NIC newspaper honored as tops

The student newspaper at North Idaho College placed first in its category, as did an NIC reporter, when the Associated Collegiate Press annual awards were announced Sunday.

Newspapers from Washington State University and Spokane Falls Community College also brought home awards from the gathering of about 2,600 students representing about 300 schools, said Nils Rosdahl, faculty adviser for the NIC Sentinel.

The Sentinel placed first nationwide among broadsheet newspapers at two-year schools, according to the ACP Web page, and Noah Buntain won first place among reporters for such newspapers. Buntain is an NIC faculty assistant with a degree in English literature from Northwestern University, according to his online resume.

WSU’s Daily Evergreen placed third among tabloid newspapers at four-year schools, and third for special editions.

The SFCC Communicator won honorable mention among two-year schools with small tabloid publications.

The Associated Collegiate Press is the largest organization for college journalists.

– Dan Hansen

Spokane

Leaves in Spokane, snow on Snoqualmie

A blizzard of leaves fell Sunday in Spokane, but it was snow making travel difficult on Interstate 90 passes.

Snoqualmie Pass was closed about four hours. More than a dozen cars were stranded sideways, in the ditch or on the median, the state Department of Transportation reported.

The Idaho State Police reported no serious crashes on Lookout Pass between Idaho and Montana.

The snow wasn’t all in the mountains: Eastport was among the North Idaho communities that saw snow Sunday, said Bob Tobin, National Weather Service meteorologist.

In Millwood, meanwhile, residents who had spent a shirt-sleeve-warm Saturday raking leaves watched their work undone on a blustery Sunday.

Tobin said overnight temperatures are expected to drop into the teens in Spokane tonight and Tuesday. Goblins should be well-bundled Tuesday – Tobin expects temperatures after sundown to quickly fall into the mid-30s before hitting a low of 19.

That’s nowhere near the record low of 7 degrees set on Halloween night 2002.

– Staff and wire reports

McCall, Idaho

Elk not decimated, researchers say

University of Idaho researchers in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness say that wolves around their three-room cabin are making elk more skittish, but aren’t decimating the herds as some hunters fear.

The husband-wife research team of Holly and Jim Akenson work at the Taylor Ranch Field Station as part of what’s so far a nine-year study of wolf behavior.

The ranch is 34 miles from the nearest road and may be the most remote year-round human habitation in the lower 48 states.

The Akensons concede elk have become harder to find because they’re more leery of exposed ground.

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming want the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove federal protections for wolves, whose population in the region including Yellowstone National Park now tops 1,200.

Eventually, the states want to hold legal wolf hunts.

– Associated Press