Sub-zero temperatures reported across region

Wed., Jan. 23, 2008

The Spokesman-Review

The big freeze lingered Tuesday, with many cities in the region reporting lows below zero.

Deer Park appears to have taken the prize at 9 below zero Tuesday morning, with Priest Lake coming in at 8 below zero and northwest Airway Heights at 5 below. Spokane bottomed out at 0 and Coeur d’Alene hit 2 below zero, meteorologist Mike Fries said.

“On a large scale, this was the coldest day of the winter,” Fries said.

Today doesn’t look much warmer. Some low-lying fog could linger this morning.

Overnight lows were expected to be just a degree or two higher than Tuesday, Fries said. The high today for Spokane and Coeur d’Alene is expected to reach into the mid-20s.

“It looks like any snow will hold off until Thursday night, and whatever we get won’t be a lot,” Fries said. “The next decent shot of snow looks to come in here Saturday night. By then our temperatures will be up near freezing.”

– Thomas Clouse

UI assistant professor new S-R ombudsman

The Spokesman-Review has hired a part-time ombudsman, University of Idaho assistant professor Rebecca J. Tallent, to comment on the newspaper’s operations and ethics in a monthly column.

Tallent teaches ethics and other subjects in the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She joined UI in 2006 after a career in secondary and university education in Oklahoma.

Among her work on the subject of journalism ethics, she co-authored the Society of Professional Journalists’ national code of ethics in 1996, was a member of that organization’s national ethics committee for two decades and consults with small newspapers in Oklahoma on ethical issues.

Besides writing a column for the S-R, Tallent will have the option of creating a new blog or posting on one of the newspaper’s current blogs on matters of interest to journalists and the community. Tallent, however, won’t be expected to address every complaint or investigate every problem forwarded to her by readers because the job is part-time, according to guidelines for the position.

Her first column is scheduled for Feb. 10.

– Staff reports

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