The County Lines

WASHINGTON

Adams County Othello

The county auditor has moved Othello’s polling place from Lutacaga Elementary School to City Hall, starting Feb. 29.

Ferry County Republic

Friends of the Republic Library raised more than $550 at their recent book sale. Another sale is planned this summer.

Grant County Moses Lake

Pet hoarders may be few and far between, but when found, their impact is huge. Grant County has had three major pet hoarders in recent years, but the cost to animal shelters and taxpayers is high. Currently, animals from a 57-year-old Ephrata woman’s collection are being kept at the shelter while her court case is pending. She kept 25 dogs, five cats, four birds, one prairie dog, one rabbit and three ferrets in her home.

Lincoln County Wilbur

Residents with poor cable reception are urged not to suffer in silence. The city’s taken several complaints of poor reception on channels 2, 3, 18 and 34. USA Media cable was recently in town tweaking equipment.

Pend Oreille County Newport

The local newspaper reports at least six businesses have been serving the area for 100 years or more. Stimson Lumber has been in the community for 111 years, and the other longtimers are Marshall Lake Resort, Kelly’s Restaurant, The Newport Miner, United Security Bank and Impact Printing. Names have changed over the century, but the businesses are the same. Twenty-seven businesses have lasted more than 50 years in the county.

Spokane County Cheney

The public is invited to attend a special rehearsal of the Eastern Washington University Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, with special guest conductor Gunther Schuller. The rehearsal will be held 2-4 p.m. Tuesday in Showalter Auditorium on Eastern’s campus in Cheney. Admission is free. For more information, call 359-2241.

Stevens County Colville

Area children can audition for the Missoula Children’s Theatre production of “Sleeping Beauty.” The nation’s largest touring children’s theater comes complete with lighting, scripts, costumes and sets. Two director/actors audition children, then work with them for five days, putting on a performance by week’s end. Fifty children from 5 to 18 will be needed for the musical production, with auditions set for Monday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the high school.

Whitman County Colfax

Six agricultural burning violators received fines this month for illegal field burning in 1998 and 1999. The $37,400 in fines were issued by the Washington Department of Ecology. The largest fine went to a Moses Lake farmer who illegally burned 110 acres of grass-seed fields in Adams and Grant counties on three days in August and September. Two farmers, from Farmington and Colfax, also were fined $2,000 apiece for burning grass-seed fields, which is no longer legal in most circumstances.

IDAHO

Benewah County St. Maries

Bob Loe, a county sheriff’s deputy for 13 years, decided recently to run for Benewah County sheriff. Loe, a Republican, has worked under three sheriffs, lived in the county most of his life and now is a county investigator. Loe, 49, will compete with Dave Resser in the primary.

Bonner County Priest River

At the recent school district board meeting, trustees overruled Superintendent Joe Malletta’s decision against a trip for cheerleaders to attend a competition in Anaheim, Calif., in March. Malletta’s decision was based on the board’s policy that no extracurricular trips are to be made unless they are educational. Malletta also said the Idaho High School Activities Association does not recognize cheerleaders as athletes. Adviser Susie White insisted cheerleaders are athletes and stated the trip would not cost the district any money.

Boundary County Bonners FerryM The Hospice office moved recently from Main Street to its new location directly behind the Post Office in the alley. The Food Bank formerly occupied the office. Hours for Hospice are from noon to 3 p.m. Wednesdays.

Kootenai County Post Falls

Volunteers are needed for the mentoring program “Big Helpers for Little People” at the Post Falls Elementary School. Volunteers will read, visit the library, play games, knit, draw, paint or have lunch with a student, all at the school. Interested people will be screened, trained and matched with a student. For details, call Jane Soltys at 773-6968 or 773-1508.

Latah County Moscow

Two University of Idaho graduates, Doreen and Jim Terrill, have donated $1 million to the university. Jim graduated in 1959 and was head of Jefferson Smurfitt Corp., a paperboard and packaging company. Doreen took secretarial studies at the UI before they married in 1954. The Terrills, from Mullan, have retired and bought a home in Coeur d’Alene. They donated $500,000 for the expansion of the east end of the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center; the other half will go toward the university’s strategic goals.

Shoshone County Kellogg

The Idaho Fish and Game Department will begin flying over the Silver Valley soon to conduct its annual big game count. The late start of winter will benefit the survival rate for big game animals slowly recovering in numbers from the high loss in winter of 1996-97, according to Jim Hayden, a regional wildlife manager for the Fish and Game.

MONTANA

Lincoln County Libby

City Councilman Ed Baker resigned recently, citing health and personal reasons. Baker has been a council member on and off for 20 years. In his resignation letter, Baker stated his decision had nothing to do with Mayor Tony Berget or the mayor’s job performance. The council is seeking someone to fill his position until the next election.