In brief: Flu outbreak closes Priest Lake school

North Idaho’s Priest Lake Elementary School will be closed today after a presumed flu outbreak sickened a third of the students and most of the teachers, a Panhandle Health District spokeswoman said Thursday.

Nineteen of 56 students and two of three teachers at the rural school have come down with symptoms consistent with the flu. Because influenza is not a reportable disease, and not every case is confirmed, officials can’t be certain of the exact number of flu cases.

However, lab tests have confirmed more than 20 cases of the flu in the Panhandle since December, with 15 reported as February began. Seasonal flu typically peaks in February and March.

Flu shots remain available at area clinics. Call (208) 415-5100.

Flu symptoms include fever, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue and a dry cough. People are contagious a day before symptoms appear and remain so for about five days.

– JoNel Aleccia

Coeur d’Alene

UI, NIC to offer joint enrollment

Beginning this summer, students can jointly enroll at the University of Idaho and North Idaho College – meaning that classes, degree requirements and other programs will be aligned between the schools.

Under the new arrangement – the first of its kind for both schools – a student could enroll at NIC and lock in a set of degree requirements that would not later be subject to change, the schools said in an announcement. The joint admissions begin in summer semester 2007.

“Joint admissions provide students the opportunity to plan their four-year degree from beginning to end,” said UI Provost Doug Baker in a news release. “This cooperative effort streamlines the academic evaluation and transfer processes and helps both institutions to better direct students toward their goals.”

The UI’s Coeur d’Alene center will help coordinate the joint admissions.

“We appreciate the strong support of the University of Idaho for our students at NIC,” said Eric Murray, NIC vice president for Student Services. “The opportunity to increase easy access of our students to four-year degrees is a priority at NIC.”

Students will be able to file a common application for both schools, which are now finishing an agreement that would align the course of study in more than 80 majors, the UI said.

For more information, call University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene at (208) 667-2588 or visit www.cda.uidaho.edu.

– Shawn Vestal