In brief: School board plans meeting to field ideas on education

Interested in talking to some official sources about what’s happening in Spokane Public Schools? Have an idea to share with the school board?

The Spokane Public Schools School Board is hosting an hour-long community outreach event at 6 p.m. today in the library at Audubon Elementary School, 2020 W. Carlisle Ave. A board meeting will follow at 7 p.m.

North Central senior lands national science camp spot

A North Central High School senior has been chosen as one of two students who will represent Washington at the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia this summer.

Forrest Ireland, who is part of a student team studying bison genetics, was invited by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

In addition to the scientific research Ireland is doing, he also has participated in NC’s Knowledge Bowl and Science Bowl, is in the honor society and plays violin in the advanced orchestra. He’s completed numerous Advanced Placement courses and is enrolled in five more this year. He researches bison genetics with other North Central students before and after school.

The annual science camp gives two students from each state the opportunity to exchange ideas with leading scientists and academic and corporate professionals.

Watercraft inspections begin in Idaho next week

Mandatory watercraft inspection stations will open in Idaho next week, with the first inspections starting Tuesday on Interstate 90 near Wallace.

All boats will be inspected for standing water and signs of quagga and zebra mussels. Inspectors will ask boaters where their craft has been in the previous 30 days. All boats should be clean, drained and dry when they arrive in Idaho.

An inspection station at the Huetter rest stop on I-90 will open April 1. Later in the spring, additional stations will open at Oldtown, Samuels and on Highway 53.

The inspections are being done to keep invasive mussels out of Idaho’s waters. Zebra and quagga mussels are prolific breeders, attaching themselves to hard surfaces where they clog intake pipes and foul freshwater ecosystems. The mussels have infested the Great Lakes. In recent years, they’ve been found in parts of Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona and Colorado.