Cataldo Mission targeted for state cut
Here's a news item from the AP about one of the cuts contained in Gov. Butch Otter's proposed budget for next year:
State officials say budget cuts will force them to cut off funding on July 1 to the Old Mission State Park in northern Idaho, the location of the state's oldest standing building along U.S. Interstate 90. Bob Meinen, director of Idaho Parks and Recreation, is in talks with the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe, which owns the property that's home to the 155-year-old Cataldo Mission, on an alternative to keep the park open. Meinen says his agency, whose state appropriation is due to be cut back about $9 million, is looking for ways to save money. Jennifer Wernex, a spokeswoman, says officials are trying to keep other parks open, while scaling back projects such as restroom roof repairs. Idaho last closed a state park in the early 1980s, when managers temporarily shuttered Three Island Crossing on the Oregon Trail near Glenns Ferry.