In brief: Snakepit’s co-owner Rose Mary Peak dies
Rose Mary Peak, who with her husband ran the legendary Snakepit bar in the Silver Valley for more than three decades, died Friday.
She had turned 65 the week before.
Peak died at Hospice of North Idaho, in Coeur d’Alene, said Debbie Mikesell, funeral director at Shoshone Funeral Service.
Since buying a share of the Enaville Resort, better known as the Snakepit, in 1978, Peak and her husband, Joe, kept the bar and restaurant open “virtually every day but Thanksgiving and Christmas,” according to a Spokesman-Review story published earlier this month. However, both Rose Mary and Joe Peak’s battles with cancer had forced the couple to close the Snakepit every day but Thursdays. The Snakepit opened in 1880.
According to the resort’s website, a vigil will be held Tuesday, and a Mass is planned for Wednesday.
Along with helping run the Snakepit, Rose Mary Peak played piano in the Sixth Street Melodrama in Wallace. Joe Peak told The Spokesman-Review she delayed her last round of chemotherapy to perform the final show of the season.
Snow crews still working 24 hours to clear roads
Spokane remains under a stage 2 snow declaration, and snow crews are working around the clock to clear roadways, the city said Saturday.
So far, crews have completed work on the arterials, on STA fixed bus routes and on all residential hill routes.
Saturday night, they kept sanders and deicers on arterials as temperatures approached freezing.
Some residential areas still need to be plowed and the city asks residents to park on the odd-numbered side of the street to give plows more room.
In Browne’s Addition, the city will plow the north-south streets Tuesday starting at 9 a.m. and the east-west streets Wednesday starting at the same time. Because the streets in Browne’s Addition are so narrow, vehicles parked in those areas when the plows come through will be towed.
More information is available at city’s website, Twitter and Facebook pages. Residents can check the plows’ progress at www.spokanestreetdepartment. org/snowplow.htm or by calling the Snow Removal Hotline at (509) 456-2666.
Truck driver killed in multiple-vehicle crash
A six-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 95 involving several semitrucks left one person dead Saturday morning.
The crash occurred about 8:40 a.m. near Cocolalla Creek, according to the Idaho State Police. James M. Mady, 49, of Creswell, Ore., was driving a semitruck when he was killed.
Police said two people were hospitalized after the chain-reaction crash: Zachary B. Henager, of Temple, Texas, who was driving a Mazda Coupe, and Richard D. Walston, 58, of Colville, who also was driving a semitruck.
Mady’s semitrailer flipped onto its side and blocked southbound lanes and the northbound passing lane.
Henager was airlifted to Kootenai Medical Center, and Walston was airlifted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Highway 95 was blocked for about 11 hours and reopened around 7:30 Saturday evening.
Investigators would like to speak to the female driver of a sport utility vehicle that was southbound near the location and witnessed the crash. That witness should contact Cpl. Allen Ashby at (208) 209-8620.
Bill clarifies parental role in teaching evaluations
BOISE – Legislation headed to the Idaho Senate aims to clarify when parental involvement will become a factor in teaching evaluations.
At least half of an Idaho teacher’s job evaluation will be based on student achievement starting July 1, and what parents think will also count, as part of education changes that were signed into law last year.
The plan also says at least 50 percent of all teaching evaluations performed after June 30 will be tied to the academic performance of students. But to some, the law was unclear as to when the parents become involved.
A bill passed Thursday by the Senate Education Committee clarifies that parental input also comes into play after June 30.
Contamination incident at lab criticized by DOE
IDAHO FALLS – The U.S. Department of Energy says an accident that exposed 16 Idaho National Laboratory employees to radioactive contamination in November could have been prevented.
A report released last week by the DOE’s Office of Health, Safety and Security states the lab missed several opportunities to make changes.
The accident happened Nov. 8 as workers were taking plutonium plates out of storage when they came upon two containers labeled “radioactive materials.” After talking to supervisors, they removed the wrapping and a radioactive powder spilled out.
A lab official said the plutonium plates had been in storage for more than 30 years and employees incorrectly analyzed the extent to which they had deteriorated.