<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Another wonderful example of double speak. [Sigh]
George Orwell would be saying "I told you so."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>W.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jeanlivingston@turbonet.com
href="mailto:jeanlivingston@turbonet.com">Bruce and Jean Livingston</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 14, 2005 9:16
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Highway
route?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>
<H1>Questions swirl around proposed route of
highway</H1><!--End Headline--><BR><!--Start Byline-->
<ADDRESS>By DAVID JOHNSON<BR>of the Tribune</ADDRESS><!--End Byline-->
<P><A name=story><!--Start Story--></A>
<P>
<P>MOSCOW -- In the wake of suggestions that a secret committee may be working
to influence the selection of a new route for U.S. Highway 95 between here and
Thorn Creek Road, the identity of a dozen local people was revealed Tuesday.
<P>The 12, said Miguel Gaddi, a consultant hired by the Idaho Transportation
Department, in no way conducted "back-room" shenanigans geared to promote any
of the 10 alternative routes under consideration.
<P>In fact, Gaddi said during a public breakfast meeting, the panel members
never met, were anonymous to one another and submitted separate answers and
comments regarding the realignment project. Results will be made public next
month, officials said.
<P>"This is kind of a virtual panel," Gaddi said, explaining the method was
aimed at collecting information for an Environmental Impact Statement.
<P>"What you've set up is an echo chamber," said Rob Anderson, who lives
across the border in Whitman County but is in the area that could be affected,
depending on the route selected.
<P>Another critic, Frank Merickel, said he could lose his rural home to the
realignment and he wondered whether his concerns were represented by the panel
members.
<P>"I want a highway and I want the best fit for that highway," Merickel said.
"But I am really getting a very uneasy sense of that when I overlay that with
the composition of that committee."
<P>Panel members are: Michelle Fuson, Latah County planning director; Gunders
Rudzitis, a University of Idaho professor of geography; Shelley Bennett, a
Realtor; Walter Steed, a member of the city of Moscow transportation
committee; Tom LaPointe, Valley Transit executive director; Travis Wambeke, an
engineering consultant; Orland Arneberg, North Latah County Highway District;
Jack Nelson, Latah County commissioner; Andrew Ackermann, Moscow assistant
community development director; B.J. Swanson, AmericanWest Bank; Cinthya
Barhart, Latah Economic Development Council executive director; and Jeff
Martin, Gritman Medical Center chief executive officer.
<P>Gaddi, an associate planner for HDR Engineering of Boise, was hired to
conduct the research effort, said Ken Helm of the Idaho Transportation
Department.
<P>Helm is the project manager for the 6-mile stretch of highway between here
and Thorn Creek Road. The department had selected a relatively straight route
farther east of the current route. But area residents complained, a lawsuit
was filed and the department restarted the planning process.
<P>Gaddi assured everyone at the meeting that all the questions asked and the
comments received from the panel members will be made available to the public.
Never, he said, were any of the panel members asked to choose a favored route.
<P>But Anderson suggested too many people with similar takes on development
are too involved. He added it appears officials are trying to "get the EIS out
the door so we can build the road."
<P>Crews have all but completed the first season of work on segments of the
highway between Thorn Creek Road south to the top of the Lewiston Hill. At
least one more construction season is needed before that portion is finished.
<P>Officials said work on the Thorn Creek-to-Moscow section will depend on how
the environmental studies and other public involvement progresses. Early
completion estimates range up to 2009.
<P>------
<P>Johnson may be contacted at deveryone@potlatch.com. </P></FONT></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_____________________________________________________<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>
http://www.fsr.net
<BR>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>/////////////////////////////////////////////////////<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>