In brief: Property owners awarded $500,000

The Mica Bay Property Owners Association received $500,000 Tuesday from a Seattle-based construction company as part of a settlement for a nearby highway project that sent tons of mud into Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The association will work with experts this winter to develop an environmental cleanup plan for the damage caused to Mica Creek.

Scott Reed, the association’s attorney, said the money from Scarsella Brothers won’t be used to dredge the bay. He said work on the creek likely won’t begin until summer.

The state and Scarsella Brothers reached the agreement in May. The construction company also paid $895,000 in fines after a 2001 realignment project of U.S. Highway 95 between Mica and Bellgrove sent tons of mud into the creek and the downstream bay.

The U.S. Justice Department and EPA sued in 2004, saying the state and Scarsella violated the Clean Water Act. The property owners joined the lawsuit.

In May, Scarsella Brothers issued a brief statement, saying there is no evidence the sediment harmed fish or recreational opportunities. The company also said it would improve its operations.

North Idaho

Free holiday meals to be offered

Free holiday meals will be served in North Idaho at several locations, including:

Turkey Dinner – Thursday, 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the basement at St. George’s Catholic Church, 2010 Lucas St., in Post Falls; (208) 773-4715.

Birthday Celebration Dinner for Jesus – Christmas, noon to 3 p.m. at Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave.; sponsored by the Bonner County Gospel Mission; call Corky at (208) 263-6698.

Vancouver, Wash.

Plume visible on St. Helens

Cold weather combined with the ongoing release of water vapor generated an impressive steam plume Tuesday at Mount St. Helens, which has been undergoing a low-key eruption since September 2004.

“The warm moist air rising from the lava dome condenses in the cold air and creates a cloud,” said volcanologist Willie Scott at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, about 160 miles south of Seattle and 50 miles from the mountain.

Cold, still air Monday and Tuesday made it visible from farther away. The white plume emitting from the snowy peak could be seen clearly against a blue winter sky from downtown Portland.

“You look at your industrial stacks around town and they’re putting out nice vapor plumes today as well,” Scott said.

Vapor has been rising from the volcano since before it rumbled back to life more than two years ago, extruding lava into the crater created when the mountain top blew off in May 1980, flattening forests for miles and killing 57 people.

“The water vapor’s condensing rapidly and it’s making a very attractive plume,” said seismologist Bill Steele at the University of Washington seismology lab, which has been monitoring the peak with the observatory.

Rexburg, Idaho

Remains belong to Native American

Skeletal remains unearthed recently by a backhoe operator digging a basement in this Eastern Idaho city belong to an American Indian man who died more than a century ago.

State archaeologists say the man was likely between 35 and 55 years old when he died.

It isn’t clear which tribe he belonged to, but Idaho state archaeologist Ken Reid said he’s contacted the Shoshone, Bannock and Paiute tribes from Idaho and surrounding states. It’s common for the tribe closest to the site of the original burial to claim the remains and rebury them according to its traditions.

“As a general rule, they prefer to rebury the remains as close to the site of the original as possible,” Reid said. “But sometimes that’s not practical.”

Archaeologists say they don’t know how the man died. They say he was robust, but with poor teeth. There were no signs of trauma, Reid said.

Boise

Teacher hiring plan meets approval

The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday approved Idaho’s federally mandated plan to hire highly qualified teachers after rejecting a previous version in July.

Last year, the federal government ordered all states to draft new plans for identifying, training and hiring teachers with bachelor’s degrees and state certification in order to meet provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act.

A federal review of Idaho’s plan earlier this year found it was one of 37 states whose plans met only some of the federal government’s criteria.

The state provided updated data and filled other holes in the old plan to win approval this time, said Jennifer Oxley, a state Department of Education spokeswoman.

Compiled from staff and wire reports