Hearing set for Monday on Sand Creek fill plans
The public can comment Monday in Sandpoint on a proposal to dredge and fill portions of Sand Creek as part a byway project to redirect traffic from downtown.
The Sand Creek byway is stalled until the state can get permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Idaho Department of Lands to dredge and fill portions of Sand Creek on the east side of town.
The corps and the lands department are having a 6 p.m. joint public hearing at Sandpoint High School, 410 S. Division Ave.The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality also wants public comment on the permit request. The state agency is reviewing the proposal to ensure it wouldn’t violate state water quality standards.
The deadline for comments to the agency is Dec. 18.
For information, go to the agency’s Web site at www.deq.idaho.gov/public/ comment.cfm or call (208) 769-1422.
For more information on the corps project and Monday’s hearing call the Walla Walla District office at (509) 527-7020.
– Erica Curless
Coeur d’Alene
Produce to be given out at Lakes Middle School
A refrigerated truck loaded with thousands of pounds of produce will be at Lakes Middle School on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon to distribute the goods free to needy families.
The parent-teacher association at Lakes and the PTAs at the downtown elementary schools, which have high percentages of low-income students, are teaming up with Second Harvest Inland Northwest and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to bring the truck to the Lakes parking lot.
People can show up any time during the two-hour stop and pick up fresh produce. No registration is required.
Lakes students in the Idaho Drug Free Youth association will package the produce into family-size portions, and parents and other volunteers will help distribute the food.
For more information, call the Coeur d’Alene School District at (208) 664-8241.
– Meghann M. Cuniff
Pullman
State patrol prepares for Apple Cup traffic
From the air, along the roadway and on the football field, Washington State Patrol will be watching for troublemakers attending Saturday’s Apple Cup in Pullman.
WSP troopers from Moses Lake and the Tri-Cities also will be patrolling highways that pass through those areas where football fans will be traveling on their way to Washington State University, said spokesman Jeff Sevigney.
– Jody Lawrence-Turner
Moscow, Idaho
UI engineering dean honored for life’s work
The dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Engineering will be the first woman to receive an award for lifetime achievement in microelectronics.
Aicha Elshabini has been honored with the Daniel C. Hughes Jr. Memorial Award, recognizing her 34 years of contributions to the field, including work in cellular technology, microwave radios and battery research.
Elshabini, who grew up in Cairo, Egypt, has done research with Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Intel, Xerox, NASA and various military groups. She joined the University of Idaho in June.
– Associated Press