Briefs March 29, 2011
Cd'A Resort shuttle goes off road
A Coeur d'Alene Resort shuttle went off the roadway near the Spokane Airport on Monday morning, but no one was seriously injured.
About 6:50 a.m. a shuttle vehicle traveling on Airport Boulevard inbound left the road, went down a short embankment and came to rest on top of some boulders, according to Spokane County Fire District 10.
The vehicle remained upright, firefighters said. One driver and two passengers were inside the vehicle when the incident occurred.
No one was transported to a hospital.
The vehicle could not be driven off the boulders and had to be towed, firefighters said. It is unclear why the shuttle left the road.
Idaho heads toward closing primary
BOISE (AP) - Republicans introduced a bill in the Senate to close their GOP primary to all but registered party voters come 2012.
Under Monday's measure, Republicans would vote in GOP primary races, while Democrats would vote in Democratic primaries.
Party leaders - likely their central committees - could let unaffiliated voters participate, with their ballot choice becoming a public record.
Voters could switch sides by the close of the candidate filing period before each primary election.
In a separate but related development, Idaho agreed to pay the state Republican Party $100,000 for legal fees after the state in March lost a federal lawsuit that overturned the existing open primary.
Assisted suicide ban goes to Otter
BOISE (AP) - The House voted overwhelmingly to send a bill banning helping somebody else commit suicide to Gov. Butch Otter for signature.
Monday's 61-8 vote came after brief debate on the chamber's floor.
Republican Rep. Lynn Luker of Boise argued that outlawing assisted suicide was necessary to help prevent abuse of elderly residents by their caregivers who are seeking to profit from their patients' demise.
Luker says this bill, which foresees penalties of five years in prison for violations, protects "all concerned."
Committee moves sex offender bill
BOISE (AP) - A Senate committee has advanced a bill that would require parents designated as sex offenders to notify public school officials before stepping on school grounds.
The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee unanimously passed a measure Monday that gives school administrators more latitude in regulating access to sex offenders. The bill now goes to the Senate for debate.
Republican Rep. Erik Simpson of Idaho Falls says the goal is to make schools safer for children, but also give parents registered as offenders more opportunity to interact in schools.
School officials would have the authority to grant, deny or restrict access to those individuals.
Supporters say they like the idea of giving school administrators the flexibility to determine an offender's access to school events on a case by case basis.