FOUR SECTIONS THE REGION’S INDEPENDENT …By MICHAEL WELLS OF THE TRIBUNE The Lewiston Roundup...
1
Outdoors Editor Eric Barker hikes into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness where he has a close encounter with something he’s been writing about for 20 years. Find out what in OUTDOORS. Coming in Friday’s Tribune 360 ...................... Inside Blast from the Past .... 3B Classified ................ 1-6C Comics ....................... 4B Crossword.................. 6C Dear Abby................... 1C Horoscope ................. 5C Jumble ....................... 6C Lotteries .................... 2B Markets ..................... 3A Northwest................ 1-4D Obituaries ................... 3D On this Date............... 1D Opinion .......................4A Sports ...................... 1-3B Today in the Tribune © 2020 LEWISTON TRIBUNE MOSCOW WELCOMES NEW GIRLS’ BASKETBALL COACH > SPORTS, 1B FIVE SECTIONS THE REGION’S INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1892 ONE DOLLAR IT’S THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020 LEWISTON SEEKS DELAY ON PD MOVE > NORTHWEST, 1D FORECASTS: PAGE 6A WEATHER 91 0 60 0 INSIDE By KATHY HEDBERG OF THE TRIBUNE Idaho Transportation De- partment officials are optimis- tic about reopening a bypass road around the massive rock- slide on U.S. Highway 95 at milepost 188 by this weekend, while keeping a cautious eye on another huge wedge of rock poised ominously at the top of the cliff face. Doral J. Hoff, district engi- neer for ITD in Lewiston, met with the Idaho County commis- sioners this week to outline his plan — and his concerns — for reopening the road that has been choked off since July 3. Getting traffic moving now, he said, is a priority, but he acknowledged road crews are uneasy about the potential for more rockslides. “How comfortable will we feel about allowing traffic un- der that thing (the boulder on top)?” he said. “I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little, but we need to respect it. I want to start construction as soon as I can ... but I want it off of there. We’ve got our foot on the gas pedal on this thing as much as we can.” Road crews began drilling rocks on the roadway Mon- day in preparation for blasting them for removal. Hoff said he hoped getting that debris off the highway would be “the light at the end of the tunnel.” Some of the boulders in the road measure as much as 40 feet in diameter. After the ini- tial rockfall July 3, road crews built a detour — called a “shoo- fly” road — around the base of the slide, hoping to use that to divert traffic. It was opened briefly July 9, but closed again the next day after more rock came tumbling down the hill. Hoff said geologists had been Officials are keeping a close eye on rockslide that has blocked U.S. Highway 95 near Riggins since July 3 Highway 95 bypass could open soon Pete Caster/Tribune High scaler Chris Lange (left) and Ethan Guzek, a geologist with McMillen Jacobs Associates out of Seattle, install an extensometer on the cliff near a large boulder at the site of multiple rockslides earlier this month at milepost 188 on U.S. Highway 95 south of Riggins. An extensometer is a device that is used to measure slope movement. Pete Caster/Tribune James Struthers, a lead associated engineering geologist with McMillen Jacobs Associates out of Seattle, talks about the large boulder sitting atop a cliff that saw two rockslides earlier this month south of Riggins. By MICHAEL WELLS OF THE TRIBUNE Moscow’s wastewater may be bearing witness to a larger number of COVID-19 infections in the community, according to an ongoing study by Biobot Analytics Inc., a Boston-based research company. The city of Moscow has sent samples of its wastewater in May and July to the company that is conducting a nation- wide testing program to moni- tor the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater. Samples from the first three weeks in May result- ed in no detectable cases of the coronavirus. A sample from May 27 showed an estimated 190 cases. A sam- ple from July 1 resulted in an estimated 1,400 cases, and a sample from July 13 resulted in an estimated 1,800 cases. Confirmed and probable cases in Latah County at the times those samples were taken were five on May 27, 35 on July 1 and 45 on July 13, according to Public Health – Idaho North Central District Director Carol Moehrle, who was answering a question Wednesday afternoon about the Moscow results during a Lewiston City Council work session. “We are trying to figure Health officials, city staffers aren’t certain what to make of company’s estimate of 1,800 cases; 16 new COVID-19 cases reported around the area Wednesday Wastewater tests show spike