Region in brief: Cold weekend breaks records
Overnight temperatures will likely warm up this week, but that could mean rain – or even snowfall.
Today’s daytime temperature is forecast to reach 45 degrees, with temperatures overnight expected to be 27 tonight and then into the high 30s later in the week, according to the National Weather Service.
Tuesday’s forecast calls for a chance of snow or sleet, with rain likely most of the rest of the week, the weather service said.
Saturday night brought record low temperatures across the region, with 20 degrees at Spokane International Airport – four degrees colder than the 2002 record. Deer Park hit a record low at 18 degrees, three degrees colder than last year, and Moses Lake hit 17, compared with the last record of 26, set in 2008.
And it wasn’t just cold overnight: Spokane International Airport reported a record low daytime temperature of 43 degrees Saturday. The previous record was 48 degrees, set in 1981.
Former director, county settle suit
SANDPOINT – Donna Wells, the former Bonner County human resources director, won an out-of-court settlement in her federal lawsuit against the county on a claim she was unfairly forced from her job.
The terms of last month’s settlement were not disclosed.
Wells, 60, lost her job in June 2008 after county commissioners said she exposed the county to liability by recording a phone conversation with a dispatch shift supervisor concerning medical issues within the department.
In the suit filed in November, Wells contended her constitutional right to due process was violated.
Bonner County commissioners named in the lawsuit hadn’t seen the settlement and declined to comment.
Landslide rips out sections of SR 410
NACHES, Wash. – A massive and growing landslide shoved a quarter-mile of state Route 410 into the Naches River, forcing the river to find a new course and causing some flooding in the sparsely populated valley on the eastern slopes of the Cascades.
No injuries were reported from the slide early Sunday about 10 miles west of Naches, but the state Department of Transportation said about 60 residents near the community of Nile were being evacuated because of flooding fears.
Aerial photos showed large sections of road carried down to the river, which was completely blocked by the debris. The landslide was said to be about 30 to 40 feet deep over the highway, said Jim Hall of the Yakima County Department of Emergency Management.
The highway runs west from Yakima across the Cascades at Chinook Pass, then along the eastern and northern edges of Mount Rainier National Park.
ISU may merge departments
POCATELLO, Idaho – Administrators at Idaho State University are considering merging the College of Pharmacy and the Kasiska College of Health Professions.
ISU is pondering a variety of cost-saving measures to meet a 6 percent budget holdback ordered by Gov. Butch Otter last month. University President Arthur Vailas said the merger fits his goals of saving money through reorganization rather than cuts in faculty and staff.