The County Lines

Sat., June 12, 1999

WASHINGTON

ADAMS COUNTY

Lind

The Lind Rodeo gets under way at 11 a.m. today with a parade down the main drag. Rodeo events begin at 2 p.m. after the western barbecue lunch at the city park. Featured entertainers for this annual event are the Ridler Brothers, who will perform for a dance tonight at 9 p.m., and the Wagonettes. The Wagonettes will entertain rodeo crowds Sunday at 3 p.m. in the arena.

FERRY COUNTY

Republic

It only takes a quarter to purchase a book in Republic today. The annual book sale at the local library runs today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the library basement. Used books on the sale cost only 25 cents with videos going for $3. Magazines are free. Money raised by this event goes toward the summer reading program and the carpeting fund.

GRANT COUNTY

Quincy

Local high school students may be required to stay on campus for lunch. The local school board discussed school safety at its late May meeting. The following day, a student was shot and killed by a 14-year-old just after school. The board had discussed nine safety steps, including a closed campus. Video cameras, more security patrols and parent involvement are also part of the plan. Parents backed the closed campus policy, saying a change is needed.

GRANT COUNTY

Moses Lake

This is a baseball town, and to prove it, the City Council is considering several thousand dollars in improvements to local ballfields. Larson Playfields needs some major and minor retooling to win the city’s bid for the 2000 Babe Ruth World Series. Although the council likes the idea of hosting the series, it’s not as excited about helping put up a $40,000 guarantee necessary to secure the event.

LINCOLN COUNTY

Odessa

Thirty-three graduates of Odessa High School are in the money. The senior class raked in over $243,000 in scholarships. The majority of graduates have chosen to further their education at regional universities and community colleges. This is the largest class Odessa has graduated in several years.

PEND OREILLE COUNTY

Newport

To many in Newport, the sound of a church bell ringing 100 times this Sunday will be sweet music. The United Church of Christ is celebrating its centennial this weekend. A special worship service is planned, followed by a potluck which features recipes from the church’s Centennial Cookbook. The church was formed 100 years ago as the Hope Congregational Church. The Methodist Church merged with Hope in 1961 to form the UCC.

SPOKANE COUNTY

Airway Heights

Employees of Zak Designs and the Airway Heights Corrections Center are planning to team up to ride bicycles to work. About 20 employees will meet at Spokane Falls Community College on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 a.m. for the ride in honor of Bike to Work Week ‘99. Other Zak Designs employees will be riding to work from as far away as the Spokane Valley.

STEVENS COUNTY

Colville

Golf is big business, especially in a small town. A group called the Colville Golf Club is interested in boosting tourism and the local economy by adding another nine holes to the local Elk’s Golf Course. CGC will lease the course for 50 years while it raises funds and seeks grants.

WHITMAN COUNTY

Pullman

Project Vote Smart, the nationally recognized nonpartisan voter education group, and Washington State University are launching a new partnership aimed at aiding American voters and educating WSU students.

WSU political science and journalism faculty will work with Project Vote Smart on three publications, the Voter’s SelfDefense Manual, the Reporter’s Source Book and the Vote Smart Yellow Pages. Political Science chair Lance LeLoup and WSU journalism professor Susan Ross have been named to a Project Vote Smart advisory committee.

Also, WSU and University of Idaho students will have opportunities for full-time 10-week internships with the organization’s new retreat center in western Montana.

IDAHO

BENEWAH COUNTY

St. Maries

Construction on the St. Maries Middle School multipurpose room will begin next week. The building will include a lunchroom, PE facility, gymnasium and meeting room. Voters approved the building construction last year as part of a $1.8 million levy. Ginno Construction of Coeur d’Alene was awarded the contract with a $1.155 million bid.

BONNER COUNTY

Sandpoint

The GTE Foundation has awarded more than $55,000 to human service and educational organizations in the region. Grants in the Sandpoint area included: Bonner General Hospital, $10,000; The Employee Combined Humanitarian Organization, $2,500; Festival at Sandpoint, $2,500; Kinderhaven, $2,000; Bonner Community Food Center, $2,000 and Scott Hoskins, Festival at Sandpoint volunteer, $200.

BOUNDARY COUNTY

Bonners Ferry

The Boundary County Farmers’ Market is held 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Oct. 3 in the Bonners Ferry city parking lot at the corner of Kootenai Avenue and U.S. Highway 95. All items are locally grown and crafted. To reserve a space, call Marsha Semar at (2080 267-7698.

KOOTENAI COUNTY

Coeur d’Alene

The Coeur d’Alene Public Library now can deliver magazine articles via its Internet connection. Legislators funded Idaho State Library’s statewide database to include magazines and other resources. The databases do not have to be accessed from the library, but can be reached by anyone in the library’s service who has Internet access. The URLs, login and passwords can be obtained by calling the library at (208) 769-2315.

LATAH COUNTY

Moscow

James A. Foster of the University of Idaho Computer Science Department has been awarded a $90,000 fellowship from the National Institutes of Health. The fellowship, Foster said, will help him learn nature’s rules that he hopes will apply to his own research into genetic programming. He will research genetic programming as an inexpensive way to develop software. Foster will pursue his studies in the lab of Holly Wichman, an associate professor of zoology, whose lab is in Moscow.

SHOSHONE COUNTY

Osburn

The Osburn Public Library summer reading program, Treasure Your Library, will begin June 16. The program will feature storyteller Shannon Stevens-Commers of Bonners Ferry and “Story Lady” Iris Aleman. For information, call the library at (208) 752-9711.

MONTANA

LINCOLN COUNTY

Libby

A school resource officer is being proposed for Libby schools. The officer’s duties would range from investigating crimes and patrolling school grounds to teaching classes and providing career counseling. A federal grant to the city would pay the salary of the resource officer. The decision to hire an officer is dependent on whether the city’s application for a waiver of the usually required matching funds is approved.

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