The County Lines
WASHINGTON
Adams County
Ritzville
Ritzville High junior Mike Way won’t be sweating about computer bugs on New Year’s Day. He’ll be sweating his way across the Chinese countryside. Way, 17, has been chosen as a member of the Washington Cultural Exchange cross-country team. He will spend Christmas break in China, and race on New Year’s Day.
Ferry County
Republic
Daro Palmer doesn’t practice weed control. He practices seed control. Palmer, working with the WSU Cooperative Extension, has been using bioagents to control weeds throughout the county.
These bioagents, he said, can reduce seed production by 95 percent, thus cutting the weed population considerably.
Grant County
Moses Lake
Eastern Washington University is tipping its hat to Grant County. The county is home to more than 1,000 alumni, which makes it an important spot for recruitment. Six Eastern education majors are student-teaching in Grant County this year, and 10 county students received scholarships to the school for this year.
Lincoln County
Edwall
Nathan Klein and Kira Fagan were recently honored with Congressional Award medals for their community and school involvement. Klein and Fagan have put in more than 300 hours of public service. Klein is from Edwall, Fagan is from Reardan.
Pend Oreille County
Newport
Todd Zakar, Levi VanStedum and MacKenzie Hogan spent part of their summer upgrading and installing new hard and software at the school. The boys spent nearly 200 hours each to keep costs down for the district, and get valuable experience.
Spokane County
Spokane
The East Central Steering Committee will talk about how to spend $144,000 in community development funds Tuesday. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the East Central Community Center, 500 S. Stone.
Last year, the money was spent on home rehabilitation assistance, Martin Luther King Center improvements and social service support, among other things. Also, the meeting will feature an update on the status of the North Spokane Limited Access facility and the I-90 interchange for it.
Stevens County
Colville
Sarah Lindberg, 15, recently earned grand champion honors in dog obedience at the state fair in Puyallup for her work with her golden retriever/chow mix, Teddy Bear. Lindberg will compete in the state championship of dog obedience Oct. 26.
Whitman County
Pullman
The Parent Resource Center of Whitman County is offering a five-week series of basic parenting classes for families with young children. The classes will be led by local parent educators Della Bayly and Sue Traver, who will discuss topics such as the first years, bonding, parental behaviors, nutrition and mealtimes. Classes are free and on Wednesday evenings from Oct. 20 through Nov. 17 in the Gladish Community Center, Room 307, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Child care is available on-site at no cost. For more information, call 334-4555, ext. 258 or 332-6628.
IDAHO
Benewah County
St. Maries
The University of Idaho Cooperative Extension Service will offer “Logger Education to Advance Professionalism” Nov. 3-5 in St. Maries. The program is designed to help loggers improve skills and market their services more effectively to forest owners and managers. The course features two days indoors and one day with field exercises on forest biology, forest ecology, silviculture and forest water quality. It is taught by UI faculty and Idaho Department of Lands personnel. A $75 registration fee includes resource materials. For information, call (208) 245-2422.
Bonner County
Sandpoint
Bonner County commissioners approved a program last week to allow residents, civic groups, businesses and others to adopt sections of county roads to keep them litter-free. Groups or individuals can request an area to adopt or have one assigned. The cost is $150 per section, which covers signs, garbage bags, gloves, safety vests and work zone signs. The program is similar to one implemented by the Idaho Transportation Department.
Boundary County
Bonners Ferry
The Country Women’s Group will be awarding a hand-made quilt during the group’s craft bazaar Nov. 20. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the restoration of the West Fork Cabin at Smith Creek. Tickets are available from County Women’s Group members.
Kootenai County
Coeur d’Alene
The Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee will sponsor a live televised forum Wednesday to educate voters about local candidates and issues. The forum will be at the City Hall Council Chambers and will include Coeur d’Alene City Council candidates, followed by a presentation of the pros and cons of the community center issue. Candidates will have a three-minute opening statement followed by a question and answer period and a two-minute wrap up session. The program will be shown on River City CAT cable channel 13 from 6-9 p.m.
Shoshone County
Mullan
A consent decree outlining the proposed 72-mile trail system from Mullan to Plummer could be finalized by November. An action memo on the proposed trail could also be released within the next couple of weeks. The memo follows the process by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Idaho Division of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency to determine the feasibility of the trail. Once the memo is filed in court, a judge has 30 days to approve or modify the proposal. If the trail is approved, the tribe would manage the trail from Plummer to Harrison and the state would manage the trail from Harrison to Mullan and eight of nine proposed zones to include picnic tables, shelters and restrooms.
MONTANA
Lincoln County
Libby
The city of Libby is offering amnesty on unpaid fines and tickets. Outstanding fines can be paid with no additional penalty until Wednesday. Tickets that haven’t been paid will be turned over to a private agency for collection under a change in state law approved by the 1999 legislature.