In brief: KSPS tower to be done this week

Folks who get their television signals through rabbit ears should be able to get their next “Antiques Roadshow” fix soon.

KSPS, Spokane’s public television station, has been available only to viewers with cable and satellite service since Nov. 13, as the station rebuilt its transmitter tower. According to the station’s Web site, that project is expected to be done Thursday.

Thursday also marks the one-year anniversary of the tower’s collapse, which happened early on Nov. 29, 2006. The station has not broadcast at full strength since then.

Spokane Valley

Bicyclist injured in run-in with car

A bicyclist riding without a helmet suffered minor injuries when he was struck by a car after dark Saturday in Spokane Valley.

The 52-year-old man tried to ride across North Sullivan Road when a slow-moving car pulled out of a parking lot about 5 p.m., said Sgt. Dave Reagan, a spokesman for Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Valley Police. The impact threw the man onto the car’s hood.

The bicyclist suffered a cut to his head. He was taken to a downtown hospital for observation, Reagan said.

No citations were issued, Reagan said.

BOISE

Drug test would use eye reaction

The Idaho Department of Correction is considering a new type of drug test for parolees that checks eye reaction time.

Called Passpoint, the system can detect whether a person has used substances in recent days by flashing beams of light into the person’s eyes.

Eye reaction is typically slower for people using drugs or alcohol.

If correction officials find a slow reaction time, they will ask the person to give a urine sample.

Kevin Kempf, the department’s community corrections chief, said the system will allow the agency to screen offenders more quickly and more often.

PORT TOWNSEND, Wash.

Terminal adjusts for foot ferry

The state ferry service said workers are making progress adjusting a moorage float at the Port Townsend terminal for a passenger-only ferry.

The deputy executive director, Traci Brewer-Rogstad, said there’s a chance the foot-ferry Snohomish could start running today on the run to Keystone, on Whidbey Island.

She said a crew is being trained to operate the 350-passenger Snohomish, which has been out of service since 2003 when it was pulled off the Seattle-Bremerton route.

The Port Townsend-Keystone run has been shut down since Tuesday, when the ferry service decided to take its 80-year-old Steel-Electric Class ferries out of service because of hull corrosion.

Brewer-Rogstad said it probably will be February before a car ferry returns to the route. That would be the Quinault, which now is in a Seattle shipyard.

Ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris said the passenger-only ferry will try to keep to the same schedule the car ferry had.

While the Port Townsend-Keystone route has been down, there’s been a surge in traffic on the Kingston-Edmonds run. Harris said a third ferry has been running since Wednesday on the Edmonds-Kingston run, which normally has two boats.

JOSEPH, Ore.

Park closed due to wind damage

State park officials say they don’t expect Wallowa Lake State Park to reopen until after Christmas.

The Eastern Oregon park closed after winds as high as 122 mph did severe damage on Nov. 12.

The winds blew down 30 large trees and left limbs and dangerous snags throughout the 216-acre park.

Crews are clearing the park of debris. Foresters are identifying hazardous tree limbs and inspecting trees that may have weakened.

Usually open through the winter, the park’s day-use area as well as four RV campsites, two yurts and a deluxe cabin are expected to reopen Dec. 26.

Park officials urge potential visitors to get current information at (800) 551-6949 or online.