In brief: Officials filling abandoned mines

POCATELLO, Idaho – Federal officials are working to fill in abandoned copper mines in southwestern Idaho following a wildfire that burned away brush and exposed hidden mine openings while making other known mine openings accessible.

Phil Barbarick of the Bureau of Land Management said the agency on Tuesday backfilled a 40-foot-deep mine shaft that was about 6 feet wide. The agency also has found three horizontal mine openings since the fire.

The mines were exposed following the 1,300-acre Drive-in Fire last August that burned much of Chinese Peak east of Pocatello. Barbarick said the mines are dangerous because of the potential for long falls or lack of oxygen in the mines.

“Most people that happen across something like this do it by accident,” Barbarick said. “They come through the vegetation and don’t see it and fall in.”

Barbarick said before a mine is filled, crews do a search to make sure there are no animals inside or human remains.

“Most of the time we only find old bones of smaller animals such as rabbits or coyotes,” Barbarick said.

Montana OKs new school standards

HELENA – Montana has joined 45 other states and the District of Columbia in adopting education standards that proponents say are more specific and prepare students for college or a career.

The state Board of Public Education adopted the Common Core State Standards for English language arts and math on Friday, Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau said.

The new standards list specific skills students are supposed to learn in each grade, while the previous standards listed, in general, what students should know by fourth and eighth grades and at graduation, she said.

They also require literacy in history, science, social studies and technical subjects.

“Literacy has to be a part of their duties as well – reading across the curriculum,” Juneau said, including such things as vocabulary words in science and being able to solve story problems.

Gateway signs mark scenic road

Centralia, Wash. – New massive stone and wood gateways now welcome drivers to the segment of U.S. Highway 12 that is formally known as the White Pass Scenic Byway.

The 10-ton signs, which loom more than 8 feet tall, were installed last week at Mary’s Corner and on the east side of the pass in Naches.

Additional “Welcome” signs have also been recently installed in Mossyrock, Morton, Randle and Packwood as part of a years-long effort to draw tourists to the picturesque countryside between Interstate 5 and the east side of the Cascades.

The gateway signs were funded by a federal enhancement grant; total construction cost was about $200,000, according to information from the group calling itself White Pass Scenic Byway.

The signs were inspired by historic Depression-era signs by the Civilian Conservation Corps that lend a distinctive aura to entrances at Mount Rainier National Park and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.