The Idaho attorney general's office has concluded that researchers at a University of Idaho center in Post Falls broke no state laws in blending the interests of the university and two private companies that benefited the researchers. But investigators with the space agency NASA, which provides a large share of funding for the Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research, are still probing how the center's officials handled federal grants over the years, according to an attorney involved in the case.

It's a good time to be a geology major. Graduates in the field are facing lucrative opportunities as they enter the job market, thanks to record metals and oil prices. The average pay for a petroleum geologist with two years experience or less has risen about 60 percent in the past eight years.

Ten years ago, Patricia Hunt and her colleagues were studying eggs from mice, part of ongoing research into pregnancy failure. "All of a sudden our data went completely bonkers," she said.

Some Washington college presidents are halting most new hires as a hedge against layoffs and other cuts, given projections of a state revenue shortfall of more than $2 billion. Eastern Washington University President Rodolfo Arevalo implemented a "soft hiring freeze" in mid-April, saying the school is facing the possibility of significant cuts in the next legislative session.

Kaia Rongstad remembers her first view of the Palouse as a sharp contrast to her hometown of Juneau, Alaska. "I was kind of freaking out on the plane, because all I could see was wheat fields everywhere," the Washington State University freshman said. "But from the second I stepped off the plane, I just kept meeting friendly people."

When Washington State University announced in February that it was yanking its recognition of Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity over allegations of drug dealing and other rule violations, it said little about the case. But a review of hundreds of pages of university and court records shows that allegations of drug dealing and witness intimidation against several former members of the fraternity grew out of a yearlong investigation by Palouse drug detectives. Most cases were resolved with plea agreements on Friday or are expected to be wrapped up next week, though Whitman County prosecutor Bill Druffel said more arrests are likely.

About 11.5 percent of Spokane Public Schools high school students dropped out in 2005-06. In the West Valley School District, it was less than 1 percent.

Washington State University will start building the first new dorms on the Pullman campus in 37 years as part of a 10-year, $200 million plan to improve student housing. WSU's Board of Regents approved the $26 million residence hall Friday at a meeting in the Tri-Cities. It's one piece of a plan to replace older, larger dorm buildings on campus with seven new ones that are smaller and offer students more styles of housing, said Barry Johnston, associate vice president for business and finance.

Washington State University will announce a record $25 million donation Monday to help create what President Elson Floyd envisions as a kind of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for animal health. WSU announced Thursday that it would hold a news conference in Seattle to discuss the gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The school would not release the grant amount or details, but characterized it as the "largest private gift in the university's history."

Spokane Community College has selected three finalists for the job of president, and they'll appear in a series of public forums April 1-3. The finalists are the interim president, Joe Dunlap; North Idaho College administrator Eric Murray; and Ivan Gorne, an administrator at Bates Technical College in Tacoma, SCC announced Wednesday.

It's often dubbed the other war. Sometimes the forgotten war. But the six-year battle in Afghanistan is coming off its deadliest year yet, and observers say 2008 could be a turning point in a region that's a strategic nexus for terrorist groups.

Two more men sued Morning Star Boys' Ranch and its former director this week, bringing to 10 the number of men who have sued over sexual abuse allegations at the boys home. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court, one of two plaintiffs alleges he was abused in 1980 and 1981 by the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, former director of the ranch, and another staffer who has since died, identified as Reese Hall. The second plaintiff says he was abused from 1977 to 1979 by a staffer whose identity isn't known, the lawsuit says.

Washington State University has revoked its recognition of a fraternity, Alpha Kappa Lambda, alleging drug use and sales, providing alcohol to minors and other violations of university policy. But WSU would release few details about the case, and officials refused to immediately release records from its investigation, as it has done in past cases of student discipline.