The County Lines

WASHINGTON

ADAMS COUNTY Othello

Two local grocery stores pulled bags of Ariel detergent off shelves recently when the State Department of Ecology banned the product. The detergent contains illegal amounts of phosphorus - dangerous to water systems. Akins and Leprekon stores pulled the product, imported from Mexico where it is manufactured by Proctor & Gamble. Ariel detergent was also found in Shelton and Kelso-Longview stores.

FERRY COUNTY Curlew

The Curlew High School Drill Team will be holding its annual Junior Dance Clinic Tuesday through Thursday. The class gives kindergarten through seventh-grade students a chance to learn cheers and a dance routine. Students will perform their dance at Friday’s Tip-Off Basketball Tournament. Dancers will be performing to ‘50s-style music. For information, call (509) 779-4931.

GRANT COUNTY Soap Lake

This is a busy week for local children as the Missoula Children’s Theatre will be featuring 60 Soap Lake youngsters in its production of “Wiz of the West.” Auditions for the play are today from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Delancey-Houghton Elementary School Gym. The students will rehearse all week, then perform for the public at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday in the high school gym.

LINCOLN COUNTY Odessa

Local kids will be counting their pennies for the annual Christmas Fest. On the calendar for Wednesday, the Fest offers traditional pictures with Santa, as well as a special opportunity for youngsters to shop for friends and family. Santa’s Secret Shop, staffed by volunteers who help children with shopping, is filled with fun gift ideas from 50 cents to a few dollars. Children are to have a list prepared in advance so shop helpers can help with budgeting.

PEND OREILLE COUNTY Cusick

The local school district says receiving grant money is a double-edged sword. Although money provides for equipment and services, there are always outside costs associated with a grant, such as wiring of grant-funded computers, which is not covered by grants. The Cusick district is experiencing a shortage of funds as enrollment has been falling, and with it, state funding. It may have to decline grants if finances don’t pick up.

SPOKANE COUNTY Cheney

Mayor Amy Jo Sooy has declared discussions on a parking tax on Eastern Washington University dead for now. There is little if any support among council members for the tax. City staff suggested the parking tax as one way to raise the city’s share of money for improving state Highway 904 at the southwest end of the city next year.

STEVENS COUNTY Kettle Falls

Area school districts declared Tuesday, Nov. 24 “Thank a Bus Driver Day.” The event was in honor of Frank Eslick, a bus driver in neighboring Orient who was shot and killed on his bus route one year ago. In Orient, staff and students remembered Eslick by placing a photograph collage of him in the trophy case. Other districts such as Kettle Falls treated drivers to lunch to tell them thank you for carrying such a precious cargo.

WHITMAN COUNTY Pullman

The Pullman City Council will hold a special meeting to address budget issues tonight at 7:30 p.m. The council will also address labor relations and performance evaluations in executive session. The regular city council meeting will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The council will hear reports on the draft comprehensive plan, the Emerald Pointe development and the Police Advisory Committee noise report.

IDAHO

BENEWAH COUNTY St. Maries

Benewah County homeowners with flood insurance were notified the second week in November of a $50 increase in their policy premiums. The surcharge is being added because several policyholders are not in compliance with Benewah County’s floodplain ordinance.

BONNER COUNTY Priest River

The Idaho Department of Lands and the Idaho Panhandle and Colville National Forests will sponsor a public meeting to discuss the Douglas fir bark beetle infestation in northern Idaho and eastern Washington on Dec. 7. The meeting will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at the River Pigs Inn on Main Street.

BOUNDARY COUNTY Bonners Ferry

Beating the Odds Gamblers Support Group, which helps those who have a gambling problem, meets Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the basement of the United Methodist Church at 6568 Lincoln Street. For information, call Susan Flack at (208) 267-5100.

KOOTENAI COUNTY Post Falls

The Post Falls Police Department will hold a public auction to sell items that have gone unclaimed for 90 days. The auction will be at 6 p.m. Friday, at Mr. Auction, 307 W. Mullan Ave. A public viewing will be prior to the auction from 1 to 6 p.m.

LATAH COUNTY Moscow

The University of Idaho will commemorate AIDS Awareness Week starting today. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Be a Force for Change.” On Tuesday, Joyce Claypool, who has AIDS, will speak at the administration auditorium at 6 p.m. Claypool lost her husband and 7-year-old daughter to AIDS and will be showing a documentary on her daughter’s illness. A candlelight vigil is planned for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the UI SUB Vandal Lounge.

SHOSHONE COUNTY Osburn

The annual Silver Valley Christmas Radiothon will be Dec. 11 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on KWAL Radio in Osburn. Volunteers will answer phones to take donations for the needy families throughout the valley. Last year, $11,126 was raised and KWAL Radio hopes that total will be matched or exceeded.

MONTANA

LINCOLN COUNTY Troy

Troy School District is looking for a high school principal to replace John Konzen, who will retire in January to take the office of Lincoln County Commissioner. Konzen has been principal at Troy High School for 17 years. The school board is advertising for an interim principal to serve through the end of the school year. The board will begin advertising for a permanent replacement to begin next fall.