The County Lines

Tue., Oct. 5, 1999

WASHINGTON

Adams County Othello

The Othello City Council has approved extending a tax on utilities, blaming a budget shortfall last year. The utility tax hike was to have been retired in January 2001, but now it is to end in 2002.

Ferry County Republic

The AmeriCorps Tutor Center has opened, offering assistance to all Ferry County students whether they attend public schools or community colleges or are homeschooled. The center, located next to the county courthouse, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays.

Grant County Ephrata

Grant Transit Authority recently cut its bus service to Othello. Despite 800 passengers using the route per month, costs were too high to continue running buses into Adams County. Transit authority officials said 10 round trips to Othello cost $450. However, at 50 cents per ride, receipts totaled only $400 monthly, the officials said.

Lincoln County Wilbur

Local residents will be eating a lot of salad for lunch on Wednesday. A salad luncheon will benefit Christin Pfaffle, 15, who was burned last year when a space heater lighted her nightgown on fire. Her family is struggling to pay the bills for skin grafts and several surgeries. The Lutheran Brotherhood will match up to $1,000 of the receipts from the luncheon, set for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Wilbur Lutheran Church.

Pend Oreille County Usk

The Port of Pend Oreille hopes to build a wood chip facility to create jobs and retain one of the county’s industries. Ponderay Valley Fibre wants the port to ship its product via rail throughout the country. The state has awarded a $664,736 grant for engineering and construction of the wood chip facility.

Spokane County Deer Park

Army Reserve Pvt. Katherine D. Patterson, daughter of Linda C. Patterson of Deer Park, has graduated from basic training at Fort Leonard Wood at Waynesville, Mo. Patterson, a 1999 Deer Park High School graduate, received instruction in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics and first aid.

Stevens County Chewelah

Sara Cochran not only volunteers to play piano for school and church choirs, but she also passes on her musical knowledge. Giving three financially needy students free piano lessons, Cochran is an everyday hero here. She recently was honored by the state Music Teachers Association for her efforts.

Whitman County Steptoe

The annual breakfast meeting of the Ag Tech Association today will feature Tim Murray, a Washington State University plant pathologist who will discuss Cephalosporium stripe and straw breaker foot rot research results as well as progress on new varieties of grain being developed with more resistance to the diseases. The breakfast will begin with a no-host buffet at 6:45 a.m. at Hartley’s Wheel Inn restaurant in Steptoe. The meeting is to adjourn by 8 a.m.

IDAHO

Benewah County St. Maries

Incumbent Councilman Dick Burch is one of four candidates vying for two two-year seats on the St. Maries City Council. The three other candidates are Sandra K. Smith, Jerry Wicks and Darrell L. Bryant. Meanwhile, Blair Peet and incumbents Ed Spooner and Rick Haeg have petitioned for three four-year seats. Elections will be Nov. 2.

Bonner County Priest River

Priest River Lamanna High School science teacher Ann Gehring has been awarded a $200 grant from the Idaho Forest Products Commission. Gehring plans to implement a unit on forest management in the Biology I classes. She wants to purchase an increment borer to take core samples from trees and a scale stick to determine volume board feet.

Boundary County Bonners Ferry

Employees at Boundary Community Hospital will be donning bluejeans on Friday as part of Lee National Denim Day, a nationwide campaign with a goal of raising $6 million to help find a cure for breast cancer. Hospital employees who contribute $5 may wear jeans to work on Friday. Proceeds will go to the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information, call (208) 267-3141.

Kootenai County Coeur d’Alene

Kootenai Medical Center’s Educational Services Department will offer the course “Introduction to Critical Care” on Nov. 16 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in KMC’s Health Resource Center. The program is designed for medical professionals as a refresher course for caring for critically ill patients. The class will cover ventilator care, respiratory therapy, cardiovascular and emergency drugs, pediatric care in the intensive care unit, hemo-dynamics and pacemakers. Advanced/continuing medical education credits are available. For more information, call (208) 666-2030.

Latah County Moscow

The number of last year’s first-time fulltime freshmen returning to the University of Idaho campus this fall has reached a record high. A total of 80.3 percent of last year’s freshman class returned this semester, an increase from the old record of 77.9 percent set last year.

Shoshone County Silver Valley

Panhandle Health District is offering flu shots in the Silver Valley. Clinics will be Thursday at Rose Lake School from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and at the Prichard Fire Hall from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Friday at the Wallace Senior Citizens Center from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Oct. 15 at the Osburn Senior Services Center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Oct. 21 at the Mullan City Hall from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Children under age 18 need a prescription from a physician, and children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

MONTANA

Lincoln County Libby

A stream gauge has been installed at the Libby city reservoir and below the dam on Flower Creek. The gauge will be used to monitor the reservoir’s water level as well as stream flow below the dam, thus enabling city and county officials to detect sudden surges in water. A weather station at the gauge also will provide temperature and rainfall data to local officials and the National Weather Service in Missoula.

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