Show Idaho Week Thn Herald Journal Logan Utah In brief Boy fatally shot while playing with cousin CALDWELL (AP) — A boy fatally shot his visiting cousin with a handgun while the two were playing inside die boy's home Darrell Nielsen Jr 11 of Glenns Ferry died shortly before noon Thursday at the home Police Sgt Gary Deulen declined to comment on who owned the gun or where it had been kept but said it had not been locked away Police found the gun in the home's master bedroom Police are investigating the shooting as an accident Canyon County Prosecutor Dave Young said no charges are planned but he intends to send the report to another prosecutor's office for review for potential charges because he knows die mother of the shooter Canyon Countv Sheriff George Nourse turned the investigation over to Caldwell police because the shooting happened in the home of a sheriff's posse member Rough weather stalls efforts to find pilots COEUR D'ALENE (AP) — Low clouds and rain slowed efforts to find two pilots believed to have gone down about 15 miles northeast of Coeur d'Alene a week ago But the families of student pilot Tun Morgan of Elk Wash and instructor pilot Ed Morrett of Coeur d’Alene continued their search Thursday looking for any due They were joined by about 30 searchers from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department Department of Fish and Game and the US Forest Ser- vice as well as volunteers “We are checking the country and rechecking places where there's a high probability of them being" sheriff’s LL Dan Soumas said The Sheriff’s Department continued to concentrate on an area around the defunct Horse Haven landing strip built as a World War E hideout for fighters stationed at Spokane’s Geiger Field Searchers also checked other leads and other backcountry airstrips in case the two men are instead near one of those But the Horse Haven area just above the Little North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River continued to be the center of the most vigorous search Two separate radar traces showed an airplane disappearing around Horse Haven on Friday afternoon More Idahoans favor sport utility vehicles BOISE Idaho (AP) — US Census Bureau estimates of Idaho truck ownership indicate sport utility vehicles are becoming increasingly popular with motorists Government estimates show Idaho's sport utility vehicle count at 87200 in 1997 the last year for which data are available That is a 76 percent jump from the 49300 utility vehicles in 1992 an increase of nearly 38000 in five years The Census Bureau is compiling statistics on trucks in foe United States and recently released data for Idaho National data will not be available until later this year but Mitch Fbkua of the American Automobile Association said Idaho's attraction to the big sport utility vehicles mirrors what is happen-in- g elsewhere Idaho dealers repotted selling 7845 new cars in 1998 That compares with state-by-sta- te 11389 new pickups and 5231 new sport utility vehicles sold last year “People are thinking leu about fuel consumption plus the usability of foe SUV is tremendously appealing to fam- Saturday June 5 1999 PagaS More health records destroyed Dept of Energy says INEEL documents were on radiation and chemical releases IDAHO FALLS (AP) — The US Department of Energy has discovered that more boxes of records that documented Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory health studies were destroyed The 700 boxes were flagged by researchers investigating how radiation and chemical releases might have affected people living downwind from the laboratory The records were destroyed at the Federal Records Center in Seattle where government records are shipped for stor age or destruction Roy Ellsworth who chairs the Idaho lab’s health effects subcommittee a group of citizens that oversees the health studies said the documents probably were not critical to the study All epidemiological records like material or medical histories have been banned from destruction since foe emis-sio- ns early 1990s But the health study researchers were interested in some documents that were not covered under foal ban Late last year foe lab discovered 42 boxes had been destroyed because records managers were not consulting foe list of documents that the Centers for Disease Control had asked diem to keep Since then foe agency has integrated dial list in its database and makes sure every box slated far destruction both at the Idaho lab and the Federal Records Center is not on it Department of Ener-gy-Ida- ho spokesman Bob Jones said The 700 boxes were destroyed last year before the agency uncovered the problem he said and that the boxes pri marily contained purchasing and contract records CM Wood a health physicist for the US Centers for Disease Confined heading foe study said he originally thought those documents might yield information about what kinds of chemicals were bought and what projects were being conducted But in retrospect he said those records probably were not the most cient or useful way to get that Jobless rate increases to 49 percent Center planned to study water resources BOISE (AP) — The number of workers on the job continued felling and the nflty adjusted unemployment rate continued rising in May as Idaho’s economy kept growing but more slowly than earlier in the 1990s The Department of Labor forecast the state’s jobless rate at 49 of a point percent up two-tent- BOISE (AP) — The Snake River Plain le aquifer is a expanse of fractured rock through which water slowly percolates southward making life possible for more than 200000 inhabitants of southern Idaho 10000-square-mi- from April The comparable national rate of 42 percent in of a May was down one-ten- th Something that important demands point Idaho's May work force Of protection And resource managers know there is a multitude of threats — from potential overuse by farms and a growing 627800 was down 700 from April and the number of people unemployed was up 900 to 32100 urban population to contamination by everything from fertilizers to buried Experts projected double-dig- it unemployment for four counties radioKtive waste So the new Idaho Water Resources Research Institute and foe state’s universities along with the College of Southern Idaho have proposed creating a Twin Falls-are-a research and public outreach center to study the unique supply “We recognize it as a world-cla- ss that rely heavily on natural resource-base- d industries Adams Benewah Clearwater and Shoshone counties were expected resource’’ said Leland “Roy” Mink institute director at the University of