Take your Sweetheart to the ball

Tuxedo Junction Big Band will be performing for the Sweetheart Ball, Feb. 9 at the Greyhound Park Event Center in Post Falls.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. followed by dancing from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and include free hors d’oeuvres, as well as a no-host bar. All ages are welcome.

Tickets are available at the door, or in advance by calling (208) 777-1588. Tables of eight are also available for reservation.

Learn about law at Citizens Academy

North Idaho residents interested in learning more about local law enforcement now have the chance to attend a multiagency Citizens Academy this spring.

The free classes are being offered by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, Coeur d’Alene Police Department and Post Falls Police Department. Students will learn about how the different agencies operate and will be given a background in traffic, patrol and canine duties as well as what local police are doing to combat identity theft and sex crimes.

The eight-week program begins on March 5 with weekly classes from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, with two Saturday classes.

The academy is limited to 40 people and applications are due on Feb. 15.

Applications are available at the police agencies’ offices and at www.kcsheriff.com, www.postfallspolice.com and www.cdapolice.org.

School District gets LINK grant

Post Falls School District has new funding to help teach fifth-graders English.

The $75,000 federal “LINK” grant (short for Language Instruction – Networking Knowledge) was announced last week. The money will be used to buy computers and projectors for teachers to use to teach language arts.

The end goal of the program is to improve language arts skills so that 80 percent of the district’s fifth-graders will pass the ISAT this spring.

Coeur d’Alene

NIC scholarship deadline March 17

Although scholarship applications were once active for three years, because of a procedural change North Idaho College students are now required to fill out a scholarship application form on an annual basis.

The priority deadline for fall semester 2008 applications is March 17. Students who miss the priority deadline can still submit a form to the Student Services Office on the second floor of NIC’s Edminster Student Union Building.

The NIC Foundation is distributing a record-breaking $436,000 in scholarship funds in the 2007-08 academic year. An even greater amount is expected in 2008-09.

NIC Vice President for Student Services Eric Murray said he would like to see an increase in the number of students who apply for scholarships at NIC.

“Many students don’t apply for scholarships because they believe that they need to have a high g.p.a. or be low-income in order to be eligible, but that is just not true,” Murray said. “There are scholarships available for a variety of different students, some without g.p.a. or income limitations. We want to be able to put more scholarships in the hands of deserving students.”

All departments on NIC’s main Coeur d’Alene campus and outreach sites in Kellogg, Bonners Ferry and Ponderay have the new application form. One can also be downloaded at www.nic.edu/financialaid/scholarships/application/ scholapp.pdf.

For more information, call 769-7863.

Rathdrum

$600,000 Powerball ticket unclaimed

State lottery officials are wondering why they haven’t heard from the winner of a $600,000 winning ticket sold at Super 1 in Rathdrum nearly seven weeks ago. State lottery official David Workman finds it “unusual” they haven’t heard from someone by now.

“They usually give us a call to tell us they have it and are on their way down,” (to Boise), he said. At first officials figured the winner was waiting until after the holidays or maybe after the New Year so they wouldn’t be in another tax bracket. But as each day has passed since the Dec. 15, 2007, Powerball drawing, they’ve become increasingly surprised they haven’t at least gotten a call.

“Oh, we’ve had the usual calls saying the dog ate the ticket,” said Workman, “but nothing concrete.” The winning ticket had all five numbers correct, but not the Powerball number itself, making it worth $200,000. However, the purchaser had also played the multiplier which was three that particular day, making the ticket worth $600,000.

– From staff reports