In brief: Spokane finalist for skating championships
Top figure skaters could descend on Spokane again.
The city, which hosted the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, is one of four finalists for the coveted, pre-Olympics competition in 2010, said would-be organizer Toby Steward of Star USA.
“The stakes on this event are much higher in every way,” Steward said Wednesday. “This is a much bigger event than we hosted in 2007.”
Among other things, Olympic-year competitions are a couple of days longer than others and generally are reserved only for major U.S. cities, Steward said.
The event also will determine which skaters represent the United States in the Winter Olympics, which will be just a few weeks later in Vancouver, B.C.
Members of the selection committee are scheduled to make a two-day trip April 21 to Spokane to evaluate the city’s facilities and other accommodations, Steward said.
Steward said he’s uncertain what other cities are finalists. Messages left for Colorado-based U.S. Figure Skating weren’t immediately returned Wednesday.
– Staff reports
Clark Fork, Idaho
Engineers survey threat of flooding
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent two Seattle engineers and a hydrologist to North Idaho this week to assess the risk of flooding in Lightning Creek.
The creek near the Bonner County town of Clark Fork flooded in late 2006, causing millions of dollars in damage to backcountry roads.
The flash flood also piled up debris in the channel, narrowing the waterway.
Above average snowpack has raised new flooding concerns. Gov. Butch Otter asked the corps for technical help in reducing potential flood damage in both Lightning Creek and the south fork of the Coeur d’Alene River.
In Osburn, high water is washing out a bank along the Coeur d’Alene River’s south fork that contains utility lines for sewer, natural gas and telecommunications.
Corps officials met Monday with Shoshone County commissioners to discuss the situation.
The engineers are preparing a report on both Lightning Creek and the south fork.
– Staff reports
Spokane
Nonprofit receives $300,000 grant
A Spokane nonprofit organization has received a $300,000 grant.
Community-Based Enterprises will receive the funds over the next three years to create a better assessment process for as many as 20 organizations in Spokane that provide economic and social support for low-income people, according to a press release from the Paul G. Allen Foundation.
The nonprofit was among 77 in the Northwest to receive a grant from the foundation, which gave a total $11.8 million.
The foundation was launched by the Microsoft co-founder in 1998. It’s since awarded more than $390 million in grants to over 1,300 nonprofit groups in the Pacific Northwest.
– Jody Lawrence-Turner