Central Valley buses getting more efficient

Central Valley School District is equipping most of its bus fleet with Zonar, a system that combines a GPS with a paperless bus inspection process.

The district began the year with the system on 24 buses and is working to expand it. The system logs buses’ location and speed. If a bus is parked, the system can tell whether the engine is idling. The goal of the system is to make transportation more efficient.

Most problems discovered by the system have been minor.

“We had a bus that was taking the scenic route,” said transportation supervisor Gene Marsh. It was redone to eliminate 10 minutes each way.

So far, drivers spotted doing something wrong haven’t been disciplined. “We use it as an observation tool,” Marsh said. “Unless we run into something that’s pretty blatant, I don’t want to start out using it as a disciplinary tool.”

The system can also be used to protect drivers against unfounded claims that they’re doing something wrong.

“People call frequently to say the bus is speeding down the road,” Marsh said. “I can see exactly how fast it was going.”

Zonar also logs exactly where and when a bus stops, and how long it stays there.

Drivers required to inspect their bus before and after each trip now can use a handheld electronic device to verify a list of items. Any problems can be noted and sent to the district’s head mechanic. “We’re saving another tree or so,” Marsh said.

Most drivers like the system, said Marsh.

Bus driver Mike Carpenter said he likes it. “Anything that saves a little bit of paperwork,” he said.

The district has Zonar on 35 buses and plans to install it in 30 more. The system costs $895 per bus to install, plus a $22 monthly fee per bus to maintain records online.

Nina Culver

Couple craft lifestyle

With a name like Dog and Pup Studios, one might visualize a grooming salon catering to canines or, perhaps, a kennel.

But Dog and Pup Studios is run by two artists, husband-and-wife team John and Darlene Johnson, who create delicate beauty from clay and blown glass.

During December, they and fellow artists and crafters rent space in the center aisle of Coeur d’Alene’s Silver Lake Mall.

Customers who shop at the various booths have an opportunity to meet and talk to the creative people who sell their own work at this annual event.

The Johnsons have always been self-employed and operated an air-conditioning and heating business for years.

Before learning the craft of pottery-making at the Spokane Art School, Darlene was a flat artist, doing drawings and paintings – and taking her work to shows. She noticed that pottery sold well. “The potters couldn’t wrap fast enough,” she says.

When Darlene took up pottery, John became interested in glass blowing. From his experience with the mechanics of air conditioning, John built his own glass-making equipment.

Today, glass and pottery are the couple’s sole business. “We do two to three shows a month, … with January and February off,” Darlene said.

The couple live in Coeur d’Alene and travel to shows throughout the Northwest. They also show their work at several cooperatives and at Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane.

The Johnsons do not make their own glass but travel to Seattle to buy clear glass cubes that John melts in their own crucible.

He uses no paint but adds color to his glass objects by rolling the scorching hot, blown glass in glass chips. The chips melt and give objects their color.

Darlene designs her jewelry, bracelets, earrings and necklaces from broken glass balls after reheating and shaping the material. “We are green,” she says. “We recycle.”

Jeri McCroskey

Barnyard campaigning

Idaho state Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, reported some unusual campaign expenditures during this year’s campaign – a pig, a sheep and a pen of rabbits.

“I kept the pig,” the North Idaho senator said. “I paid my campaign back for the meat at market price.”

The rest of the animals – purchased at auction at the Benewah County Fair – Broadsword donated back to the 4-H kids who raised them.

“It’s important for these kids to continue in the 4-H program,” she said. “Having people who are willing to support the program and buy the animals makes it work. We get this PAC money without asking for it – this is one way I can put it back into the community.”

Broadsword noted, “I was a 4-H’er myself.”

Before making the unorthodox campaign investment, she called the state and checked that it was legal. “They said, ‘Oh yeah, people do it all the time,’ ” she said. “I was going to buy one anyway.”

On Broadsword’s campaign finance report, she reported an expenditure of $1,120 on Aug. 16 to the “Benewah Junior Livestock Show.” She received a total of $64,321 in campaign contributions this year, and spent $58,390. Broadsword was challenged by Democrat Rand Lewis, who raised and spent just over $2,700 on the campaign.

“I think there are ways you can use your campaign funds, you get your name out there and also provide something for the community,” Broadsword said. “I feel that I get something back – not only the name recognition, but the good will.”

Betsy Z. Russell