Weight limit put on Appleway Bridge
The Cabela’s sporting goods chain has such a reputation for attracting customers with motor homes that Spokane County engineers have slapped an emergency weight restriction on a failing bridge.
A 10,000-pound maximum on the Appleway Bridge over the Spokane River near Stateline, Idaho, was imposed Wednesday in anticipation of Friday’s soft opening of Cabela’s new store in Post Falls.
The limit effectively limits traffic to passenger cars and pickups.
County commissioners had scheduled a public hearing next Tuesday to consider a permanent version of the weight limit, but County Engineer Bob Brueggeman decided not to take a chance on Cabela’s soft-opening traffic.
If commissioners agree, the weight limit will remain in place until the bridge is replaced in about 3 1/2 years.
Spokane Valley
MRSA diagnosed in Valley student
A student in the Central Valley School District has been diagnosed with a drug resistant staph infection, officials said Wednesday.
At least 10 cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, have been confirmed in the Inland Northwest in recent weeks.
The Adams Elementary School student was the first case reported in Spokane Valley. Other MRSA cases have been reported in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Spokane schools.
Custodians at Adams Elementary cleaned the student’s classroom Wednesday night, “along with disinfecting surfaces in common areas throughout the school,” said school district spokeswoman Melanie Rose.
Teachers will be given a supply of disinfectant wipes today to clean classroom surfaces.
“Parents are reminded that MRSA is a collection of different bacterial strains that are treatable with some antibiotics and not treatable by others,” Rose said. “It is by no means untreatable.”
Adams Elementary students kept home by their parents today will be excused, Rose said.
Spokane
Christmas Bureau volunteers needed
Volunteers are needed for the 2007 Christmas Bureau, a joint effort of Catholic Charities of Spokane, Volunteers of America and The Spokesman-Review.
The bureau provides toys, books and candy to low-income people in the community. Last year, donations to the Christmas Fund, which is operated by The Spokesman-Review to raise money for the bureau, totaled more than $518,000. More than 31,000 people were served in the bureau’s two-week run.
This year’s bureau will open on Saturday, Dec. 8, and close on Friday, Dec. 21. It will be open every day except Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Volunteers must be 16 or older and will be required to attend an orientation lunch on Dec. 7 at noon. To volunteer, fill out an application at www. catholiccharitiesspokane.org.
Region
Scouts will gather food donations
Boy Scouts will fan out across Eastern Washington and North Idaho on Saturday collecting nonperishable food items on behalf of the Second Harvest food bank and other area food banks.
About 300,000 bags were delivered to homes in the region last weekend. Scouts will pick up those bags beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.
This year marks the 25th annual Scouting for Food drive; last year’s event collected more than 150,000 pounds of food.
Scouting for Food is co-sponsored by the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts of America and Rosauers Supermarkets. Donations also can be dropped off at any Rosauers store in the area.