Idaho “But it is a limited resource We can't make any new water we’re just filtering it through the system” The institute was mandated by Conschools like foe gress to assist land-paIdaho in their of University hydrological research The mission is particularly crucial in a high-dese- rt stale like Idaho where conflicts over water management sometimes seem insurmountable “Instead of pointing fingers and saying ‘You're responsible for this problem' it's coming up with a solution a workable solution” Mink said The battle over how to allocate water multimillion-doll- ar use led to the decade-ol- d Snake River Basin Adjudication the largest water rights lawsuit in the nation with some 150000 individual chums Sorting out competing claims is doubly i remains a puzzle “There are a lot of studies on the Snake Plain but most are broad-brush- ” Idaho Water Users Association Director Sheri Chapman said “We need to have a more detailed investigation on how the water moves how fast it moves We don't quite understand why it acts as it does” Scientists at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory contend radioactive wastewater they once injected into foe ground is moving at such a slow speed that it would take The total civilian labor force increased by 200 from April but at 659700 it was under 660000 for the second consecutive month after being above that mark since last fell Typically for May areas of growfo in the job market were AP photo Water from the Snake River plain aquifer pours down a diff at Thousand Springe near Hagerman The Idaho Water Resouroee Research Institute and the states universities are proposing a Twin FaMaaree center to study the unique water atpply eons to reach the riven Opponents however fear the contaminants may race through the serpentine fissures much more rapidly Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Kiri Drebcr said it would be easier to predict how quickly water travels across the plain if the ground were nothing but uniform basalt But pockets of clay and other soil types within the aquifer tend to alternately speed up and slow down its migration Mink envisions such roles for the aquifer center as: Promoting cooperative research by foe universities The schools already are working in tandem at the INEEL exploring bioremediation or the nse of bacteria in disposing of toxic waste They are starting to rely on the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls as their local field station Serving as a clearinghouse for infor- City councils could alert prospective businesses where they are in danger of polluting foe groundwater or mation where they are safe to locate “We're not working in a vacuum'' Mink said “We’ll ask foe local communities what are their issues their con- cerns and come up with some solutions” State agencies also would welcome the help “Any data we get on our largest resource would be very helpful to us” Division of Environmental Quality Director Steve Allred said City officials have granted foe Aryan Nations a conditional parade permit for July 10 but will not allow the group to march through downtown Instead they will be allowed to march north of downtown Mayor Steve Judy said Wednesday LEWISTON (AP) more bark than bite National Marine Fisheries Service officials mmfma uxety According to foe application submitted by Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler there will be 400 marchers an automobile and a dog taking part in the parade Cal reporter Mooln 752-212- 1 0 ExLSOSO A proposal protecting threatened steelhead has safety in mind "We're doing the best we can to control time place and manner and the basis of doing that of course is public ttpm nmFnirol - to list thousands of acres m Idaho and Washington as habitat critical to the parade location was chosen with Cacte Valley Madison It was the 30th straight month that Idaho’s unemployment rate has exceeded the national average and May’s 49 percent rate was the same as the contspond-in- g month last year That broke a string of 18 consecutive months in which the jobless rate was lower than the year-earli-er leveL However the number of people working in Idaho grew by 101200 since May 1998 and the number unemployed increased by just 300 in the same period Nationally the slightly lower jobless rate masked a sharp slowdown in job creation in May The number of new jobs increased only 11000 compared with 343000 in April The US Department of Labor said it was the weakest showing since a decline in the number of jobs nationally in January 1996 Official downplays critical habitat term City (AP) d And seven of Idaho's counties still were forecast to have jobless rates at or below 3 percent: Ada Gooding Teton Franklin Butte Clark and tourist-relate- ilies" FUkua said grants Aryans permit — parade COEUR D’ALENE to have jobless rates of 13 percent 12 percent 12 permit mid 117 percent respectively “The growth rate in seasonally adjusted employment has flattened but employment figures remain above year-ag- o levels'’ labor analysts said “The economy is still creating jobs nt difficult because while the aquifer is charged by surface water its journey through miles of subterranean volcanic rock to the north bank of the Snake River effi- AP photo Architect Jon Marvel raviewa a map of riparian condHons for naCvp trout in soutiweetam Idaho in his Haley office As leader of tie Idaho Watersheds Project Marvel has hendod a controversial olten confrontational battle against pidrlc tends grazing Garfo Griffin branch chief of foe agency's protected resources division ia Portland Ore said critical habitat designation does not have effects The designation is meant only to identify areas important to federally protected species and detail steps to preserve them “We see it as more of a mapping exercise” Griffin said Thursday night during a public hearing on plans to designate Northwest waier-waas critical habitat for the ys oceangoing trout The fisheries Sendee will analyze public comment before issuing a final rule on critical habitat in Feb- rusty “This isn't something that has a particular regulatory impact” Griffin said “What this is really doing is getting people to focus energy on foe areas this species needs to oust” la fisting steelhead for protection under the Endangered Species Act the Fisheries Service must designate vatioa of the fish and that might require special management Dk tfhfa is proposed for Upper Columbia Middle Columbia Lower Cohunbia Upper t"pHi Willamette Snake River Central Vhfiey California soutbeemnd California coast and Southern California steelhead along with Oregon n COM COBOL I i i |