The County Lines

IDAHO

Benewah County St. Maries

Maintenance crews for St. Maries are ready for winter with the addition of a new front-plow truck and magnesium chloride distributor. The city purchased a 1997 Ford dump truck in September, which was fitted with a plow. The magnesium chloride distributor was purchased last year, but the ice inhibitor was not used until this month. City crews will begin maintenance at 2 a.m. if it is snowing and more than 2 inches of snow has fallen.

Bonner County Priest River

A West Bonner County resident is calling for the county to install guardrails on an accident-prone stretch of West Settlement Road east of Priest River. Gerry Laubhan wrote to Bonner County commissioners after the most recent accident, a Dec. 12 rollover near a stretch of road known as West Settlement Hill.

Boundary County Bonners Ferry

The Boundary County Substance Abuse Coalition will meet at noon Monday in the Community Justice Conference room upstairs in the Bonners Ferry Post Office building. Deputy Mark Strangio of the Boundary County Sheriff’s Department will be the guest speaker.

Kootenai County Athol

The cemetery in west Athol was vandalized last weekend when a 4-wheel-drive pickup truck was driven through the cemetery, running over several graves. The vandalism has prompted Athol officials to consider erecting gates to close the cemetery at night. The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department is investigating.

Latah County Moscow

Volunteers from the Moscow Fire Department will sponsor the city’s first New Year’s Eve light show at Guy Wicks Field beginning at 7 p.m. Dec. 31. Fire Marshal Don Strong said the $2,500 fireworks display could mean the restart of a July fireworks tradition that was discontinued in 1996 because of a lack of community support. Donation cans have been placed at businesses around Moscow to help pay for the New Year’s show and preparations for July’s display.

Shoshone County Kellogg

Students who produce the St. Maries High School newsletter visited the Mountain Valley Care and Rehabilitation Center on Monday. The students helped residents create Christmas cards and letters to send to their families. Instructor Lynette Ferguson and her students were trying to come up with ways to get involved with the community when an older Silver Valley resident mentioned they weren’t comfortable with writing letters anymore.

WASHINGTON

Pend Oreille County Newport

Bad news was also good news for Ponderay Newsprint Co. as Pend Oreille County Commissioners worked out their 1999 budget. Because the paper mill has recently depreciated by $50,000, the company will pay about $90,000 less in taxes to county coffers. In addition, 1998 was the last of three years Ponderay Newsprint was required to pay back taxes to the county.

Spokane County Spokane

The Parks Department has agreed to buy a small piece of property on the north bank of the Spokane River to include in the Hamblen Conservation Area. The single lot in Lower Crossing is being acquired from the estate of Win Self, who died earlier this year.

Whitman County Tekoa

The Tekoa Community Center will close its doors Jan. 1 because the $15,000 levy that supports it failed. It’s the third time a levy to support the center has failed since the building was donated to the city in 1992, according to City Clerk Peggy Hagan. Meanwhile, the city is considering relocating City Hall into the newly renovated community building. If the city makes the move, community groups could begin meeting in the city building on Crosby Street.

MONTANA

Lincoln County Libby

The Christmas program for Kootenai Valley Christian School will be held at 3 p.m. today. The program, which features students from the K-8 grade school, will be at Libby Christian Church.