in cases in Moscow Carol Moehrle > See CASES, Page 3A > See BYPASS, Page 5A By COLLIN BINKLEY and HANNAH FINGERHUT OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON — Virtual instruction. Mandated masks. Physical distancing. The start of school will look very different this year because of the coronavirus — and that’s OK with the vast ma- jority of Americans. Only about 1 in 10 Americans think daycare centers, preschools or K-12 schools should open this fall without restrictions, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Most think mask require- ments and other safety measures are necessary to restart in-person instruction, and roughly 3 in 10 say that teaching kids in classrooms shouldn’t happen at all. The findings are a sharp contrast to the pic- ture that President Donald Trump paints as he pressures schools to reopen. Trump said Wednesday that he would be “comfortable” with his son, Barron, and grandchildren attend- ing school in person this fall. Most survey respondents back some safety measures, including masks Poll finds very few Americans support full school reopening Associated Press Fairfax County Public School buses are shown Monday parked at a middle school in Falls Church, Va. > See POLL, Page 5A By MATTHEW DALY OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill that would spend nearly $3 billion on conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public lands is on its way to the president’s desk after winning final legislative approval. Supporters say the measure, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century. The House approved the bill 310-107 Wednesday, weeks after it won overwhelming approval in the Senate. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, urged passage of the bill in a tweet. The younger Trump, a senior adviser to her father, is expected to celebrate the bill’s passage at events in Colorado this week with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Sen. Cory Gardner, one of the bill’s sponsors. The bill would spend about $900 million a year — double current spending — on the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund, and another $1.9 billion per year on improvements at national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and rangelands. Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, called Bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act heads to president’s desk Congress passes sprawling plan to boost conservation and parks > See CONGRESS, Page 5A
Transcript of FOUR SECTIONS THE REGION’S INDEPENDENT …By MICHAEL WELLS OF THE TRIBUNE The Lewiston Roundup...
Outdoors Editor Eric Barker hikes into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness where he has a close encounter with something he’s
been writing about for 20 years. Find out what in OUTDOORS.
Coming in Friday’s Tribune360 ...................... InsideBlast from the Past .... 3BClassifi ed ................ 1-6CComics ....................... 4BCrossword .................. 6C
Dear Abby ................... 1CHoroscope ................. 5CJumble ....................... 6CLotteries .................... 2BMarkets ..................... 3A
Northwest ................1-4DObituaries ...................3DOn this Date ............... 1DOpinion .......................4ASports ...................... 1-3B
Today in the Tribune © 2020 LEWISTON TRIBUNE
MOSCOW WELCOMES NEW GIRLS’ BASKETBALL COACH
> SPORTS, 1B
F I V E S E C T I O N S T H E R E G I O N ’ S I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S S O U R C E S I N C E 1 8 92 O N E D O L L A R
IT’S THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
LEWISTON SEEKS DELAY ON PD MOVE
> NORTHWEST, 1D
FORECASTS: PAGE 6A
WEATHER
910 600 INSI
DE
By KATHY HEDBERGOF THE TRIBUNE
Idaho Transportation De-partment officials are optimis-tic about reopening a bypass road around the massive rock-slide on U.S. Highway 95 at milepost 188 by this weekend, while keeping a cautious eye on another huge wedge of rock poised ominously at the top of the cliff face.
Doral J. Hoff, district engi-neer for ITD in Lewiston, met with the Idaho County commis-sioners this week to outline his plan — and his concerns — for reopening the road that has been choked off since July 3.
Getting traffic moving now,
he said, is a priority, but he acknowledged road crews are uneasy about the potential for
more rockslides.“How comfortable will we
feel about allowing traffic un-
der that thing (the boulder on top)?” he said. “I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little, but we need to respect it. I want to start construction as soon as I can ... but I want it off of there. We’ve got our foot on the gas pedal on this thing as much as we can.”
