In brief: Unclaimed $1 million Powerball boosts dividends to state of Idaho

BOISE – Idaho’s state lottery will hit its projected $37 million dividend to the state this year even though sales are slightly down due to fewer giant jackpots, lawmakers learned Tuesday.

The reason? Someone left a $1 million Powerball prize unclaimed.

“It was somewhat of an unusual event, that someone would win a million dollars and not claim their ticket, but it is what happened this year,” Lottery Director Jeff Anderson told legislative budget writers Tuesday.

The ticket, sold last March in eastern Idaho, expired in September. Despite numerous announcements in the area, the winner never came forward; winners have six months to claim their prizes. It’s the largest unclaimed prize in Idaho Lottery history.

Anderson said Idaho Lottery revenues are projected to be down by 2 percent this year because to date in fiscal year 2011, only 6 percent of advertised Powerball jackpots have exceeded $100 million. In the last three years, 26 percent have been higher than that mark, which drives sales.

Meeting set on old mining waste

A public meeting on cleanup plans for historic waste piles at the Pend Oreille Mine in northeast Washington takes place at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Selkirk High School, seven miles north of Ione on state Highway 31.

Groundwater near two old tailings piles is polluted with iron and manganese, posing potential threats to water quality in the Pend Oreille River. The area covers about 27 acres.

The Pend Oreille Mine and the tailings piles are owned by a subsidiary of Teck Resources Ltd.

More information on the cleanup plan is available through the Washington Department of Ecology at www.ecy. wa.gov/programs/tcp/ sites/Pend_Or_Mine/ POM_ hp.htm. Comments will be accepted through March 16.

Crisis nursery says need is high

The Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery in Spokane says it is in desperate need of diapers and baby formula to distribute to low-income families.

The nonprofit group, which works to keep kids safe and to strengthen families, needs diaper sizes 4 and 5. It also needs Similac Sensitive and Similac Advance formulas.

The assistance is offered to thousands of area families when their financial resources fail to cover basic needs and expenses. Nearly all of the families the group serves live at or below the poverty level, and the recession has pushed more families into extreme poverty, the organization reports.

Last year the Crisis Nursery saw a 58 percent increase in the need for help with diapers. It distributed more than 150,000 essentials, and it expects the need to be greater this year.

To help, call (509) 535-3155 or go to www.vanessabehan.org.

Gregoire seeks aid for storm damage

OLYMPIA – Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has asked President Barack Obama to declare a federal disaster area in seven Washington counties due to damage from a severe December storm.

Preliminary state and federal damage assessments found an estimated $10.3 million in eligible damage across the state caused by flooding, power outages, mudslides and landslides.

Her Tuesday request seeks federal disaster aid for public facility damage in Clallam, Cowlitz, Kitsap, Mason, Skagit, Skamania and Snohomish counties.

If the declaration is approved, the resulting Federal Emergency Management Agency grants would defray 75 percent of the eligible damages and costs.

High winds push ferry aground

SEATTLE – A Washington State Ferries spokeswoman says 50 mph winds and strong currents briefly pushed state ferry Chetzemoka aground on a sandbar near Coupeville, Wash.

Spokeswoman Marta Coursey told KIRO-TV on Tuesday evening that passengers had been offloaded safely and the ferry was no longer on the sandbar west of the Coupeville dock.

Ferry runs between Port Townsend and Coupeville were canceled for the rest of the night.

Divers will determine whether the ferry suffered any damage in what Coursey called a “soft grounding.” She said no damage was immediately apparent.

The 64-car ferry entered service in November.

Tolls to open on floating bridge

SEATTLE – The state Transportation Department is preparing to start tolling on the Highway 520 floating bridge between Seattle and Bellevue.

The department said Tuesday that drivers can now open Good To Go accounts for electronic tolling.

There will be no toll booths on the bridge. Drivers without accounts will receive bills by mail.

Cars with transponders are scanned, and the toll is automatically deducted from prepaid accounts.

The revenue will help pay for construction of a new floating bridge on Lake Washington.

Man sentenced for prostitution ring

MISSOULA – A 30-year-old University of Montana student who acknowledged using Craigslist to promote a prostitution ring involving girls as young as 16 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison with 10 years suspended.

District Judge Karen Townsend sentenced Richard Carpita on Tuesday for aggravated promotion of prostitution.

Carpita and 21-year-old co-defendant Anthony Brazington were accused of posting ads in the “casual encounters” section of the site. Nearly a dozen men responded.

Brazington has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit promotion of prostitution. Sentencing is set for March.