The County Lines
WASHINGTON
Adams County Othello
Mark your calendars for Sept. 15-19 for the Adams County Fair. Fair activities still are being finetuned, but organizers are positive that Sept. 18 will be Hispanic Night. Essenz and Sueno have been booked to perform during Hispanic festivities. Also on the fair agenda is Cosmo the Balloon Wizard and the local Rock’n B Cloggers. The Othello PRCA Rodeo is set for Sept. 17.
Ferry County Republic
The Pine Smith family is looking for a new home after its house was destroyed by fire on Aug. 30. The family, including three young children, was home when the fire broke out. All managed to escape, but they lost everything in the blaze. The house was new; Smith had been building it over the past seven years while the family was living there.
Grant County Ephrata
Grant County Public Utility District employees will find out soon if they are ready for the new millennium. On Wednesday and Thursday, the PUD will take part in a nationwide Y2K readiness drill. The same PUD employees will be on duty next Jan. 1 to respond to any Y2K-related power service problems. While utilities officials say they expect Jan. 1 to be no different from any other New Year’s Day, detailed contingency plans are in place in case a rapid response to computer date-related problems is needed.
Lincoln County Davenport
Fourteen of Lincoln Hospital’s 150 employees received pink slips or reduced work hours recently. Interim administrator Richard Brumenschenkel says the cuts were made to “right size” the hospital in the face of dwindling patient days and falling revenue. Hospital officials hope to reduce operating expenses by $300,000, with $250,000 of that in reduced paychecks. Those affected by the cuts range from part-time employees to senior management officials.
Pend Oreille County Newport
County officials are preparing for the possible passage of state Initiative 695 this fall. If the measure passes, experts say, the county will lose about $650,000 in revenue. Commissioner Joel Jacobsen thinks passage is certain because, he says, Washington taxpayers are heavily burdened. “That’s what happens when you’re the fifth-highest-taxed state in the country,” he said. Commissioners say hardest hit will be funding for criminal justice, including the prosecutor’s office and the Sheriff’s Department.
Spokane County Cheney
Cheney Middle School’s sixth-annual Fun and Fitness Run is scheduled Sept. 17. Money raised by students will go to the Associated Student Body budget to help pay for music, drama, assemblies, athletics, National Honor Society and other programs. This year, students hope to raise $25,000.
Stevens County Colville
It’s official: County garbage rates will increase, retroactive to Sept. 1. Waste Management Inc., which recently bought the Stevens County contract, asked the state Utilities and Transportation Commission for the rate hike. The increase is expected to generate $220,000 in revenue for Waste Management. For consumers who were paying $9.85 for weekly pickup of a single garbage can, the new rate is $14.
Whitman County Pullman
The Palouse regional crisis line, a 24-hour telephone support line based in Pullman, is seeking volunteers. The crisis line serves residents of Latah and Whitman counties, providing counseling to people in stress or crisis situations and referring callers to other agencies when help can’t be provided over the phone. The next training session for crisis-line volunteers will be Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cougar Depot in Pullman. For more information, call the crisis line at 332-1505.
IDAHO
Benewah County St. Maries
The Social Security Administration will begin mailing Social Security statements on Oct. 1 to workers 25 years and older not receiving benefits now. A new law requires that all Americans receive annual statements of potential Social Security benefits.
Bonner County Priest River
The Priest River Police Department is receiving $3,000 to help combat underage drinking. The award is one of 20 given to law enforcement departments throughout the state by the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections.
Boundary County Bonners Ferry
Aging and Adult Services will hold its semiannual advisory council meeting Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Senior Hospitality Inc. in Bonners Ferry.
Kootenai County Coeur d’Alene
The third-annual Yap-Keehn-Um Pow Wow will be held Sept. 17 and 18 at North Idaho College with grand entrances at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The powwow will include tribal participants doing traditional Native American dances and drumming. Dancers are invited to stay overnight on campus and will compete for prize money for the best traditional camp. For more information, call (208) 769-3269.
Latah County Moscow
Filing for the Nov. 2 Moscow city elections began Friday and will run through Sept. 23. The terms of City Council members Pam Palmer, Steve Busch and Tom LeClaire are expiring. People interested in running must complete a petition of nomination including 40 valid signatures of registered voters who are Moscow residents.
Shoshone County Kellogg
General Educational Development (GED) testing for interested Silver Valley residents will be Sept. 20 beginning at 8 a.m. at the Steelworkers union hall at 110 N. Hill. To schedule an appointment, call Debbie Johannson at (208) 783-5205.
MONTANA
Lincoln County Eureka
Eureka students are participating in the educational and research program Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment. Teachers Thea Borgen and Larry Benson will lead the project. The school district received a $10,000 environmental observation studies grant for the program, in which students research the local area and send data on the effects on the environment of current practices used by loggers and the U.S. Forest Service.