The County Lines
WASHINGTON
Adams County
Othello
The Othello Community Hospital Commissioners are still searching for someone to replace Larry Riddle. Riddle resigned recently after a flap with the board’s two newest members. Apparently, differences among board members were also behind Administrator Jerry Lane’s exit. In Lane’s official resignation letter, he accuses new board members Dr. Randy Bunch and Israel Rodriguez of “harassment and duress occurring on the job.”
Ferry County
Curlew
The Missoula Children’s Theatre is back, giving children ages 5 to 18 a chance to be in the spotlight.
Nearly 50 kids auditioned and have been rehearsing all week for the July 1 presentation of “Sleeping Beauty.” Shows are at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Curlew High School. MCT is a non-profit traveling theater group from Missoula.
Grant County
Moses Lake
John Marth was recently fined $12,000 for burning caustics. Marth’s fine came after he burned material from a trailer that contained plastics, garbage, furniture and other products banned from burning. He was fined for torching caustic materials in a Benton County mobile home park in 1999.
Lincoln County
Davenport
Junk vehicles are the target of a combined Sheriff’s Department/Solid Waste Management task force. The agencies are looking to enforce a 1998 ordinance against junk vehicles. A metal crusher has been contracted for use in September, giving residents a chance to comply voluntarily. Call (509) 725-3501 for details.
Pend Oreille County
Newport
Tutors are needed for the only adult literacy program in the county, coordinated by AmeriCorps. Tutors will spend one-on-one time with students, put together a women’s writing group, family literacy programs and English as a second language workshops. No experience is necessary. Call 1-800-776-2178.
Spokane County
Cheney
Under a new agreement between Cheney and Medical Lake police departments, Cheney will now book and jail people arrested by Medical Lake police for $40 per night. Medical Lake does not have its own jail.
Stevens County
Colville
Aster Elementary kids did a walking survey of their playground and found the school short of trees. As a math project, the kids began a penny drive and rolled up $250. It was used to buy three good-sized shade trees, which the kids helped to plant as well.
Whitman County
Pullman
Investigators determined that an overheated refrigerator compressor started the fire that seriously damaged a Pullman home. The two-story home at 610 S.W. Cherry St. suffered $180,000 in damage in an intense fire Wednesday that blew out windows, skylights and even parts of the roof. That estimate does not include art and other items collected by the Washington State University zoology professor and his wife who lived at the residence.
IDAHO
Benewah County
St. Maries
The Wolf People, an organization dedicated to the animal’s preservation, will be at Hawley’s Landing Amphitheater in Heyburn State Park at 7:30 p.m. July 4 to share knowledge about Arctic wolves. Call (208) 686-1308.
Bonner County
Priest Lake
The local golf course is expanding from nine holes to 18. Preparation work is expected to be done by July and seeding will follow. It will be considered a championship course and is anticipated to bring in golfers for the view of the lakes and wetlands. Half-acre home sites are also being built around the course.
Boundary County
Bonners Ferry
Pastor of the United Methodist Church, Mark McMurray, has been reassigned to Vancouver, Wash., by the bishop of the Pacific Northwest Conference. McMurray has ministered in Bonners Ferry for four years and will direct his last service July 31. Rev. John Schmelzer, of Woodenville, Wash., will replace him in August.
Kootenai County
Rathdrum
A benefit for the Rathdrum Food Bank will be held during Rathdrum Days, July 15. The Dashco Dash includes a 5-kilometer run for adults and a one-mile run for children. The registration deadline is July 7; cost is $10 with a T-shirt, $5 without. First place male and female runners will receive $100, second place is $50 and third place $25. Call (208) 687-0811.
Latah County
Moscow
The Chamber of Commerce’s annual auction, dinner and dance attracted 260 people. The grand door prize, a getaway to Santa Fe, N.M., went to Brett Carpenter, and John Hudson won the Big Bang Raffle and received $1,000 cash.
Shoshone County
Pinehurst
The Idaho Arts Commission gave a $1,252 grant to Pinehurst Elementary School. The grant will be used to hire visual artist Helen Granger Wilson, a participant in the Artist in Residence program. Wilson has participated in several successful programs in the Silver Valley.
MONTANA
Lincoln County
Libby
Charlene Williamson has been named Montana’s Public Safety Telecommunicator of the Year by the state chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials. Williamson has been a dispatcher since 1989. She filled in, March through August, for chief dispatcher Carol Petek while Petek was treated for cancer. Petek nominated her for the award.