The County Lines
WASHINGTON
Adams County
Ritzville
The Adams County Sheriff’s Department is looking into vandalism near the Schrag intersection of Interstate 90. Deputies say it looks as if eight 9 mm shells were shot at a sign just outside the Department of Transportation’s new loader shed. The bullets also tore through the metal walls of the shed.
Ferry County
Republic
County commissioners’ cars are due to be replaced in 2000, but the officials have decided to drive them for another year and then look into upgrading them in 2001. The county also will study whether paying mileage for commissioners to drive their own private cars would be less expensive.
Grant County
Moses Lake
Moses Lake is the official home of the 2000 Babe Ruth World Series. Larson Playfield, to be upgraded with new lights and expanded seating and press box, will be filled with 16-year-old athletes from across the country on Aug. 19-26. Community support for $40,000 in sponsorships also is being sought.
Lincoln County
Wilbur
If there ever were a perfect time for a water main to break, Sept. 24 was it. The water main outside Harvey Coffman’s house on the Division Street hill sprang a major leak. When the water was turned off, the street sank almost two feet where water had washed the fill away. City crews immediately contacted Walker’s Construction, which was still in the area doing work, and the main was fixed almost immediately.
Pend Oreille County
Newport
Concerned parents from Lazy Acres trailer court have asked the Newport School Board to run a school bus route there even though there is no state funding for busing children within a one-mile radius of school. Lazy Acres youngsters must pass a pond and cross railroad tracks and U.S. Highway 2 to get to school. The district is considering the request as a safety issue.
Spokane County
Deer Park
Rafe Wortman, a 1999 Deer Park High School graduate, has received a $400 Association of Diesel Specialists/Ortner scholarship. The scholarships were created in 1994 by the estate of Esther Ortner, widow of Henry Ortner Jr., the diesel association’s first technical director.
Stevens County
Colville
They’re definitely not signs of the times, but their messages still carry weight. Driving Stevens County’s back roads, motorists are warned by signs from the turn of the century of roads closed to “vehicles with lugs on wheels and sharp-shod animals.” Although outdated, the regulations prompting the signs are still on the books.
Whitman County
Pullman
The Pullman Police Department has launched a “Tip Us Off” feature on its Internet site, which features information about recent crimes and cases that the department is investigating. The public can visit the Web page and send the department leads on various cases via e-mail. The department also posts all its press releases and daily crime logs on the Internet. The Web site address is http://pullman-gov.com/police/default.htm
IDAHO
Benewah County
St. Maries
The St. Joe ranger district has started a campaign to clean up campsites and roads. The district spent $15,000 to clean up more than 250 campsites of an estimated 10,000 cubic feet of trash. The U.S. Forest Service also recently sponsored a poster design contest at area schools to “clean up the Joe.”
Bonner County
Sandpoint
Robert Betts, a Sandpoint anthropologist, will give a one-hour slide presentation on Oct. 23 on the discovery of the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth at Colorado Creek, 45 miles north of McGrath, Alaska, in 1982. The program, being sponsored by the Bonner County Historical Society, is free of charge and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Sandpoint Community Hall.
Boundary County
Bonners Ferry
The third-annual Cow Creek Crafters craft sale, to be held Friday and Saturday at the Paradise Valley Fire Hall, will feature more than 20 local craftspeople. The fire hall is located by Neumayer’s mill on Cow Creek Road.
Kootenai County
Rathdrum
The Lakeland Booster Club and parents of seniors are selling raffle tickets as a fund-raiser for the alcohol- and drug-free graduation party and other student activities. Prize is a 2000 model Toyota Tacoma 4-by-4 pickup. Tickets are $20, and a maximum of 200 tickets will be sold. Tickets are available at all home athletic events and at Parker Toyota in Coeur d’Alene. For more information or tickets, call (208) 773-0911.
Latah County
Moscow
The University of Idaho’s Hartung Theater is featuring “Rocket to the Moon” through Sunday. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m., and a matinee will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $9 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and $6 for youths/ students and are available at the UI ticket office and at the information desk in the UI Student Union Building. For more information, call (208) 885-7212 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. “Rocket to the Moon” is the first play of the UI theatre department’s season.
Shoshone County
Wallace
The Shoshone County Jail has received state certification. The Idaho Sheriffs Association’s Standards Committee surveys the state’s jails each year to determine whether they are meeting the association’s standards. To be given certification, a jail must meet 311 standards. The Shoshone County Jail was the only North Idaho jail to receive such recognition.
MONTANA
Lincoln County
Libby
The Libby Police Department is considering using hidden cameras to fight nighttime littering on Mineral Avenue. The City Council decided Monday to use cameras to try to catch litterers. A similar effort has been made to issue citations for underage possession of tobacco across the street from Libby High School.