In brief: Torch run next week for Special Olympics

The final leg of the torch run for the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games will start in Coeur d’Alene next Thursday and continue throughout Idaho before arriving Feb. 6 in Boise, the site of this year’s games.

A flame-lighting ceremony will occur at the Third Street Boat Launch near the Coeur d’Alene Resort at 8:30 a.m., followed by a ceremony at the downtown library. From there the torch, which is arriving from Greece, will travel through North Idaho cities before moving south toward Boise.

The 120 members of the final leg team will include law enforcement runners, Special Olympics athletes and support team members.

The Special Olympics brings together 3,000 athletes from 85 counties, with 1,450 coaches and delegates, 6,000 family members and friends and 6,000 volunteers, a news release said. The competition includes snowshoeing, floor hockey, snowboarding, alpine and Nordic skiing, and speed and figure skating.

More information is available at www.specialolympics.org. For a complete schedule of cities and times for the final leg of the torch run, contact ISP Trooper Allen Ashby at allen.ashby@isp.idaho.gov or call (208) 772-6055.

NIC boards signs agreement on mill site

The North Idaho College Board of Trustees signed an agreement Wednesday that affirms the college’s intention to purchase the 17-acre DeArmond mill site for $10 million. The land is part of Coeur d’Alene’s proposed education corridor.

The NIC Foundation plans to borrow $6 million to purchase the site, which NIC will then lease from the foundation, NIC said in a news release. When the loan is paid back, the college will have the right to acquire the property title.

The college plans to use other financing options to pay the remainder of the $10 million purchase price, the release said. The agreement solidifies the commitment of the foundation and the college to the property acquisition and their roles in the process, said Stacy Hudson, a spokeswoman for the college.