State investigators study failed satellite campus

Lewiston

State investigators are studying information collected by federal authorities probing the failed $136 million University Place satellite campus project to determine whether to put together their own criminal case over the University of Idaho’s blown real estate development in Boise.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who is leading the state investigation into University Place, said federal authorities are taking the lead and using their grand jury subpoena powers to interview witnesses and gather records.

“The state investigators have consciously held back on going out and actually interviewing people and that sort of thing so that we don’t conflict with the feds,” Thompson said.

U.S. Attorney Allan Garten from Portland, who is leading the federal probe of University Place, said the Justice Department does not comment on ongoing investigations and would not say whether a grand jury has been convened to hear evidence on the project.

The University Place proposal began in the late 1990s. Sixteen months ago, an Idaho state Board of Education investigation raised the possibility that state laws were broken in the financing of the project.

The board’s investigation also cited possible ethical lapses by the university and its nonprofit foundation because restricted scholarship money was used to finance University Place’s predevelopment.

Former Rep. McDermott dies at 68

Pocatello, Idaho

Former Idaho Rep. Patricia McDermott has died of an apparent stroke at Portneuf Regional Medical Center. She was 68.

McDermott, who died Tuesday evening, was a Democrat and staunch labor supporter. She served in the House from 1969 to 1990. She was a senior partner in the law firm McDermott, Zollinger, Box and Olley and represented the AFL-CIO during its 1995 lawsuit against Idaho’s Right to Work Law.

McDermott, a Pocatello resident, was born Feb. 19, 1937. She studied at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and received a degree at Idaho State University before earning her doctorate at George Washington University and law degree at Georgetown University.

McDermott was unmarried and had no children. Survivors include her brother, 6th District Judge Peter McDermott.

Train, fuel truck collide

Rupert, Idaho

A 102-car Union Pacific freight train collided with a fuel truck, which then caught fire, a sheriff’s officer said. The truck driver survived.

Jose Santa Cruz-Garcia, 57, of Rupert, was driving a 1970 GMC diesel delivery truck owned by a local farming company when he apparently drove in front of an oncoming train on Tuesday, said Minidoka County Sheriff’s Deputy Vic Watson.

The intersection has a warning sign, but is not equipped with stop arms or flashing lights.

Watson said the driver was outside the vehicle when emergency responders arrived at the scene, about 12 miles north of Rupert.

“We don’t know yet whether he got out on his own or was thrown clear,” Watson said.

Garcia was transported to Minidoka Memorial Hospital and was listed in fair condition Wednesday.

One train engineer was reported to have minor injuries.

Fuel spilled from the tanker and officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality were called, but there was no word on the extent of any contamination, Watson said.

State treasurer audits find problems

Boise

Legislative audits of the state treasurer’s office, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s clean water fund and the drinking water fund have uncovered several accounting and financial problems.

The Office of the State Treasurer overpaid participants in the Local Government Investment Pool by about $112,000 in one month alone, auditors found. The office also allegedly did not have the proper documentation to explain why eight securities were sold for losses last year, totaling more than $1 million.

Auditors also found that the Department of Environmental Quality should invest more of its available cash in the clean water fund in the state treasurer’s long-term investment pool. Putting some of that $69 million in cash in a longer term investment would bring higher yields, auditors found, and even a 3 percent increase would bring in about $1.8 million in one year.

The 15-year-old accounting system used in both the department’s clean water and drinking water revolving funds is cumbersome and contributes to accounting errors, the report said. Finally, the auditors found not enough documentation was kept to support loan transactions and decisions made on the clean water fund.