Marina faces deadline on tests for dredging

Duane Hagadone has until Aug. 21 to provide additional soil tests to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the agency will withdraw his permit application to dredge the Blackwell Island channel.

The corps sent Hagadone’s engineer the letter July 20 and hasn’t yet received a response, said Gregg Rayner of the agency’s Coeur d’Alene office.

The agency wants more tests to determine how much soil in the channel is contaminated with heavy metal and how much of the contaminated dirt the company would haul to an undetermined disposal site.

“We haven’t heard a thing out of them since the letter went out and nothing since this hearing went down south the other night,” Rayner said, referring to the Coeur d’Alene City Council decision to reject Hagadone’s request to annex the island into the city limits.

In an interview Wednesday, Hagadone said he would continue to seek the state and federal permits to dredge the Blackwell Island channel to allow for larger boats at the existing marina. Yet he said it won’t be the $20 million marina he initially touted.

Hagadone said he didn’t know the status of the dredging applications and referred questions to his engineer Jim Coleman. Coleman did not return several phone calls.

Hagadone’s Marina Yacht Club LLC wants to dredge dirt from the channel to make it about 50 percent wider and at least 8 feet deep to allow for bigger boats.

– Erica Curless

Inland Northwest

O-type blood supplies fall dangerously low

Reserves of universally accepted O-type blood fell dangerously low in the Inland Northwest this week, prompting officials to put out a call for summer donors.

“We were down to about a one-day supply,” said Mark Gelhaus, community services manager for the Inland Northwest Blood Center. “We had about 50 units on the shelf.”

Normal inventory should be about a five- to six-day supply of O- positive and O-negative blood, Gelhaus said. Nearly 40 percent of the population has O-type blood, which also can be used in people with types A, B or AB blood.

When supplies run low, it increases the risk of a blood shortage in the event of a significant accident or other trauma, Gelhaus said.

“The challenge we face, of course, is this time of year donations are down,” he said.

The Inland Northwest Blood Center typically requires 150 donated units of blood each day to maintain supplies. The center provides blood for more than 30 regional hospitals and medical centers.

Blood collection centers include the following sites:

“ Spokane – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 7 a.m. to noon Saturday, 210 W. Cataldo Ave.

“ Coeur d’Alene – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 7:30 Tuesday, 1341 Northwood Center Court.

For more information, call (509) 624-0151 or (800) 423-0151, or visit the Web site www.inbc2.org

– JoNel Aleccia

Spokane

Kempthorne to hear environment concerns

U.S. Interior Secretary and former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne will be in Spokane on Wednesday to hear public comments on environmental and conservation topics.

The session is one of eight being held across the nation in coming weeks and is aimed at helping citizens and policymakers work together to protect the environment, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is hosting the event.

The listening session is open to the public and begins at 9 a.m. at Washington State University’s campus in Spokane in room 122 of the Phase 1 classroom building, 688 N. Riverpoint Blvd. The room holds about 200 people.

Other top federal officials are also expected to attend, including the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

– James Hagengruber