St. Maries community fighting to 'Race the Joe'

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013, 7:30pm

'Race the Joe,' a highly anticipated racing event in St. Maries, Idaho, is in danger of being cancelled if organizers can't get a permit in the next week and a half. The organizers are saying that, permit or not, the show will go on.

This would have been the first time St. Maries hosted the 'Race the Joe' here on the St. Joe River. Last year they held a leg of the world races for the first time and based on that experience many people in town was excited to see the return of the jet boats.

"It was all just a plus, plus for the area. We had everybody from old grandmas to little kids jumping up and down on the shores and enjoying the heck out of the day," area resident John Walters said.

"They use the river for part of the day, for two days, in exchange it brings suitcases full of money to this broke town," he added.

He was also planning on attending St. Maries' first ever 'Race the Joe' jet boat race to be held May 17 through 19 but the permit for the race was just denied by the Coast Guard because a small group asked for an environmental impact study at the last minute.

An environmental impact study takes 135 days to complete.

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Remember to keep your pets safe as weather warms

Submitted by Camille Troxel on Tuesday, May 7th, 5:07 pm

Spring is finally here and Summer is just around the corner, and with the onset of warm weather across the region Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service reminds us to keep our pets safe in the heat.

"Every summer, we respond to calls of animals being left in cars," says Nancy Hill, Director of SCRAPS. "Inside a car, the temperature will rapidly increase and can overwhelm a pet in a very short time period - sometimes with fatal consequences."

If you typically bring your dog or other pets along for the car ride consider leaving them home when temperatures rise. Dogs aren't able to sweat to cool themselves down so it doesn't take much for them to overheat. Cracking a window while you run into the store isn't enough to keep them healthy.

"The temperature outside doesn't have to be in the 90's or more for a problem to exist," says Hill, "On a 78 degree day, temperatures in a car parked in the shade can exceed 90 degrees, and hit a scorching 160 degree if parked in the sun."

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Girl Scouts asking for support during Idaho Gives

Submitted by Camille Troxel on Monday, April 29th, 4:49 pm

Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho is hoping the region will jump on board and donate during the first ever Idaho Gives campaign.

Idaho Gives is a 24 hour giving campaign sponsored by the Idaho Nonprofit Center. The event gives donors the opportunity to give to any of the 531 participating non profits across Idaho. For every $10 donation made groups will be entered to win a Golden Ticket prize. The more donors that GSEWNI gets, the more chances they have to win prize money.

Groups have also been divided by size into three separate scoreboards. Each scoreboard carries an additional $5,000 worth of prize money that will be divided between the top five money raisers at the end of the day. Idaho Gives also features an Everybody Wins Award, this award takes a general pool of money and divides it by the percentage if the total raised. For example, if Girl Scouts raises one percent of the total for the entire campaign, then they receive one percent of the Everybody Wins Award.

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National Drug Take Back Day

Submitted by Camille Troxel on Friday, April 26th, 1:01 pm

On Saturday, April 27th, police departments across the region will be hosting drug collections as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration's fifth National Drug Take Back Day.

The DEA has collected over 1,000 tons of unused and expired prescription drugs over the last three years. The take back day was started to get the public more involved in the prevention of prescription drug abuse.

Unused prescription drugs in homes are considered a public health and safety concern by the DEA. According to the DEA this is because the drugs are “highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, diversion, misuse and abuse”.

A survey done by the DEA found that the majority of abuses get their prescription drugs through friends and family. Often times it's as simple as raiding the medicine cabinet. Americans currently abuse more prescription drugs than those using cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin combined.

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Perfect weather for...skiing?

Submitted by Jerry Post, News Director

Friday, April 26th, 2013, 12:49pm

Yes, the sun is shining today and the thermometer is creeping into the 70's. Even so, there's one more day of skiing and snowboarding that you won't want to miss.

Tomorrow, Silver Mountain is hosting its 9th annual Leadman triathlon, which involves skiing, a 7.4 mile muddy, downhill bike ride, and a 4.7 mile run.

If that sounds like too much work, you can pick up a "Silver Saturday" lift ticket ($39 for adults, $29 for kids) and enjoy the 14 inches of untouched snow that fell earlier this week. This is the last day of skiing in the Inland Northwest - don't miss it!

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Perfect weather for...skiing?

Submitted by Jerry Post, News Director

Friday, April 26th, 2013, 12:49pm

Yes, the sun is shining today and the thermometer is creeping into the 70's. Even so, there's one more day of skiing and snowboarding that you won't want to miss.

Tomorrow, Silver Mountain is hosting its 9th annual Leadman triathlon, which involves skiing, a 7.4 mile muddy, downhill bike ride, and a 4.7 mile run.

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Tuition increases coming to Idaho public universities

Submitted by Camille Troxel on Thursday, April 18th, 11:05 am

The cost of public universities in Idaho is about to go up. Yesterday, the state Board of Education voted to increase tuition by up to 6.9 percent.

Boise State University will see the 6.9 percent hike which would up annual tuition by about $400. Tuition at University of Idaho, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College would see an increase of four to five percent. This would raise tuition at those schools by about $300 a year.

University officials say the increase in tuition will help fund scholarships and faculty benefits.

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