The County Lines

Sun., Jan. 9, 2000

WASHINGTON

Adams County Othello

The local Department of Licensing office has been swamped with bargain hunters. Taking advantage of $30 car tabs, nearly 600 people crowded the office on Jan. 3 alone. The Othello staff did $79,000 of business that day. Computers overloaded, causing a brown-out for about an hour.

Ferry County Republic

The Christmas season was much brighter for several area families, thanks to local Kiwanians. The Kiwanis Club delivered 122 Christmas food baskets to needy folks. The baskets included a complete turkey dinner. Members of the RHS Key Club also helped to assemble and deliver the holiday cheer. Donations from the community funded the entire project.

Grant County Moses Lake

Counselors at Our Place sexual abuse support center say date rape drugs have made their way into Grant County. Patty Youngblood, director of the center, says three girls have been drugged and raped using Rohypnol in the past six months. Youngblood asks women to be wary and watch out for one another while at parties and dating. The drug is colorless, odorless and renders the victim unconscious and without memory within 30 minutes of ingestion.

Lincoln County Davenport

Longtime Lincoln County District Court Judge Jack Buck has passed the gavel and robe to newcomer Josh Grant. Buck acted as judge over civil matters here for 30 years. A packed courtroom watched Grant, with the help of wife Katie, don his new robe for the first time last week. Grant was the deputy prosecutor for the county before being appointed to succeed Buck.

Pend Oreille County Newport

The local police force knew exactly what it was getting when it hired Bill Litsinger as its community resource officer last August. Litsinger is an expert in anti-terrorism tactics. He has wrapped up a three-year stint teaching police throughout North Idaho how to deal with extremist groups including the Aryan Nations and Phineas Priesthood. He says Pend Oreille County’s problem with such groups is no worse or better than anywhere else in the nation.

Stevens County Colville

With blood stores short throughout the nation, the Colville community blood drive is on the calendar for Tuesday. This drive will be set up at the United Methodist Church on Elm Street from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Super 1 and Excell Foods have donated chili to feed all donors. The Spokane Regional Blood Bank says it must collect 150 units of whole blood daily to keep up with demand.

Spokane County Spokane

Andrew Rock, a 1999 graduate of Whitworth College, recently was awarded a $23,000 Rotary scholarship to attend graduate school in Ireland. Rock, a history major from Shoreline, Wash., was named an Ambassadorial Scholar by Rotary District 5030, which includes Rotary clubs from the Seattle area. The scholarship will fund one year of graduate-level study at Trinity College in Dublin. Rock’s goal is to earn a doctorate and teach history and religion at a small private college.

Whitman County Pullman

The City Council will hold public hearings on reductions in transit service on Tuesday as part of its regular City Council meeting agenda. Council members will also consider amendments to ordinances regarding solid waste collection, animals and land use. The public hearings are scheduled for the end of the meeting, which starts at 7:30. They will address both reductions in fixed route and Dial-A-Ride transit services for the coming year.

IDAHO

Benewah County Plummer

Benewah County farmers can register for the Crop Disaster Program through Feb. 25 with the Farm Service Agency. Farmers who suffered losses due to 1999 crop failures through natural disasters are eligible. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Appropriation Act 2000 included $1.2 billion for the Crop Disaster Program. To register call (208) 686-1260.

Bonner County Priest Lake

Priest Lake State Park is seeking a Recreational Vehicle Program grant to fund construction of a second restroom at the park’s Lionhead Unit, on the east side of Priest Lake. A double-vault toilet was built in 1998. The new restroom was popular and overuse created problems with its function. The grant would fund construction of another similar unit and cost about $65,000. The RVP is funded from the sale of annual recreational vehicle license fees.

Boundary County Bonners Ferry

Navy Seaman Recruit Benjamin Kropatch recently completed the U.S. Navy eight-week basic training program at Great Lakes, Ill. Kropatch graduated from Bonners Ferry High School in 1999 and is the son of Dan and Sue Kropatch, Bonners Ferry.

Kootenai County Coeur d’Alene

Kootenai County commissioners are looking for volunteers to fill positions on a Site Disturbance Appeals Board. The board investigates problems associated with extending permits to landowners who wish to move or remove dirt or change the land near drainage areas. Volunteers must be two-year county residents, live in an unincorporated area, and be Idaho registered design professionals. To inquire call (208) 769-4450.

Latah County Moscow

Latah County is considering leasing a 160-acre farm from the city of Moscow to expand parks and recreation space. Students from the Moscow High School Environmental Club came up with ideas on how to use the land. Ideas include developing trails, a high ropes course, gardens, demonstrating agricultural projects, creating community service projects and using it as an outdoor laboratory for students. LeeAnne Eareckson, a teacher at MHS, said the students would like a place where they can help make decisions and space to move around without “pussy-footing around other people’s plants.”

Shoshone County Kellogg

Katie Johnson, Mullan, was recently named Shoshone Medical Center’s Employee of the Month for January. Johnson is a receptionist and has worked at the center since 1996. “I enjoy the patients that come into the clinic. I always try my best to make them as comfortable as possible,” Johnson said.

MONTANA

Lincoln County Libby

The city is offering a $300 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the destruction of the city’s Christmas tree at the end of Mineral Avenue. The tree was run over by a vehicle Dec. 29. Call City Hall at (406) 293-2731 or the Libby Police Department at (406) 293-3343.

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