In brief: Obama to visit Boise State University
BOISE – The White House says President Barack Obama will visit Boise next week as he elaborates on the themes of his upcoming State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Press secretary Josh Earnest said the president will speak Wednesday at Boise State University.
On Thursday, the president plans to deliver remarks at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Obama has spent the past two weeks unveiling his new initiatives in a series of speeches around the country and social media posts.
Hydroplane races to take place in mid-July
A new group that has stepped in to take over hydroplane races in Coeur d’Alene says it plans to hold the Coeur d’Alene Silver Cup in mid-July, the weekend before teams compete in the Gold Cup in the Tri-Cities and two weeks before the Seafair races in Seattle.
The Coeur d’Alene Hydroplane Regatta, now affiliated with the race sanctioning organization H1 Unlimited, had been looking at mid-August for the races but has settled on July 17-19, said Keith Allen, the group’s general manager.
The date change “allows for three consecutive weeks of H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing in the Northwest” and avoids conflict with another lake event in mid-August, Allen said Friday.
H1 Unlimited recently signed an agreement with Silver Cup organizers to stage unlimited hydroplane races on Lake Coeur d’Alene this summer.
The Diamond Cup hydroplane race was held on the lake in August 2013 – the first time since 1968. The event lost money and several organizations that provided services were left unpaid. Organizer Diamond Cup Unlimited intended to race again last summer but could not get a required permit and canceled the event.
NIC instructor sets up fund for student’s son
A North Idaho College instructor has set up a college fund to benefit the 2-year-old son of Veronica “Roni” Rutledge, who died Dec. 30 in the Hayden Wal-Mart when he accidentally shot her with a gun she kept in her purse.
Microbiology instructor Rhena Cooper was one of Rutledge’s instructors when she began attending the college in 2004. In a news release, Cooper described Rutledge as a dedicated, well-grounded woman with a “twinkle in her eye.”
The fund has been set up in Rutledge’s name at the Idaho Independent Bank in Coeur d’Alene, but donations can be dropped off at any of the bank’s branches. Checks made out to the Veronica Rutledge Donation Account can also be mailed to 1260 W. Riverstone Drive, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814.
Idaho lawmakers call for state pay raises
BOISE – Idaho state lawmakers on Friday backed 3 percent merit-based raises for state employees next year, following Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendation, and also called for the state to cover a $650-per-worker increase in health insurance costs.
In addition, lawmakers went beyond Otter’s recommendation by calling for boosting the pay of the 456 state workers who are the farthest below the “policy” level their positions should be paying, as determined by the state’s personnel system; they would be boosted from 68 percent of policy to 70 percent. That move would cost the state $354,000.
Funding 3 percent raises next year would cost the state $22.7 million; that’s for all state employees plus school district administrators and non-teaching staff, but not teachers, whose pay is decided separately.