Voter turnout strong for bonds

The 26 percent voter turnout in Tuesday’s Coeur d’Alene bond election was extremely strong even though it sounds somewhat dismal, election officials said.

“It’s not shabby,” Kootenai County Election Supervisor Deedie Beard said Wednesday. “It’s higher than the mayor’s race in 2001.”

In that city election, where Sandi Bloem was elected mayor, voter turnout was 25.7 percent.

City voters passed a $3 million library bond and a $7 million public safety bond Tuesday. Together, the two measures will increase the taxes on a $150,000 home by $70.68 annually.

Beard said a strong push by firefighters and library advocates to get people to vote absentee is probably behind the high turnout.

About 71 percent of the yes votes for the library bond were by absentee voters, and about 79 percent of the yes votes for the public safety bond were cast by absentee voters, she said. In total, 5,705 people voted in the citywide election.

The library bond will help build a two-story, $6.6 million library across from Coeur d’Alene City Hall. Library advocates hope to break ground this year and have the library completed in 2006.

The public safety bond will allow the Coeur d’Alene fire and police departments to build a training center, buy firetrucks and equipment and remodel fire stations 1 and 2. The city also will pay off the debt for the new fire station on 15th Street and the police station on Kathleen Avenue, freeing up about $2 million that could be used to hire staff for the police and fire departments.

The training center is the fire and police departments’ top priority, and Fire Chief Kenny Gabriel expects to break ground at the corner of Kathleen Avenue and Ramsey Road this summer.

Crash injuring 2 under investigation

Two people were trapped in a vehicle Tuesday night that had gone off Pine Creek Road in Shoshone County, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Department.

Emergency workers were dispatched at 8:16 p.m. to the accident that occurred south of Ross Gulch. Two passengers were freed from the wreckage and transported to Shoshone Medical Center. They were later taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene.

The sheriff’s department is investigating the crash and has not yet released the names of the victims or further details about the accident. The current condition of the passengers is unavailable.

House puts energy bill on hold

Boise

Supporters of a bill that would create a new way to finance power plants in Idaho came back to lawmakers Wednesday with a new measure that was supposed to answer a number of questions – but instead it raised a whole slew of other ones.

Last week a House committee voted to wait to decide on HB 30, which would set up an Idaho Energy Resources Authority, because of various concerns, including the authority’s eminent domain power.

The proposed authority would finance the construction of energy generation and transmission projects by issuing revenue bonds to municipal and cooperative utilities as well as privately owned companies. It would be run by a seven-member board appointed by the governor.

The newest version of the legislation was introduced by the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee without the eminent domain clause. But legislators didn’t like that the sponsors, headed by Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, removed renewable energy developers from the authority’s financing list and axed funding for conservation measures.

“One of the beauties of the first bill was that it looked at renewables, but that’s been gutted,” said Rep. Nicole Lefavour, D-Boise.

The new measure will come back for a full hearing in the committee.

Sports nutrition workshop offered

Registered dietitian Samantha Ramsay will lead a sports nutrition workshop at the University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 22.

Ramsay holds a master’s degree in human nutrition from Washington State University. She’ll teach participants how to incorporate sound nutritional habits into an active lifestyle. She’ll discuss the physiology of activity, vitamins, minerals, supplements, fluids in physical activity, carbohydrates, proteins and fats for fuel.

The workshop costs $25 and requires preregistration by Feb. 15. Call 667-2588 to register or go to The workshop is on the UI Coeur d’Alene campus at 1000 W. Hubbard Ave., Room 142.

Post Falls mayor to speak

The mayor of Post Falls will speak at a meeting of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance today at noon.

Clay Larkin will address water-quality issues in Kootenai County, including aquifer protection.

The meeting is at the Iron Horse Restaurant, 407 E. Sherman, in Coeur d’Alene.