The County Lines

IDAHO

Benewah County Heyburn

Volunteers are needed for the Heyburn PTO Halloween Carnival on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Heyburn gym. Help is needed in setting up, ticket sales, staffing the booths and cleaning up. Parents are encouraged to volunteer by calling PTO’s Parent Link message box, (208) 245-2900, Ext. 3017.

Bonner County Sandpoint

Residents interested in issues regarding compost can attend a three-session satellite program presented by the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System. The first session, “Composting: A Tool for Western Agriculture,” is scheduled for Nov. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Bonner County Extension Office.

Boundary County Bonners Ferry

The Idaho Special Olympic Winter Games will be at Schweitzer Mountain Resort Feb. 28 through March 2. More than 300 athletes will compete and volunteer helpers are needed. Call 1-800-234-3658. To help make sure Bonners Ferry is represented with a local Special Olympics team, call Joe Nicholas at (208) 267-1501.

Kootenai County Coeur d’Alene

The local American Red Cross chapter is looking for interested individuals, youth groups, churches, school project coordinators and other people to help with the Friendship Box Program. Groups assemble specially provided boxes with personal, educational and recreational necessities which are sent to young people in need around the world. Boxes have been sent to disaster areas in the United States, along with areas of Peru, Bosnia Refugee Collection Centers and the Baltic states. For information, call (208) 664-5414.

Latah County Moscow

Richard T. Jacobsen, dean of the University of Idaho College of Engineering, has announced he is stepping down from his position. He will continue as director of the Center for Applied Thermodynamic Studies. A search committee for a new dean will be named soon, and Jacobsen will continue as dean until the search is completed. Jacobsen will be on sabbatical leave for the spring semester, during which time the associate dean of the College of Engineering, David Woodall, will serve as acting dean. Jacobsen was appointed dean in 1990.

Shoshone County Osburn

The city is removing abandoned cars, free of charge, as enforcement of the abandoned vehicle and blight ordinance. The ordinance includes vehicles that are unusable or inoperable because of lack or defects of parts, because of damage from collision, deterioration or being beyond repair. Goldrush Wrecking is hauling the vehicles for the city. Police Chief Charles Angle expects the city will once again have to start charging for the service in the near future.

WASHINGTON

Pend Oreille County Newport

A pregnant Newport woman was sentenced to nine months in jail for stabbing a Diamond Lake woman in the back in April. Dana A. Gray was refused home monitoring by Pend Oreille County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker, but will receive a four-month furlough when the baby is born. Gray stabbed Leora Rogers after a verbal confrontation escalated into physical violence.

Spokane County Cheney

Cheney’s annual haunted house will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Wren Pierson Building on the corner of Third and D streets. Sponsored by the Cheney Parks Department and the Eastern Washington University Recreation and Leisure Services Programming class, admission is one canned food item per person. All proceeds benefit the Cheney Food Bank.

Whitman County Pullman

A candidates forum is scheduled Monday and a ballot issues forum will be Thursday. Both will run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the City Council chambers. Congressional candidates, state representatives and all Whitman County candidates have been invited to attend the event, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Colfax and Pullman chambers of commerce, and the American Association of University Women’s Pullman branch.

MONTANA

Lincoln County Troy

Raymond Smith Jr. of Troy has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after a September conviction for felony assault and felony assault on a peace officer. Smith was found guilty on charges from an incident last October in which he shot John Garrison in the head, and from a later incident when Smith was arrested for carrying a weapon while free on bail. Smith will receive credit for time served in the county jail since his arrest last fall.