Crapo to restart cancer treatment
Boise
Five years after having his prostate removed, Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo will again start taking cancer treatment, his office announced Tuesday.
Crapo said in a prepared statement that he will follow his doctors’ advice after a series of tests indicated the presence of cancer cells.
The 53-year-old Republican said his doctors have indicated that the prognosis is excellent, and the side effects from this treatment should not affect his ability to participate in the Senate and committee business.
“I expect to be putting in full work days and will, as usual, be meeting with constituents who have traveled to Washington, D.C. I regret that the requirements of the regimen will not allow me to be in Idaho during the upcoming state work periods scheduled in February and March.”
The treatment, called Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, calls for Crapo to undergo a short localized radiation session each weekday for approximately eight weeks.
The process uses three-dimensional imaging to allow variation of radiation dose intensity.
Crapo, an attorney from Idaho Falls, served as president of the state Senate before being elected to Congress in 1992. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1999.
Bill supports individual wine-bottle purchases
Boise
If a retailer wants a few bottles of a 1965 Blackstone Merlot, Rep. Jim Clark says, they shouldn’t be forced to buy a whole case of it.
But under current Idaho code, such is the case. The requirement will be lifted if a bill Clark is sponsoring succeeds.
“We are forcing restaurant owners to buy four or five bottles that they don’t want right now,” Clark, R-Hayden Lake, told the House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
HB 59 would strike wording in the code that says no distributor can sell less than a case lot of wine to a retailer. The distributor may mix wines to fill a case, but that leaves retailers with excess wine, Clark said.
The State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the full House for a vote.
Of the 25 wineries in the state, 20 are small and act as their own distributors, said Bob Corbell, executive director of the Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission.
“In the past, the law somewhat stymied small restaurants that didn’t want to buy a whole case,” Corbell testified to the committee.
Airport tenant disputes to be solved in new way
Kootenai County has a new way to deal with tenant disputes at the Coeur d’Alene Airport as part of a legal settlement with Resort Aviation.
The company, which leases airport space from the county, wanted $209,841 in costs stemming from a battle over the airport radio.
Resort Aviation claimed it spent nearly $210,000 in attorney fees, expenses and travel to a 2003 Federal Communications Commission hearing in Washington D.C., to stop Kootenai County’s move for control of the airport radio.
The Kootenai County Commission and Resort Aviation signed a settlement last week that sets up a procedure for any future disputes between the airport and its tenants.
Resort Aviation attorney Scott Reed said now a member of the airport board will sit as an ombudsman to try and settle any dispute. If that doesn’t work, the Kootenai County Commission will give it a try before an arbitrator is called in.
Reed said that should help avoid the lengthy – and costly – legal battle Resort Aviation pursued. The county also will pay the company $3,000.
“The idea is to avoid what we’ve been through,” Reed said.
The battle began when Kootenai County tried to take the Unicom license away from Resort Aviation, which has operated the radio for years.
Small airports without a control tower or federal flight service station often use a Unicom station to give pilots information about runway conditions, weather and the availability of ground services such as fuel.
The dispute ended at the FCC hearing, where an administrative law judge scolded the parties for not settling before they got to Washington. The county dropped its protest and the judge renewed Resort Aviation’s license. Then the company sued the county for its legal costs.
Official set to speak at Democracy Forum
Sandpoint
Bonner County Commission Chairwoman Marcia Phillips will speak Tuesday about growth in the county and how to make it work to the county’s advantage.
At her State of the County address at the PowerHouse Grill, Phillips will talk about the growing population and new developments and their weight on the local infrastructure and quality of life. She’ll gather ideas about how to pay for necessary changes and choose priorities.
The hourlong program is part of the Democracy Forum. It starts at noon and is open to the public.
NIC summer schedule can be viewed online
North Idaho College’s schedule of summer classes is available online.
Registration for the 8-week summer session begins April 12 for current students and May 10 for new students, according to a press release from the college, but students can view the schedules now.
The schedule includes starting times and locations for hundreds of courses including Internet courses and condensed courses that can be completed in as little as five weeks.
Students must make an appointment with an NIC adviser before registering for summer classes. The class schedule can be viewed at www.nic.edu by clicking on “class schedules.”
For information, call the NIC Admissions Office at (208) 769-3311.
Fund-raiser offers singing telegrams
The Sandpoint High School Performing Choir is offering singing telegrams this weekend as a fund-raiser.
For $20, members of the choir will deliver a card, rose and a song to any home, business or restaurant in Sandpoint on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Reservations can be made by calling (208) 263-4942.
The vocal group is trying to raise more than $19,000 for a trip to southern California in May to sing at the Heritage Musical Festival and at Disneyland.