Road crews began drilling rocks on the roadway Mon-day in preparation for blasting them for removal. Hoff said he hoped getting that debris off the highway would be “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Some of the boulders in the road measure as much as 40 feet in diameter. After the ini-tial rockfall July 3, road crews built a detour — called a “shoo-fly” road — around the base of the slide, hoping to use that to divert traffic. It was opened briefly July 9, but closed again the next day after more rock came tumbling down the hill.
Hoff said geologists had been
Offi cials are keeping a close eye on rockslide that has blocked U.S. Highway 95 near Riggins since July 3
Highway 95 bypass could open soon
Pete Caster/TribuneHigh scaler Chris Lange (left) and Ethan Guzek, a geologist with McMillen Jacobs Associates out of Seattle, install an extensometer on the cliff near a large boulder at the site of multiple rockslides earlier this month at milepost 188 on U.S. Highway 95 south of Riggins. An extensometer is a device that is used to measure slope movement.
Pete Caster/TribuneJames Struthers, a lead associated engineering geologist with McMillen Jacobs Associates out of Seattle, talks about the large boulder sitting atop a cliff that saw two rockslides earlier this month south of Riggins.
By MICHAEL WELLSOF THE TRIBUNE
Moscow’s wastewater may be bearing witness to a larger number of COVID-19 infections in the community, according to an ongoing study by Biobot Analytics Inc., a Boston-based research company.
The city of Moscow has sent samples of its wastewater in May and July to the company that is conducting a nation-wide testing program to moni-tor the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater.
Samples from the first three weeks in May result-ed in no detectable cases of the coronavirus. A sample from May 27 showed an estimated 190 cases. A sam-ple from July 1 resulted in an estimated 1,400 cases, and a sample from July 13 resulted in an estimated 1,800 cases.
Confirmed and probable cases in Latah County at the times those samples were taken were five on May 27, 35 on July 1 and 45 on July 13, according to Public Health – Idaho North Central District Director Carol Moehrle, who was answering a question Wednesday afternoon about the Moscow results during a Lewiston City Council work session.
“We are trying to figure
Health offi cials, city staffers aren’t certain what to make of company’s estimate of 1,800 cases; 16 new COVID-19 cases reported around the area Wednesday
Wastewater tests show spike in cases in Moscow
CarolMoehrle
> See CASES, Page 3A > See BYPASS, Page 5A
By COLLIN BINKLEY and HANNAH FINGERHUTOF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Virtual instruction. Mandated masks. Physical distancing. The start of school will look very different this year because of the coronavirus — and that’s OK with the vast ma-jority of Americans.
Only about 1 in 10 Americans think daycare centers, preschools or K-12 schools should open this fall without restrictions, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. Most think mask require-ments and other safety measures are necessary to restart in-person instruction, and roughly 3 in 10 say that teaching kids in classrooms shouldn’t happen at all.
The findings are a sharp contrast to the pic-ture that President Donald Trump paints as he pressures schools to reopen. Trump said
Wednesday that he would be “comfortable” with his son, Barron, and grandchildren attend-ing school in person this fall.
Most survey respondents back some safety measures, including masks
Poll fi nds very few Americans support full school reopening
Associated PressFairfax County Public School buses are shown Monday parked at a middle school in Falls Church, Va.
> See POLL, Page 5A
By MATTHEW DALYOF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill that would spend nearly $3 billion on conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public lands is on its way to the president’s desk after winning final legislative approval.
Supporters say the measure, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century.
The House approved the bill 310-107 Wednesday, weeks after it won overwhelming approval in
the Senate. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, urged passage of the bill in a tweet. The younger Trump, a senior adviser to her father, is expected to celebrate the bill’s passage at events in Colorado this week with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Sen. Cory Gardner, one of the bill’s sponsors.
The bill would spend about $900 million a year — double current spending — on the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund, and another $1.9 billion per year on improvements at national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and rangelands.
Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, called
Bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act heads to president’s desk
Congress passes sprawling plan to boost conservation and parks
> See CONGRESS, Page 5A
