EPA tests school’s water for mercury
Investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency tested Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene for mercury contamination Wednesday, two days after a student brought 15 to 20 vials of Dispersalloy, a mixture used in dental fillings. The substance was passed around and played with, said Jim Washko, the deputy chief at the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department.
The total amount of mercury – less than half an ounce – may be negligible, but some might have been spilled, the EPA’s Earl Liverman said.
“In all likelihood, as a consequence, no one will exhibit signs of exposure,” Liverman said. Signs would include irritation of the skin and mucous membranes.
The school district does not know who is responsible or how many students may have touched the mercury. Coeur d’Alene police are investigating.
Students, parents and the public were notified Wednesday because the school spent Tuesday trying to confirm that the incident happened, Superintendent Harry Amend said.
– Rasha Madkour
Boise
Senate passes bill allowing tax deferment
Legislation to allow some low-income elderly and disabled homeowners to defer their property taxes until they die or sell their homes passed the Senate unanimously Wednesday and headed to the governor’s desk.
HB 680 sets up a state-financed deferral program. It earlier passed the House. Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston, said the bill “would allow some of the very poorest people in the state to retain their homes.”
The deferral bill was the second property tax relief bill to win Senate approval, after a measure to eliminate a tax loophole for some rural developers and land speculators cleared the Senate a day earlier.
Still pending are four more House-passed bills, including measures to:
■Increase the homeowner’s exemption.
■Shift half of school operations funding off property tax and raise the sales tax half a cent to make up the difference.
■Increase the “circuit breaker” tax break for low-income, elderly and disabled people.
– Betsy Z. Russell
Budget writers back new judge positions
Funding to add district judges in Kootenai and Canyon counties won unanimous support from legislative budget writers Wednesday.
Legislation adding the two judges already has won unanimous support in the Senate. SB 1407 awaits a final vote in the House. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Wednesday voted 18-0 to fully fund the two judges and a court reporter for each, assuming SB 1407 passes the House and is signed into law.
– Betsy Z. Russell
Christian academy to drop high school
Post Falls Christian Academy will cut its high school program next fall, and it’s unclear whether the academy will be able to offer it again.
The school cited the “extreme costs of buildings” and the loss of its lease as reasons for the decision.
It plans to buy 2 acres at Cecil Road and Poleline Avenue for a new school. Jan Rodgers, who owns and operates the academy with her husband, Jerry, said she doesn’t know if the new school will include a high school. In the meantime, the academy will rent that land from the Seventh-day Adventist Church and put in a modular building to house its middle school. The elementary school will be housed at Challenger Christian Day School.
– Rasha Madkour