Julie Titone

Richard Harris, superintendent of Post Falls schools, talks with Anne Fox in the hallways of Post Falls Jr. High. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Glenn Bledsoe's God and Country Bookstore on Government Way in Hayden, which opened this week, sells flags, maps, T-shirts and other items. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review (Photo appeared in Idaho edition only)

The nursing program at North Idaho College will start the school year with only one-year conditional approval from the state Board of Nursing. At issue are the academic credentials of its instructors.

Determined to defend a favorite teacher, a handful of Coeur d'Alene teenagers washed cars Friday morning to raise money for Paul Mather. The idea just didn't wash with some passersby, who were outraged at the idea of kids raising money for a man accused of child sex abuse.

Charging he was physically and emotionally abused, a California teenager and his family are suing two North Idaho programs designed to help troubled teens. John C. D'Abreo claims he was taunted by untrained counselors, deprived of medicine, forced to sleep among dead rats and made to sit outdoors in January for days at a time.

Accountant Lorraine Landwehr reaches for the winning tickets. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. Dorothy Haenle aids Andrea Swenson, 9, who has cerebral palsy. Swenson controls her computer with her head. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review 2. Holly Soward of CdA uses a computer as a learning aid. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review (This photo appeared in Idaho edition only)

A computer doesn't have to be the latest and the greatest to improve someone's life. That's why Dorothy Haenle is a full-time volunteer, devoting her expertise to a computer loan program at the Easter Seals Society office in Spokane. The retired occupational therapist scavenges for donated equipment and matches it with disabled people. "She's amazing," says Marsha Swenson, whose daughter benefits from the program. "She watches the paper for people selling computers." Swenson serves on a committee that reviews applications.

The North Idaho College board of trustees, following the lead of the state Board of Education, is opposing the One Percent Initiative. The trustees voted against the November ballot measure Wednesday night. The vote was unanimous, despite a presentation by tax activist Ron Rankin, who wrote the initiative.

North Idaho College trustees will approve the school's 1996-97 budget, and discuss the potential effects of the 1 Percent Initiative, when they meet Wednesday. The monthly meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Kootenai Room of the Student Union Building.

North Idaho College would suffer a double whammy if the One Percent Initiative passes, according to the state Board of Education. All state colleges and universities would lose one third of their biggest pot of money, the state's general fund, the board announced Thursday.

Armstrong

1. Teenagers line up to use the bathroom during the six-week Ascent program. The camp aims to "redirect" self-destructive teenagers. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Campus consists of several teepees and a few buildings. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 3. Teenagers attend classes and counseling sessions during the Ascent program. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 4. Hard work is a key part of the program, including cutting firewood. Teens likely to run away must wear orange vests. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 5. Fitzgerald

FROM FOR THE RECORD (Wednesday, June 19, 1996): Mel Wasserman founded Rocky Mountain Academy and other CEDU programs for troubled teenagers. Dan Earl was an academy administrator. Their first names were incorrect in a June 2 article. 1. Students learn to conquer obstacles at the Rocky Mountain Academy's Alpine Tower. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Anna Seymour and her fiance, Lee Cunningham, attended Rocky Mountain Academy, but their relationship got them kicked out. Seymour now owns a Sandpoint beauty salon and Cunningham works for an engineering firm. "If it wasn't for that school, there's no telling where I would be," Cunningham says. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Employees of a wilderness therapy program in Utah will stand trial this year, accused of depriving a 16-year-old of food, shelter and clothing. Aaron Bacon died after suffering a perforated ulcer while on a desert outing in 1994. The death of the gangly teenager and three others in the last five years spotlights the limited - and in some places, nonexistent - oversight of programs for troubled teens. "It's a little bit of a madhouse. The rules are different in every state," says Archie Buie, director of the 50-member National Association of Therapeutic Wilderness Camps.

Kathy Baker's sixth-grade class will gladly loan you a fluffy rabbit, a slimy salamander or a cute white rat - but only if you get on the schedule. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

1. Anna Weisbaum of Lake City Gymnastics cartwheels down Sherman Avenue Saturday during the annual Fred Murphy Pioneer Days parade. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Copyright 1996, The Idaho Spokesman-Review A poll of Idaho voters shows that many of them are unhappy with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Anne Fox - so many, in fact, that a political analyst believes Fox could never be re-elected. Only 17 percent of those surveyed rated Fox's performance as excellent or good. Twenty-one percent said it is only fair; 43 percent rated it poor.

It's back to the drawing board for the Coeur d'Alene School District. Only this time, school officials and architects will be fine-tuning plans for a third middle school instead of looking for a different way to sell its construction to voters.

A vote for education A voter casts his ballot in the Coeur d'Alene School District levy election Tuesday. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Coeur d'Alene School District residents will be asked Tuesday to approve the construction of a third middle school. The existing middle schools, Lakes and Canfield, each have 200 to 300 more students than they were designed to hold. District officials say the $9.5 million supplemental levy is needed to relieve that overcrowding.

Bright futures Colae Deaton, left, and Casey Bartholomew make their way from the gym to Boswell Hall Friday for graduation. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Colleen Kelsey, head teacher at New Vision Alternative School, got a bit choked up as she accepted an award Tuesday from the Idaho Education Association. "There are days when I go home and pull out my hair," said Kelsey. "There are days when I go home and sit and grin."

Students at Post Falls Junior High listen to Donna Parkins, a surgical manager from the Coeur d'Alene Eye Clinic, talk about climbing the professional ladder. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review