In brief: Feds want refund on misused money
The federal government wants back $1.18 million in money for poor families that Idaho spent on a poison control hot line and vaccination registry.
A spokesman for Gov. Butch Otter said the penalty shows the governor has been right to scrutinize how Idaho spends Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars.
“There are red flags flapping now,” said Jon Hanian, the governor’s spokesman. “I think it underscores the concern the governor raised about the potential misuse of TANF (federal dollars for the poor).”
Idaho misused the $1.18 million for poor families, the federal Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a July 26 letter to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Richard Armstrong.
Most of the money, $1.08 million, went to the Immunization Registry Information System, which tracks children’s immunization records. About $100,000 paid for a poison control center hot line.
In May, Otter was widely criticized for considering cuts to Head Start and for eliminating the Parents As Teachers program and the Governor’s Coordinating Council for Families and Children, each funded by the same federal dollars that paid for the two programs for which the state is being penalized.
Otter inherited the questionable funding schemes in programs that arose from former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, Hanian said.
– Lewiston Tribune
North Idaho
Two drivers killed in separate crashes
Two single-vehicle crashes Thursday killed drivers on North Idaho roads.
A 23-year-old Genesee man was killed on Highway 95 near Genesee about 11 p.m. when he drove off the highway into a ditch, hit an embankment and flipped his pickup.
Virgil Hibdon was not wearing a seat belt and was partially ejected from his Nissan, according to a report from the Idaho State Police. The vehicle landed on the driver’s side. The ISP suspects alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.
Also killed Thursday was Marius A. Roos, 44, of Vernon, B.C. Roos was driving a motorcycle about 5 p.m. on 3 Bear Road in Clearwater County when he missed a curve and went into a ditch, according to the ISP.
Roos died after being thrown from the motorcycle in the crash.
– Amy Cannata
Wednesday marks start of fair season
August is county fair season in North Idaho, and two of them kick off Wednesday.
The Benewah County Fair in St. Maries and the Boundary County Fair in Bonners Ferry both run through Aug. 19.
Next up will be the Bonner County Fair, Aug. 20-25, in Sandpoint. The Bonner County Rodeo is scheduled for Aug. 17-18, and the annual demolition derby will be Aug. 25.
The North Idaho Fair & Rodeo will be Aug. 22-26 in Coeur d’Alene.
The Latah County Fair in Moscow will be Sept. 13-16.
– Staff reports