Schools leader won’t run again

Wanda Quinn, a Coeur d’Alene School Board member for 12 years, will not seek a fourth term in May.

When she ran for re-election in 2003, she decided it was her final race, Quinn said.

Quinn said past board member Edie Brooks is planning to run in her place. Brooks could not be reached for comment Monday.

Quinn represents residents of Zone 1, the area of the district east of 15th Street. She has served as the board chairwoman for 10 years. She was the 2005 president of the Idaho State School Boards Association and was a founder of the EXCEL Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money for Coeur d’Alene schools. Quinn is a program development specialist at the University of Idaho.

The deadline to file candidacy for the May 16 election is 5 p.m. April 14. Candidates must be registered voters who live in Zone 1 and must obtain signatures from at least five registered voters living in that area. No one has filed yet, district clerk Fran Bischof said.

Billings

Group resists end of bear protection

More than 250 scientists and researchers have signed a letter opposing a federal proposal to lift Endangered Species Act protections from grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem.

They contend, among other things, that there are inadequate habitat protections and genetic concerns and too few bears to merit lifting federal protections.

The letter, dated Monday, was addressed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s grizzly bear recovery coordinator, Chris Servheen, who could not be reached immediately for comment.

Monday marked the end of an extended comment period on the federal “delisting” proposal for Yellowstone-area grizzlies.

The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed in November removing federal protections for the Yellowstone population, declaring the bears recovered. The agency said the grizzly population in the Yellowstone ecosystem had grown at 4 percent to 7 percent a year since the mid-‘90s, and it estimated the population about more than 600 bears.

But the scientists and researchers, in their letter, said an isolated population of 500 to 600 bears does not constitute a biologically recovered one. A population of 2,000 to 3,000 is needed for genetic diversity and to withstand regional-scale variations, they said.

WSP watching from ground, air

Washington State Patrol will be watching speeders on Interstate 90 and Sullivan from the sky and the ground starting at 10 a.m. today

Drivers speed more often as spring weather conditions arrive, said Trooper Jeff Sevigney, WSP spokesman.

Troopers will also focus on aggressive driving violations, Sevigney said.

Washington park fees out

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill Monday doing away with the unpopular $5-a-day parking fees at Washington’s state parks. The change will kick in April 9.

– Compiled from staff

and wire reports