The County Lines

WASHINGTON

Adams County Othello

Local folks were generous at a recent blood drive. The drive, put on by the Othello High senior class, netted 113 pints of blood from 118 donors. More than 60 senior class members gave of their time and blood. They baked 60 dozen cookies and made over 200 recruitment phone calls. Their efforts paid off as 54 new donors registered.

Ferry County Curlew

Parents planning to enroll a child in kindergarten next fall are invited to pre-register this week. The Curlew School District is hoping to get an accurate head count for kindergarten as soon as possible. Children 5 years of age on or before Aug. 31 may register. Both kids and parents can meet teachers and make classroom visits April 26 through 30.

Grant County Moses Lake

Basin drivers are counting their pennies. They’ll need them at the gas pump as fuel prices have exploded in the area. In recent weeks, diesel was less than $1. Now, drivers are paying $1.31 per gallon. A gallon of premium unleaded has gone as high as $1.59 in the past week. Local distributors blame oil companies for the rise and say it happens every spring as the tourism season begins.

Lincoln County Davenport

Garbage service in Davenport is up in the air. The city contracts with Western Refuse of Airway Heights, but was recently informed the company was sold to Waste Management of Spokane. Waste Management will fulfill the remainder of the contract, which is up for renewal in the fall. Spokane County Chattaroy Air Force Airman 1st Class Jonathan Higgins, son of Charles Higgins of Chattaroy, recently completed a six-week basic training course at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He is a 1994 graduate of Riverside High School.

Stevens County Addy

A local girl will be wearing the crown of an Inland Northwest Dairy Princess. Nichole Burgess, a junior at Jenkins High School, was crowned Dairy Princess at a recent coronation in Addy. She will go on to compete for State Dairy Princess next spring. Burgess has been active in 4-H and school activities. She is the daughter of Vince and Cindy Burgess of Addy.

Whitman County Tekoa

The Tekoa School Board has hired Sergio Hernandez of Walla Walla to take over as the district’s new superintendent July 1. The board recently signed a three-year contract with Hernandez, who replaces Mary Hall. Hernandez is director of athletic support programs at the Walla Walla School District and a superintendent intern at Walla Walla, where he’s worked since 1982. He is currently working on his doctorate at Washington State University.

IDAHO

Benewah County St. Maries

Welch Comer Association, engineers for the city of St. Maries, has applied for a state grant to construct sidewalks. The $300,000 grant from the Transportation Department could finance a sidewalk from downtown St. Maries to the county fairgrounds. The city won’t know if funding has been approved until September.

Bonner County Sandpoint

More than 50 planter boxes in downtown Sandpoint are in need of adoption. The Arcadia Greenhouse will donate flowers for any box adopted by a business or individual willing to donate $75 for maintenance. Arcadia will plant, maintain and water the flowers from May until the first frost. For information, contact the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association at (208) 255-1876.

Boundary County Bonners Ferry

The Boundary County Youth Crisis and Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day. Volunteers are trained to help end the cycle of abuse. All information is kept strictly confidential. Help is available at (208) 267-5211.

Kootenai County Worley

The Plummer/Worley School District is offering a Summer Reading Camp for children entering first through fifth grades who live within the boundaries of the district in Benewah and Kootenai counties. The camp will be June 21 through July 16, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Lakeside Elementary. Cost will be $25 for the first student in the family and $10 for each additional student. For information or to enroll, call (208) 686-1651.

Latah County Moscow

The Moscow School Board will hold a public hearing May 4 to discuss proposed budget cuts. The board will cut $702,000 from next year’s education budget to make up for the current and projected enrollment drop. Reductions in staff and athletic programs, along with cutting the Drug Awareness Resistance Education program, are proposed. The meeting will be in the Moscow High School auditorium at 7 p.m.

Shoshone County Kellogg

A Coeur d’Alene lawyer from Idaho Legal Aid Services will be in Kellogg May 13 to meet with low-income residents who have legal problems or questions. Those interested in meeting with a lawyer can set up an appointment by calling the Food Bank at (208) 783-4901 or the Legal Office in Coeur d’Alene at (208) 667-9559.

MONTANA

Lincoln County Libby

The National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service will be collecting nonperishable food items May 8 for the Libby Food Pantry. Mail carriers will leave a bag at residences earlier in the week and residents are asked to place the bag next to their mailboxes with appropriate food donations inside.