Julie Titone

David Rawls

Tongue twister. Martin Flaherty, 16, left, Sandpoint High School, Wendy Owens, 15, and Daisy Anderton, 14, from Priest River High School, and Ryan Smith, 17, from Sandpoint, play Twister - in Spanish. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

With the potential for floods looming large, Sen. Dirk Kempthorne on Thursday blasted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for stopping a flood control project on the St. Joe River.

Lake City High School has joined the ranks of North Idaho schools hit by pertussis. A Lake City student was among five more cases of whooping cough reported Thursday by the Panhandle Health District, bringing the total for the outbreak to 177 cases. An intense effort to diagnose the disease and treat it with antibiotics began after a 2-month-old Post Falls boy died three weeks ago. In Spokane County, 49 cases have been reported this year - 47 of them in the past week, including 14 new cases Thursday and 11 on Wednesday. Health district staff members are evaluating potential exposure to the illness in Spokane schools. New cases are being diagnosed in southern Idaho as well, said Jeanne Bock of the Panhandle Health District. Five nurses who came to Coeur d'Alene from Boise to help out returned home Thursday night, Bock said. The health district staff has been calling everyone who may have come into contact with pertussis at daycare centers and elementary schools. Because of the possibly overwhelming number of students who may be exposed in high schools or junior highs, the district is relying on those schools to send letters home informing families of possible exposure. The pertussis "command post" in Kootenai County is the health district office at 1111 Ironwood Drive. People who may have been exposed to the disease can be tested there between 12:30 and 5 p.m. During the next three weeks, health officials said, parents should have their children evaluated if they develop a cough, fever or other sign of respiratory illness.

Cole

There won't be any school closures in Boundary County, where voters Tuesday approved a levy to keep the school district running at its current level. The $439,000 supplemental levy won the support of 56.8 percent of voters.

Rawls

Kids at only 6 percent of the schools in the country get better standardized test scores than those who attend Evergreen Elementary. But if Tuesday's levy election fails, the doors may close at Evergreen.

FOR THE RECORD (April 23, 1997): Correction Misspelled name: Mary Ann Luedtke teaches at Bonners Ferry High School. Her name was misspelled in an article about Boundary County (Idaho) schools in The Spokesman-Review on Monday. 1. Hard times at Bonners Ferry High. Mary Ann Luetke, an energetic teacher at age 70, has seen hard times come and go at Bonners Ferry High, but none as severe as funding problems caused by tax protests this decade. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. With no gym, students at Evergreen School at Moyie Springs play basketball outside. A levy failure may close the school.

Gregory

Sarah Noordam swings a group of toddlers while NIC officials announce its expanded day care. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The Post Falls School District will stick its toe in the waters of year-round education next fall, offering that option to families at Prairie View Elementary. About 100 out of 600 students have signed up for the experimental program, which the school board approved Monday night.

1. Silver Valley Medical Center administrator David Hughes was sent by a management firm to close the hospital. Instead, he says he's turned things around. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Dr. Chris Christensen is one of three Silver Valley Medical Center emergency room physicians who is on call.

Linda and David Walks claim that the care Linda received at SVMC caused her brain damage. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

A state education consultant could find no major problems with the way disabled students are treated at Lakes Middle School. Patrick Pickens, special education director for the Coeur d'Alene School District, said Thursday he was neither happy nor disappointed with Mary Bostick's report. "I would have liked to see something that said more concretely that we're doing a good job," he said. "She just really hasn't a lot to say about how to make things better."

The Coeur d'Alene School District will ask voters to approve a two-year supplemental levy this spring. The amount is the same as voters approved last time: $2.97 million each year. But because of an increase in the amount of property taxed in the district, there would be a slight drop in the amount of tax each household pays if the measure passes.

Bob Murray, dressed as Northwest pioneer David Douglas, listens as Dale Mercy portrays essayist Edward Abbey during a panel discussion at North Idaho College. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho's controversial welfare reform plan is entering its home stretch with a final series of public meetings. The changes go into effect July 1. The Health and Welfare Department will hold 33 "Community Conversations," including six in North Idaho, before sending the plan to the federal government for approval.

The U.S. Forest Service and a lumber company took a big step this week toward preserving an ancient cedar grove near Upper Priest Lake. "We're excited," said Bob Artis, a Forest Service land specialist. "But we're not home free yet."

Bob Templin wiht one of the murals. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Sneezing season. Allergist Dr. John Strimas uses a microscope to examine pollen and other matter gathered by his rotorod sampler. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review<

The cottonwood trees that line dikes along the St. Joe are still the subject of controversy. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

It wasn't the goal that soccer fans were aiming for, but North Idaho College will have a new women's varsity sport come fall. Softball.

Not long after being appointed to the state Senate in 1995, John Sandy discovered that Idaho's dropout rate was the third highest in the country. "It's enough to make you embarrassed to be from Idaho," he said Tuesday on a visit to Coeur d'Alene. His chagrin, combined with an offhand remark, led to a law that takes away the driver's licenses of high school dropouts.