The County Lines

Sun., Aug. 23, 1998

WASHINGTON

ADAMS COUNTY Othello

It’s time to welcome the new kids on the block at the Othello School District. Don Fekete, will take over the superintendent’s office until Assistant Superintendent George Juarez finishes his internship and takes over. A veteran of the Finley School District, Fekete will mentor Juarez on running a school district for the next three months. Also new to the district is Bill Duncanson. He will be manning the principal’s desk at Othello High School.

FERRY COUNTY Republic

Agricultural land in Ferry County damaged by the May 26 flood may be eligible for cost-share funds. Under the Emergency Conservation Program, help with debris removal, grading, shaping, leveling and restoring permanent fences on agricultural land is available. Producers in the area are asked to call (509)775-3390. This program is an arm of the United States Department of Agriculture.

GRANT COUNTY Wilson Creek

Small schools can do big things. In Wilson Creek, a team of four educators earned $8,000 for technology from US West. The grant is designed to help integrate technology into the classroom. In addition to the cash award, the teachers received four laptop computers and attended a technology academy to learn to use the Internet, Web sites and e-mail to exchange ideas with teachers worldwide. Attending the event were Kathleen Ottis, Jackie Floetke, Sandy Gnaedinger and Mike Waldo.

LINCOLN COUNTY Davenport

Fund-raising in Lincoln County has become a bit hair-raising as local officials have signed on again for the second annual Kiss A Pig contest. The event, which raises money for Lincoln County Teen Time 4-H, pits public servants, political candidates and other hapless residents in financial one-upmanship with the winner puckering up to a pig at the Lincoln County Fair. On the ballot are all three county commissioners, sheriff candidate Deputy John Coley, treasurer candidate Linda Fisher, Juvenile Court Officer Vickie Harris, former Times publisher Kyp Graber and Fair Board President Jon Overmyer. Votes for your favorite, or not-so-favorite, candidate can be sent to Box 228, Sprague, WA 99032, or made at the fair, which starts Thursday.

PEND OREILLE COUNTY Newport

The world will come into focus for 200 area children as they will receive new glasses next month. The LensCrafters Foundation will send its Vision Van to the Club Energy/Kelly’s parking lot Sept. 9 and 10. To qualify for the free glasses donated by the foundation, contact Tri-County Health at (509) 447-3131.

SPOKANE COUNTY Spokane Valley

As part of Spokane County’s talk of putting a satellite office in the Valley, county officials set up an informational kiosk at the Spokane Valley Mall. The kiosk is on the lower level of the mall’s west end and has information on the county’s $18.7 million Valley Couplet road project. The booth includes pamphlets and computer-generated images of diamond carpool lanes, said county spokesman Chad Hutson. The county will rotate information at the kiosk.

STEVENS COUNTY Colville

The historical Homestead Cabin and Log Schoolhouse have been well taken care of for the past two years. The local chapter of Beta Sigma Phi sorority has adopted the buildings and is providing for their upkeep as a community project. The log schoolhouse is the first school building in Colville and has been moved and rebuilt on the Stevens County Historical Society Museum grounds. The former home of the late Earl Hellie, the Homestead Cabin was moved log by log from Tacoma Creek to the museum grounds in the 1980s.

WHITMAN COUNTY Pullman

Longtime minority activist Phil Duran is leaving Washington State University to direct the First Nations Institute in South Dakota. The institute is operated by the Wesleyan Church on the site of the former Brainerd Indian School. Duran, who has dedicated much of his 27 years at WSU to trying to improve the culture for minorities, will leave behind his job in WSU’s information technology department.

IDAHO

BENEWAH COUNTY Plummer

Two of five positions on the Benewah County Soil and Water Conservation District advisory board are open. Any landowner or operator within the district boundaries, which includes Benewah and southern Shoshone counties, can apply. Those interested in becoming a member of the supervisory board must sign a declaration of candidacy petition to the district office, 900 E Street, Plummer, ID 83851 before Sept. 1. For more information, contact the soil and water conservation district office at (208) 686-1699.

BOUNDARY COUNTY Bonners Ferry

Free health screenings for children ages newborn through 5 will be available at Valley View Annex from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday. Children will have their vision, hearing, speech, language, readiness and other developmental areas checked. Screenings are sponsored by Boundary County School District, Head Start and the Child Development Center. To schedule an appointment, call (208) 267-7962.

KOOTENAI COUNTY Post Falls

The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing next month on a request by Watson and Associates to continue rock crushing at their Expo site, located between Seltice Way and Interstate 90 to the west of Pleasant View Road. The hearing will be on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. Written testimony should be sent to the city of Post Falls Planning Department, 408 Spokane St., Post Falls, ID 83854.

LATAH COUNTY Moscow

The Latah County Democratic Central Committee will hold a public reception for gubernatorial candidate Bob Huntley on Wednesday at the Moscow Community Center. The reception is an opportunity for the public to meet Huntley and learn about his views. It starts at 7:30 p.m.

SHOSHONE COUNTY Kellogg

A state grant combined with money from Union Pacific will enable the city to extend the current bike path east to Elizabeth Park and west to Smelterville. More than $177,000 of the funds came from the Union Pacific while the state chipped in about $69,000, said Walt Hadley of the Kellogg Planning and Zoning Commission.

MONTANA

Lincoln County

Troy The Troy School District is in the process of developing an alternative school for students ages 12 to 21 who are not currently enrolled in school. Anyone interested should call David Henderson at (406) 295-4606.

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