School closed due to illnesses

Thu., Feb. 15, 2007

The Spokesman-Review

Sunnyside Elementary School in Kellogg will be closed today and Friday because more than 40 percent of its students are ill with flu-like symptoms.

The school was also closed Wednesday after 110 of its 269 students stayed home sick on Tuesday, Sunnyside Principal Steve Shepperd said. Many staff members also reported symptoms.

When the illness first hit the school about a week or so ago, about 12 students were sick.

“The kids didn’t stay home long enough, in many cases, to really get well,” Shepperd said. “It just kind of snowballed.”

Shepperd said the school is hoping the extended weekend, along with the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, will give students time to recover.

Coeur d’Alene

Shelter has found homes for animals

All the pets at the Coeur d’Alene Animal Shelter have found homes, less than a week after the shelter announced its closure.

“Every animal that is at the shelter has been adopted out,” a phone recording at the animal shelter said Wednesday. “We have no more animals. And we are no longer open to the public.”

The shelter announced last week that it would shut its doors Feb. 28. About 30 dogs and 50 cats were put up for free adoption.

The closure comes after the state Department of Agriculture officials found 10 violations at the shelter, including poor ventilation and sewer drainage. Shelter officials said they had cleaned up and were poised to ask for additional funds from the city to make necessary improvements.

The city, however, said the money could be better spent on a different approach. City officials say they plan to explore opening a city-run shelter and forming a partnership with the county and the Humane Society.

Hecla donates to Kroc center

Kroc Community Center supporters got a $150,000 boost toward their $6 million goal Wednesday thanks to a donation from the Hecla Mining Company.

The donation brings the total raised to about $3.75 million, said former Lt. Gov. Jack Riggs, co-chair of the center’s capital campaign. Supporters hope construction of the center will begin this summer.

Coeur d’Alene was one of six cities awarded more than $60 million to start a community center, courtesy of a $1.5 billion endowment McDonald’s heiress Joan Kroc gave to The Salvation Army.

Spokane County

Trucker cited for drinking, driving

The Washington State Patrol cited a truck driver for driving after drinking Wednesday morning when he was stopped while hauling hazardous materials across the Idaho-Washington border.

Boyd D. Harper, 61, of Riverton, Utah, was pulling a semi-trailer with a load of corrosive materials.

He was stopped at the Spokane Port of Entry for a random inspection when a trooper detected the smell of alcohol. Harper admitted to drinking the night before, and a portable breath test found alcohol in his system.

Harper was not legally intoxicated, but drivers are not allowed to have any alcohol in their system while operating commercial vehicles.

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