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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Group hosts public records law workshop

Compiled from staff and wire reports The Spokesman-Review

A workshop on Idaho’s Open Meetings and Public Records law takes place at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene.

The two-hour workshop is sponsored by Idahoans for Openness in Government. Speakers include Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and Deputy Attorney General William von Tagen.

Tuesday’s event takes place in the main-level conference room of The Spokesman-Review Building, 608 Northwest Blvd.

On Wednesday, the workshop will be repeated in Sandpoint at the East Bonner County Library, 1407 Cedar St. That event runs from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The workshops are being held in partnership with the Idaho Attorney General’s office, the Idaho Press Club, the Idaho Association of Counties and the Idaho Association of Cities.

Cowboy poet to announce warnings on radio

Twin Falls, Idaho A cowboy poet who’s won fame for his monologues on National Public Radio will take on a new role in Idaho: the voice of disaster.

Baxter Black, a large-animal veterinarian who sold cattle feed in Twin Falls before beginning a full-time writing career in 1980, has been asked by a state committee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to do public service announcements for Idaho.

They’d be broadcast in the event of an emergency such as a tornado or terrorist act, Black said.

“You’ll hear them one of these days,” said Black, a humorist known for his drawl and cowboy persona.

Phone calls by the Associated Press to a Department of Homeland Security spokesman seeking comment on why the committee chose the author of poems such as “Jose and the Hoodoo Cow,” “Nightman in the Heifer Lot” and “What’s Christmas to a Cow” as spokesman for potential calamities weren’t immediately returned.

I-90 Pines Road ramps to close today

The Interstate 90 Sullivan and Argonne road on- and off-ramps will be drivers’ best bets today in Spokane Valley.

Crews will be closing the Pines Road ramps at times to move paving equipment across them.

The work is part of a project to widen the freeway from two lanes to three in each direction between Argonne and Sullivan.

Idaho adds biomedical expert to science council

Boise Idaho is trying to diversify the technology segment of its economy – now associated with microchips and laser printers – by adding a biomedical expert to a statewide council whose aim is to promote science-related ventures.

Robin Woods, 40, owner of the drug testing and analysis company Alturas Analytics in Moscow, is the first person from the biomedical industry to sit on the Governor’s Science and Technology Advisory Council.

“I want to attract biotech business to Idaho. I want to be able to influence growing some biotech and pharmaceutical companies,” Woods said. “Right now there’s no large anchor pharmaceutical company.”

Technology, including imaging sensors made by Micron Technologies Inc., Idaho’s largest employer, and backup memory systems produced by Hewlett-Packard already account for 40 percent of Idaho’s economy, and 70 percent of exports.

With Woods’ appointment, the council is joining other states across America – including neighboring Washington and Oregon – that are targeting biotech-related ventures as a way to create jobs and wealth.

Revenue from the industry in the United States reached $46 billion in 2004, up 17 percent in one year, according to Ernst & Young. Still, companies lost a combined $6.4 billion