The Times-News from Twin Falls, Idaho • 14

B-6 Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho Thursday, July 27, 1995 rJdaho Personal income rises; state still lags Remnant of Milwaukee Road system supplies Panhandle mills? a 4 -g i St Maries River Railroad was bom. Logs are trucked from forests to Clarkia, about 65 miles southeast of Spokane, where they are loaded onto rail cars. Trains chug north to St. Maries and leave the town loaded with shipments of plywood, studs, wood chips, pulp wood and garnet sand from the nearby Emerald Creek Garnet mine. The St.

Maries is one of more than 300 short line railroads that have formed since 1980, said Bill Loftus, president of the American Short Line Railroad Association in Washington, D.C. The increase came following massive railroad bankruptcies in the Northeast, and was further stimulated by railroad deregulation in the 1980s. Nationwide, there are 541 short lines including at least two others in Idaho and six in Washington state and 12 major railroads. Besides mills, the smaller rail lines serve quarries, factories, food processors and grain elevators. The St.

Maries line turned a mod ST. MARIES (AP) Maintaining them is no easy task, but the vintage railroad cars of the St. Maries River Railroad keep rolling along, providing loggers and lumber mills the same vital transport that's been in use for most of this century. The short-line railroad's equipment includes a crane built in 1908, a 1925 vintage water tanker and many log cars dating back to the 1940s and '50s. "It's just a continuous battle," mechanic Charlie Reynolds said.

"When you've got as much old stuff as we've got, you've got to stay on top of it" The St. Maries line itself dates back just 15 years. That was when the Milwaukee Road Railroad pulled out of the West, a move that threatened to leave loggers and lumber mills in the area without their transportation link. Residents feared Potlatch Corp. would close its St.

Maries sawmill, Instead, Potlatch paid $4.5 million for five locomotives, dozens of rail cars and 1 15 miles of track, and the In the nine fastest growing states, income gains were at least a half percentage point above the national average. Leading the way was Arkansas, reporting a 3.7 percent increase in income, followed by Nebraska at 3.3 percent. Other leaders were North Carolina, 2.6 percent; Nevada and Louisiana, 2.5 percent; Georgia, 2.4 percent; and Arizona, Iowa and New Mexico; each 2.3 percent. North Carolina benefited from a big increase in farm income excluding subsidies, the government said, while Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and New Mexico were boosted by large gains in manufacturing payrolls. The states with reduced incomes were North Dakota, down 3.4 percent; Montana, off 2 percent; and South Dakota, declining 0.7 percent.

Slow growing states were Oklahoma, up 0.4 percent; Kansas, 0.5 percent; Washington and Vermont, 0.9 percent; Idaho, 1 percent; Hawaii, 1.1 percent; and West Virginia and Connecticut, 1 .2 percent. States with slow or negative growth were hurt by reduced farm income due to lower federal wheat subsidies, the Commerce Department said. WASHINGTON (AP) Idahoans' personal income was up a full percentagepoint for the first quarter of 1995, but the state was far down the list among all states. The Gem State ranked in 43rd place, down among the slower in growth. Moreover, the Rocky Mountain area, including Idaho and sur- rounding states, was last among -the eight regions with a 1.3 per-i cent increase in personal incomes.

Arkansas and Nebraska led the country in personal income gains during the first three months of 7'this year, helped by a jump in -federal subsidy payments to farmers. But per capita income fell in North Dakota and South Dakota and Montana, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. For the nation, personal income increased 1.8 percent in the first "quarter, more than double one measure of inflation tied to gross product. The government said the inflation gauge rose a tame 0.7 percent, with 45 states posting income gains in excess of that rate. Farm income soared 5.4 percent in the three-month period, helping to put some agriculture states among the leaders.

Briefly AP photo Conductor Keith 'Rat' Quinn helps keep the St. Maries River Railroad rolling. est profit of about $43,000 in the last fiscal year on an operating budget of about million, General Manager Gerald Allen said. An its 15-year 'existence, the line has received about $6 million in state and federal grants to repair its tracks. Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee set aside $25 million nationwide to continue the Local Freight Rail Assistance Program.

Loftus said establishing and running a short line can be difficult. Financing is hard to get, and sections of track used often have been neglected for years as a larger railroad prepared for abandonment. Though the St." Maries railroad relies on the sometimes volatile timber industry, Allen predicted it would be running for years to come. He said Potlatch's private holdings are extensive enough to buffer the company somewhat from market changes, though he would like to diversify freight. "It's pretty stable, but you're always concerned," he said.

affected any of Wood's or Whittier's decisions," Winmill wrote in Wednesday's ruling. Kehne and Adams also argued that Whittier established a damaging conflict of interest by asking Wood to sign over the book and movie rights for the case. Winmill agreed that Whittier's action "constituted a violation of the ethical obligation of the Idaho Rules of Professional Conduct." Bannock County Prosecutor Mark Hiedem'an said he was pleased with the decision and he hoped the Idaho Supreme Court would reach the same conclusion as it reviews Wood's case. Whittier; whose office no longer has the public defender contract with Bannock County, said he was satisfied with Winmill's decision and was not surprised by problems the judge cited with his representation of Wood. "I'm not perfect," Whittier said.

