News Digest:
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:08 AM PST
IDAHO — Toll roads rejected by ID Senate panel
BOISE (AP) — The Senate Transportation Committee has killed a measure to let local highway authorities erect toll roads in Idaho, a phenomenon that harkens back to Idaho’s territorial days but which has long since fallen out of favor.
Senator Tim Corder, a trucking company owner from Mountain Home, sought the bill Tuesday to help repair Simco Road in southwestern Idaho. It’s used by heavy trucks — including those owned by Corder’s company — but has fallen into disrepair. The Idaho Trucking Association opposed the bill, saying it could cause its members hardship.
Boise’s newest schools already at capacity
BOISE (AP) — The two big new elementary schools in Boise are already full and administrators are already turning away students hoping to attend next fall.
Administrators at Grace Jordan and Morley Nelson say both filled up with students faster than expected, but they will still try to find room for all students who live within school boundaries. They say that means students living outside school boundaries who were hoping to get in through the district’s open enrollment program may not get in next fall.
OREGON
Oregon teacher unions file contempt request against Sizemore
PORTLAND (AP) — A pair of teacher unions have gone back to court to fight anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore, claiming he is violating a judge’s order against using a charitable organization to raise money for political purposes. The Oregon Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon filed a motion Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court claiming that Sizemore is violating a 2003 court injunction following a 2002 jury verdict against him. The jury awarded the unions $2.5 million in their racketeering and fraud lawsuit against Oregon Taxpayers United, a political organization founded by Sizemore.
