In brief: Wildfire contained on reservation

PORTLAND – A wildfire that destroyed two houses on the Warm Springs Reservation in Central Oregon has been fully contained, a fire official said.

Warm Springs assistant fire management officer William Wilson said fire crews reached that milestone Friday evening.

Nobody was hurt as flames raced across about 1,300 acres or two square miles of grass, sagebrush and juniper trees Thursday, threatening about 30 houses in two subdivisions near the town of Warm Springs.

Fire spokeswoman Juanita Majel said the occupants of one house got out before it burned. The other house was vacant.

Aided by lower temperatures and lighter winds, fire crews continued to mop up hot spots.

Avista may lower bills in Idaho

Avista’s Idaho customers could see a slight decrease in their bills starting Aug. 1 as a result of changes to energy efficiency rebate and conservation funding.

Avista has asked the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for permission to lower the amount it collects from customers for energy-efficiency programs, based on the balances in the fund.

For a typical residential customer, the savings would be $2.47 per month. That includes a 4.2 percent reduction in natural gas costs and a 0.3 percent reduction in electric costs.

Energy efficiency and conservation rebate programs are paid for through customers’ rates. They are separate line items on customer bills, distinct from base rates.

AP scores beat national average

In 2010, the percentage of Spokane Public Schools seniors who scored a 3 or higher on at least one Advanced Placement test surpassed both state and national averages, according to district officials.

Throughout the U.S., 19.9 percent of seniors scored a 3 or higher on at least one Advanced Placement exam. In Washington, 17.1 percent scored a 3 or higher. In Spokane Public Schools, 23.3 percent scored a 3 or higher, according to a Spokane Public Schools news release.

AP courses allow students to pursue college-level studies in high school and earn college credit by passing an AP exam, usually by scoring a minimum of 3 or 4. Tests are scored on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the highest.

In 2010, 1,201 Spokane Public Schools students took 2,253 AP exams and 1,249 scored 3 or better.

Allied Bail Bonds loses appeal

BOISE – The Idaho Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Allied Bail Bonds after the firm lost a lawsuit against Kootenai County charging that the county sheriff was infringing on its business by steering jail inmates toward credit card bonds rather than its bail bonds.

The company offered constitutional and other arguments, but the high court rejected all of them, many on procedural grounds.

“In effect, Allied asserts that by accepting credit card bond payments, the Sheriff has introduced a new form of competition to Allied’s licensed bail bond business,” Justice Joel Horton wrote in the court’s unanimous decision. “Allied asks this Court to ignore Idaho precedent which characterizes a license as a mere privilege and elevate its bail bond license to a protected property interest. We are unwilling to do so.”

The court awarded attorney fees to the county, ruling that Allied’s appeal was “not reasonably based in either fact or law.”

Hydroplane crash leaves man dead

OLYMPIA – A 32-year-old Buckley, Wash., man was killed after crashing his hydroplane at an Olympia regatta on Saturday, the Thurston County sheriff’s office said.

The Olympian reported that the crash happened at the Black Lake regatta. The man was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The man was piloting a super-modified hydroplane, which Sgt. Cheryl Steines said can go as fast as 120 mph.

Sheepdog pups take holiday

MISSOULA – A trio of 4-month-old sheep-guard- dogs-in-training working on a mountainside near Missoula found the allure of city life visible below too hard to resist and bolted for a residential neighborhood where they ended up being impounded by the city dogcatcher.

Owner John Stahl told the Missoulian that the three Maremma sheepdogs are among eight he’s training to protect his sheep flocks.

The three dogs showed up at Blossom’s Bed and Breakfast on Friday.