Winmill, who is awaiting U.S. Judge maintains sentence of child's killer Kootenai jail prepares for TB cases COEUR d'ALENE The resurgence of tuberculosis and the -advent of drug-resistant strains so far have bypassed Idaho. Senate confirmation of his presidential appointment as a federal judge for Idaho, sentenced Wood to die in January 1994 for Jeralee's murder. The girl was abducted while zo- lecting from customers on her news- paper delivery route and killed in Idaho Falls. Wood confessed to vio-r.

lating her body a week later, dismembering it and dumping it in the. Snake River. Wood, 47, a career criminal born in Florida and raised in eastern and. southern Idaho, previously served prison term in Louisiana for the 1976 slaying of a woman there. He; also confessed after his July 6, 1993, arrest to the 1982 rape and attemptr, ed murder of a Missouri teen-ager and the rape of two Pocatello After being sentenced for Jeralee's1 murder, Wood initially filed papers to forego appeals and expedite his Several weeks afterward he was convinced to change his mind and appeal.

But Kootenai County jailers are An interview room is slated to be converted tb a medical isolation jcell, and another, four are on the drawing board, jail commander Capt. -Travis Chaney said. "There is no doubt (tuberculosis) is on the rise," Chaney said. "We want to be prepared for it." Once nearly eradicated in the United States, tuberculosis is making Ua comeback in the urban areas, driven by the AIDS epidemic, "Kootenai Medical Center vice president Dr. Joe Bujak said.

sVan plan opens Moscow parking space MOSCOW Potlatch, Troy and Genesee commuters should have no trouble finding a parking spot in Moscow this fall if they leave their wheels at home. Residents in the three small Latah County bedroom communities will be offered a van commuter service starting this fall. Three maxi-vans are scheduled to arrive in Mospow in the next two weeks, 7 The three new vans will move up to 42 people. Drivers are volunteers who store the vans overnight and exchange their time for limit-led use of the vehicle on weekends, training, and free fare. The cost for riding has not yet been determined.

Times-News Classified 733-0931 getting ready. in October. Then, taxes would pay with installments on the big loan. Compiled from wire reports The Plateau Players Club Presents Boise looks to eliminate borrowing 5 BOISE The city of Boise could hire 30 more police officers or build two parks a year with the $1.5 million it throws away on inter-est. It is the only city in Idaho that borrows every year to pay day-to-day bills.

Taxpayers are expected to shell out $75 million in interest SI payments during the next 20 years. This year, Boise will spend $1.5 Smillion on interest which could go to other things. 2 As council members hash out next year's budget, they have the aevhnnrp tr opt thf ritv hnrlr rn trarlr TViQf tc if tbrv are nnllinrr POCATELLO (AP) Sixth District Judge Lynn Wednesday rejected condemned child murderer James Edward Wood's bid to overturn his guilty plea and death sentence. Winmill ruled that a public defender's errors were not significant enough to affect the case. Winmill found that some of Monte Whittier's actions were "inappropriate, ill-advised and objectively, unreasonable." However, the judge said, "While it is clear that inappropriate contacts occurred during this case, their timing was such as to preclude any possible affect on this case." Whittier allowed Wood to meet with a Mormon Church stake president and a bishop, who also was Whittier's law partner, shortly before Wood's sentencing for the June 1993 abduction, murder and mutilation of 11 -year-old Pocatello newspaper carrier Jeralee Underwood.

Rolf Kehne and John Adams, the Farmer says system owes POST FALLS (AP) A Post Falls-area man has filed a petit theft report for five years of emergency 911 telephone service he claims he never received. Richard Waller, 58, a retired farmer from outside the city limits, on Monday filed a petit theft report for $60 worth of services. He contends his family has called 511 twice in the past six months, and both times the Post Falls 911 Center told him he had to call the Kootenai County 911 Communications Center directly. In the report, Waller said he has paid the $1 county 911 fee on his phone bill each month for the past five years, for nothing. Buy any MM scrimp to save money in the future.

Mayor Brent Coles' plan would cost about $2 million a year out of iia $40 million general fund budget. Coles proposes the city take out a $40 million loan through bonds at the beginning of the fiscal year for the day-to-day expenses, along Boise attorneys handling Wood's appeal, argued that Whittier provided Wood an inadequate defense and was biased because of his Mormon religious beliefs and relationships between his law partners and the Underwood family. Kehne and Adams contended Whittier allowed local officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to meet with Wood to persuade him he could only receive forgiveness for Jeralee's murder through "blood atonement," by giving up his own life. But Winmill, who belongs to the same Mormon stake or group of congregations as the Underwoods, said he was unpersuaded that religious beliefs affected the case. The judge earlier denied requests from Wood's lawyers to disqualify himself from the case because he knew, the victim's family through the church.

"There is no evidence in the record that any religious beliefs, other than Wood's own conversion, emergency him $60 Sheriffs Capt. Ben Wolfinger said the county prosecutor's office will consider the claim. Whenever someone from certain calling areas dials 91 1, the call goes to the Post Falls Police Center, regardless if it comes from inside or outside the Rathdrum and Post Falls city limits, said Kent Hall, county 911 director. vy If a call is believed to be an emergency, the dispatcher can forward it to the county. Waller said that did not happen when his wife called six months ago to report a disturbance in their yard, or three months ago when he called to report juveniles onhis property.

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