Betsy Z. Russell

Congressional candidate Dan Williams called Thursday on U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth to drop an ad that he says takes a snippet of video from a Coeur d'Alene debate out of context, but Chenoweth's campaign refused. During the televised debate Oct. 17, Williams was asked about his campaign contributions from organized labor. The Democrat responded, "They're not buying anything except a member of Congress who they know will agree with them more than Mrs. Chenoweth does. Mrs. Chenoweth has a zero rating with all those different groups on student loans, Medicare and pensions."

Proposition 3 would void Gov. Phil Batt's 1995 agreement with the federal government to allow more nuclear waste shipments to Idaho in return for waste cleanup and promises of waste removal within 40 years. The measure also would require legislative approval and a vote of the people for any future agreement with the feds on nuclear waste.

The One Percent Initiative would cut property taxes, but it also would require the state to come up with a way to replace property taxes that now fund schools. Ron Rankin, the initiative's author, said the Legislature doesn't have to raise other taxes. He contends Idaho can absorb the cuts.

(From For the Record, November 1, 1996:) The National Republican Congressional Committee was misidentified in a story and headline in Thursday's newspaper.

Three North Idaho state Senate races have topped the $50,000 mark in campaign fund raising, according to reports filed Tuesday. The race between longtime Sen. Mary Lou Reed, D-Coeur d'Alene, and Republican challenger Jack Riggs is the Panhandle's most expensive, at $78,904 between the two candidates. Reed has raised $43,160, while Riggs has piled up $35,744.

Congressional candidate Dan Williams called a press conference Tuesday to highlight his support for programs for young families, and threw in an announcement that he and his wife are expecting a baby. "My wife Emily and I have found out that we're gong to be parents in May or June," said Williams, 34. He said the news reinforced for him the need to focus on ways the government can provide opportunities for young families.

FOR THE RECORD: 10-30-96 ID Alan Wasserman, Democratic candidate for an Idaho state House seat in District 3, received campaign contributions from himself and his family totaling $350, or 13 percent of his large contributions through Sept. 30. An article in Tuesday's paper reported incorrect figures.

1. (Dan Williams) 2. Helen Chenoweth, Republican 3. Dan Williams, Democrat

Idahoans don't care much for the property tax, but it's not clear whether they'd trade hikes in other taxes for cuts in property taxes. That issue may be central to the success of the One Percent Initiative.

There's a seed of truth to the wild rumors sweeping the state about a fight between supporters of U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth and challenger Dan Williams during a recent Boise debate. The scene was loud and raucous outside the Idaho Public TV studio. Supporters of each candidate held signs and chanted loudly, each trying to out-shout the other.

Support for the property-tax-limiting One Percent Initiative has dropped to a dead heat, according to a new poll. "It's tightened up," said Del Ali, vice president of Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research. "It's clear it's losing support."

Democratic challenger Dan Williams is gaining on U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth in Idaho's closest major race, according to a new poll. With three weeks left until the election, Republican Chenoweth has just a 5-point lead, according to the poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research for The Idaho Spokesman-Review and two television stations. Chenoweth was favored by 46 percent to Williams' 41 percent.

More than 11,000 parents across the state - nearly 2,000 of them in North Idaho - will get letters this week telling them to arrange to pay their overdue child support, or else. As of Jan. 1, parents who are 90 days or $2,000 behind in child support could lose all their state licenses, from driver's, hunting and fishing licenses to electrical, plumbing and real estate licenses and concealed-weapon permits.

Sen. Larry Craig is holding on to a strong lead over challenger Walt Minnick, a new poll says, despite Minnick's television ad blitz. The statewide poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research for The Idaho Spokesman-Review, KHQ-TV in Spokane and KTVB-TV in Boise, shows Craig with 53 percent to Minnick's 34 percent, with 10 percent undecided.

Idahoans overwhelmingly favor salvage logging on federal forest lands, according to a new statewide poll. The poll of 834 likely voters asked, "Do you believe the federal government should suspend standard environmental regulations to allow timber companies to harvest healthy and damaged trees on federal lands that have been affected by fire, insects or disease?" Sixty-nine percent answered yes, 19 percent no and 12 percent were undecided.

Minnick

Idaho Public Television has asked Sen. Larry Craig's campaign to stop using an ad that focuses on a short clip of opponent Walt Minnick during a televised debate. Minnick also called Monday for Craig to pull the ad, saying it uses his comment out of context to create a misleading impression. Minnick dubbed the ad a "video smear tactic." Public TV acting general manager Peter Morrill said the ad makes unauthorized use of copyrighted material from public TV.

Third-party congressional candidate Marion Ellis doesn't happen to live in the 1st Congressional District, but the secretary of state's office says that doesn't really matter. Ellis and her husband live at the Idanha Hotel in downtown Boise, where his post as director of Maharishi Vedic University entitles him to a suite of rooms.

Hardly anyone these days will say more nuclear waste should be brought into Idaho. So, most Idahoans would support the slogans that are being bandied about by two political groups: "Stop the shipments" and "Get the waste out."

Say you're waiting for a plane, and you want a snack. The purveyors of $7 hamburgers have closed for the night. There's nothing but vending machines, offering the usual fare of candy bars, chips and soda. But there, glowing between the more conventional vending machines, is something different. "HOT FRIES IN 45 SECONDS," it promises. "French Fried Potatoes. Hot, wholesome french fries straight from the oven!" Feed in five quarters and stand by. Soon, there's a fat cup of very hot, very fresh fries. In cut and taste, they're remarkably like the ones you get at McDonald's.

New TV ads for Sen. Larry Craig and challenger Walt Minnick suggest the Senate race is getting too hot for cold, hard facts. Craig's ad, which began airing statewide Wednesday, claims most of Minnick's campaign money comes from "New York millionaires" and "Washington special interest groups."

Stephanie Schreiber dissects a virtual frog at the Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce Technology Fair on Wednesday. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

What would you do if, just as you were getting to bed, you heard what sounded like loudspeakers moving up your street blaring, "Attention, residents! There has been a flash flood warning! You are requested to evacuate!"? Pack up and go? At least 40 or so in the Boise foothills did. We walked outside and discovered that the cars broadcasting the warning actually were going up a road several ridges over, in the area threatened by the recent foothills fire and now at risk for flooding when rain washes down the blackened hillsides.

Former Gov. Cecil Andrus on Thursday called Sen. Larry Craig's latest TV ad a lie for suggesting Craig fought nuclear waste shipments in 1991. Andrus, who closed the state's borders that year and called out the National Guard to block waste shipments before mounting a court fight, said, "I think somebody has to point out that his latest ads are totally false. He claims that he has spent all these years fighting the nuclear waste from coming into Idaho, when the truth of the matter is ... that he opposed my actions at every turn."