Region in brief: Land swap study ready by July
A draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Upper Lochsa land exchange won’t be ready until July, U.S. Forest Service officials said Tuesday.
The delay will give the agency more time to include data from field reports gathered last summer, said Teresa Trulock, project manager.
The Upper Lochsa proposal involves trading 28,000 acres of scattered Forest Service land in north-central Idaho for 40,000 acres of private lands in the Lochsa River’s headwaters. The private land is owned by Western Pacific Timber LLC.
Comments received during the first phase of the public review were studied to create new alternatives for acquiring the land, which the Forest Service is analyzing. More information will be available in July, when the draft environmental impact statement is released.
Ice forces closures in ranger district
The U.S. Forest Service has closed two roads in the Coeur d’Alene Ranger District because of icy conditions.
•Forest Service Road 206 (Ohio Match) is closed from the cattle guard at the junction with Tree Farm Lane to Burnt Cabin Summit, including all connecting side roads and trails.
•Forest Service Road 437 is closed from the Triangle Seven junction with Hayden Lake (county) Road 3090 to its junction with Forest Road 1530.
Forest Service engineers inspected the roads Friday afternoon and determined they were too icy even for vehicles with studded tires, said Randy Swick, district ranger. The roads have been barricaded, and the closures will be enforced until conditions improve, he said.
Yakima gets tough on ‘sexpresso’
YAKIMA – A sharply divided Yakima City Council narrowly agreed Tuesday to take a closer look at applying the city’s adult business ordinance to bikini coffee stands.
In a 4-3 vote, the council directed the city’s lawyers to draft proposed regulations modeled on laws in Everett and Snohomish County that have been hailed as the toughest attempt yet to rein in the state’s burgeoning so-called sexpresso stands.
The move was led by Councilman Dave Edler, whose first attempt to bring bikini coffee stands under the ordinance was rebuffed last summer.
On Tuesday, Edler said he felt his fears were vindicated by recent police reports of pole dancing and $5 “booty shakes” at some of the city’s bikini coffee stands.