No adults allowed. When Holly Hansen lays down that rule, her young face is as strict as an old schoolmarm’s.

“I wanted a kid-related thing,” the 17-year-old says as a galaxy of stars surges from the depths of the computer screen behind her. “I wanted articles, pictures, poems, everything done by kids.”

But mostly, Holly wanted to create. So she started the Young People’s Page in her local Wallace newspaper two years ago.

She assigned stories, poems, movie reviews to her sister and friends, edited everything, then set out to find a home for the page.

The tiny Silver Valley Voice welcomed her, trained her to lay out her page on a computer, even offered her $25 for her work. She took the money and paid her contributors $1.50 to $4 each.

“I thought the money would keep them going,” she says. “It worked on a couple.”

Holly stuck with the creative work she likes to read and write herself, but added puzzles and games she designed. In each monthly issue, she asked readers to submit material. No one replied.

“No one was reading the Voice,” she says.

Last April, she took her page to the better-read Shoshone County News Press. That’s when the real lessons began. The News Press liked Holly’s idea but wanted her to sell advertising to pay for the space she wanted.

“It was the first time I ever had to sell and I tell you I didn’t like it,” she says, frowning.

Her desire to reach a bigger audience outweighed her distaste for sales. Holly sold enough ads to pay for her page, pay her contributors and buy enough computer equipment to lay out her page, complete with photos and fancy borders, at home.

She also impressed her boss.

“When I see someone who does work that good at that young age, I see a good career ahead,” says Don Sauer, News Press city editor.

That’s just what Holly wants to hear.

“Sometimes I want to say, ‘The heck with it,”’ she says, sounding as old as a battle-weary editor. “But then I think of resumes, college, the future … “

Best buy

So the cost of college has you out looking for a second full-time job. Judith Brower, who teaches math at North Idaho College, says fear not.

NIC costs $980 a year for a full-time, no-frills package for Kootenai County students. Sure, it’s only for two years. But two years in community college saves thousands of dollars over two years at most universities. And Judith says the education is topnotch.

Flower power

Kootenai County second-graders began thinking spring weeks ago when Duncan’s donated daffodil bulbs to them and showed them which end went in the ground.

With any luck, the blooming flowers will cheer teachers and students about the time the school year seems endless.

Good (g)wreath!

Twinkling lights on the windows and a bushy wreath on the door say my house is ready for Christmas. Of course I’m not there yet. It’s not even Thanksgiving and I haven’t found a wreath.

But I know where to buy one. Canfield Middle School is selling evergreen wreaths to raise money for extras at school. The $20 wreaths (or $22 flocked) arrive Dec. 1 but orders have to be in Nov. 16. Send checks to Canfield PVO, 1800 Dalton Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814.

Happy old year

Why follow tradition? Celebrate an old year at the end of 1995. Tell us in less than 300 words about the year that was so good it deserves to be replayed ad infinitum.

Scroll out some prose for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo