Congressional hopefuls will speak at forum

Nearly all of the candidates running for the 1st District congressional seat in Idaho will appear at a forum tonight at Post Falls High School.

The public event will begin at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria and is expected to last 90 minutes. Each candidate will have an opportunity to answer questions from a panel and give opening and closing statements. The panel may ask some questions from the audience.

The event is meant to coincide with national Cover the Uninsured Week, and health care will be among the issues candidates will address.

All six Republicans in the May 23 primary will attend. They are Bill Sali, Sheila Sorensen, Keith Johnson, Norm Semanko, Skip Brandt and Robert Vasquez. Democrat Cecil Kelly, Independent Dave Olson and United Party candidate Andy Hedden-Nicely also will be there. Democrat Larry Grant declined the invitation, and organizers were unable to reach Paul Smith of the Constitutional Party.

The forum is co-sponsored by the Dirne Community Health Center, Kootenai Medical Center and the Coeur d’Alene Press newspaper.

– From staff reports

Coeur d’Alene

District names 2006 Educator of the Year

The Coeur d’Alene School District has named Mike Clabby, a 30-year teacher, its Educator of the Year for 2006.

He and others were acknowledged at the district’s annual recognition and retirement dinner Tuesday. A committee of administrators and former award recipients read nomination forms from each district school and settled on five employees to honor.

Clabby, who teaches computer graphics and multimedia at Lake City High School, was credited with bringing more than $80,000 worth of technology into the district through grants and corporate donations. He has been on the front line of incorporating new technology into the classroom, the district said.

His students produced a recruiting video for the Coeur d’Alene Police Department and a training video for Sunshine Mining Co.

Clabby also was named High School Educator of the Year. Other educator of the year honors went to Sharon Hanson, a seventh-grade teacher at Canfield Middle School, and Paula Marano, a third-grade teacher at Skyway Elementary. Bill Rutherford, a counselor at Atlas Elementary, was named the district’s Rookie of the Year. Dave Doughty, a custodian at Dalton Elementary School, was named Classified Employee of the Year.

– Rasha Madkour