback this week, which means that instead of paying $4.22 per $1,000 of assessed property value, property owners will pay $3.68. Taxes for a home valued at $200,000 would go from $844 to $736.

District voters approved the higher rate in a 2003 school levy, but in 2006 the state will provide $10 million in tax relief through a mechanism called “levy equalization.” This is an adjustment that helps school districts in areas with land values below the state average.

While property values in some parts of the state are higher than average, in Spokane they are lower.

Essentially, the state is easing the tax burden for residents in the Spokane Public Schools district, said Mark Anderson, associate superintendent of school support services.

“That’s $10 million of King County money coming over here,” he said.

Rescuers find no sign of swimmer

Rescuers searched the Spokane River Friday evening after receiving reports that a man attempting to swim across may not have made it.

Crews were called to the river about 4:30 p.m. A witness reported seeing a man jumping into the water from Peaceful Valley after a verbal argument with another man, said Spokane Fire Battalion Chief Steve Sabo.

Another witness reported seeing the man close to the north bank but was uncertain if he made it ashore, Sabo said.

Water rescue teams searched the river but found no signs of the person.

Rescuers also were not able to find the man the swimmer had been arguing with, Sabo said.

The search was called off about 5:30 p.m.

Details needed on golf, lake club

The developers of a proposed $150 million golf and lake club overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene must give the county more information before the approval process will continue.

County hearing examiner Gary Young wrote in a Nov. 2 letter that he was unable to make a recommendation on the Chateau De Loire Golf and Lake Club because the application lacked sufficient information regarding access along state Highway 97 and the protection of area streams and wetlands.

Young asked the county planning director to review the application and make a decision on how to proceed with the request for the 18-hole golf course and 475 luxury homes and condos overlooking Moscow Bay.

Young’s comments were in agreement with the county planning department, which had asked Kirk Hughes Development LLC to postpone the October public hearing with Young because too many substantial changes were made to the project at the last minute.

The company argued the county’s concerns were unfounded and kept the hearing date. A spokesman also said the postponement request raised concerns about the “process and fairness” of the planning department.

In September, the Las Vegas firm revised plans for the development, adding an athletic center, outdoor amphitheater, hiking trails, community dock and destination spa.

Overdue hunter ‘safe and sound’

An Idaho hunter who was the subject of a search after he went missing Thursday returned to his Cocolalla home Friday night.

David R. Hess, 67, apparently was not lost or injured, a Boundary County sheriff’s dispatcher said. He spent the night in his Ford Bronco, which was stuck in a ditch.

Another hunter helped pull the SUV from the ditch sometime Friday.

“He is home safe and sound,” the dispatcher said. “He was out there more than 24 hours.”

The Boundary County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Hess on Thursday night, when he was reported overdue from a trip into the woods. The search, which included aerial help from the Civil Air Patrol, concentrated on an area in eastern Boundary County.

It is not clear where Hess’ SUV was stuck.

Area EPA head’s recusal permanent

Boise The Pacific Northwest administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency has removed himself from decisions involving any Idaho state agency, more than 40 regional companies and one of the nation’s largest Superfund cleanup projects, the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

In a Nov. 3 memorandum to EPA officials obtained by the Associated Press, Regional Administrator L. Michael Bogert said he was permanently recusing himself from participating in any EPA matter involving parties that he had represented during his previous job as counsel to Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.

Bogert wrote that unless advised otherwise by EPA attorneys, he will permanently remove himself from overseeing issues such as the fight over air pollution from grass-field burning in northern Idaho, the battle between the state and EPA over pollution inspections of livestock feed lots, and the cleanup of decades of toxic Bunker Hill mining waste in the 1,500-square-mile Coeur d’Alene drainage.

He said his recusals won’t alter the agency’s commitment to clean up the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

Relocation to clear park of rabbits

Seattle

The Woodland Park rabbits are about to be rounded up. But park officials say the bunnies are not doomed. They’re heading to a sanctuary in Redmond.

At a meeting Thursday, the officials listened to plans to trap, sterilize and relocate an estimated 300 to 500 rabbits that live in and around Woodland Park. The board is expected to approve the plan next month.

The House Rabbit Society is accepting contributions to help pay to relocate the rabbits. It will cost about $100 a bunny to sterilize them. Animal welfare groups support the plan.

The park population likely began with abandoned family pets, and many end up with diseases and some are injured by other animals. They have also damaged trees and dug holes.