CdA School Board considers levy
The Coeur d’Alene School Board will decide at its meeting Monday whether to ask voters next spring for $50 million.
The levy would pay to replace Lakes Middle School, build an elementary school, remodel Winton and Borah elementaries and Canfield Middle School, and purchase land for future schools.
If approved, the levy would be an increase over the district’s expiring School Plant Facilities Levy of $23 million, approved by voters in 2002. The levy rate would remain less than $2 per $1,000 of taxable property value, said Business Manager Steve Briggs.
The board said it welcomes public comment on this issue.
The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Midtown Center Meeting Room in Coeur d’Alene, 1508 N. Fourth St.
Officials seeking violent sexual predator
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a violent sexual predator last known to be living near Hayden.
Ricky Lee Milks, 39, failed to notify the department of a recent address change and is wanted on a warrant. Milks’ last known address was on Hudlow Road, which is north of Hayden.
Milks is a white male, 6 feet 1 and about 210 pounds. He has brown hair, blue eyes and wears wire-frame glasses.
He was convicted in Kootenai County for sex abuse of a minor under age 16 in 1990.
Anyone with information about Milks is asked to contact local law enforcement or the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department at (208) 446-1300.
Sexual graffiti found in restroom on I-90
Disturbing writings were discovered this week in a women’s restroom stall at the Huetter Rest Area off westbound Interstate 90.
According to reports from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, the author indicated that he was a man who liked to dress in drag and masturbate while women used the restroom stalls. The caretaker of the rest stop told the Sheriff’s Department that there are men who hang out at the rest area late at night. The caretaker said she didn’t have any specific suspects.
According to the sheriff’s report, the writings were in permanent black marker on both interior walls of one of the bathroom stalls. The lengthy passages describe in detail how the author supposedly dressed in thigh-high fishnet stockings, thong underwear, fake fingernails and a wig and performed several sex acts.
The caretaker reported finding an entire roll of toilet paper with the same type of writing on it.
If indeed something illicit was taking place at the Huetter Rest Area this week, it wouldn’t be the first time.
In the late 1980s, police sting operations resulted in several arrests after men were caught masturbating in the restrooms and some made sexual advances toward plainclothes officers.
The Idaho State Police announced the formation of a task force to clean up the rest stop in 1995 because men complained about being solicited there. An Idaho State Police captain said in a 1995 article that the rest area had ongoing problems with graffiti, condoms being left behind and sinks being torn from the walls.
WSU kicks off $15 million fund-raiser
Washington State University has kicked off a $15 million fund-raising drive intended to expand its research and attract more scientists to do projects for government agencies and businesses.
The fund-raising campaign would create an endowment for the Applied Sciences Laboratory in Spokane, which is part of the school’s Institute for Shock Physics and which performs contract research.
Stacey Cowles, chairman of the endowment steering committee and publisher of The Spokesman-Review, announced a $1 million pledge to the campaign from the Harriet Cheney Cowles Foundation, consisting of a $250,000 donation and a $750,000 challenge grant.
The director of the shock physics institute, Yogi Gupta, said the lab could be a strong force in the regional economy. The lab is supported by facilities in Pullman and on the WSU-Spokane campus.
Boil order issued after E. coli found in Sprague
Residents of Sprague, Wash., were advised Friday to boil their drinking water after E. coli bacteria were found in the city’s water system.
The problem was discovered Thursday and confirmed in a test Friday, said Sprague Mayor Mike Evans. Evans and other employees went door to door giving residents notice about the boil order.
Any Sprague water used for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, making ice or dishwashing should be boiled for three to five minutes before use, according to the state Department of Health. Water also should be boiled for pets, Evans said.
No illnesses related to the tainted water have been reported, Evans said.
“We’re just following the normal, precautionary rules,” Evans said.
Evans said the problem appears to be coming from a waterline that serves about 15 residents on the east side of the town. If that is confirmed, the boil order could be lifted for most residents by Monday, he said.