<HTML><BODY>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>The following story of interest was in today's Spokesman Review.<br>
Voters in and around Harrison overwhelming rejected a levy proposal from the Kootenai School District that would have given the district $540,000 over the next two years.</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>Of the 280 voters who turned out Monday, slightly more than 41 percent voted for the levy, according to results announced late Monday. It needed a simple majority to pass.</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>"It bombed big time," said school board member John Kraack.</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>…</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>The levy represents about 8.5 percent of the district's budget. Two-year levies like the one rejected have been part of the school district's budget for more than 20 years.</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>District Superintendent Ron Hill called the levy's defeat "difficult and disappointing."</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>"It's been an essential part of our education process," Hill said.</FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>Property owners in the district would have paid $24.40 for every $50,000 of assessed property value – an increase of about 8 cents per $1,000 over the two-year levy passed in 2005, Hill said. </FONT></div>
<div><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>The 2005 levy amount was $454,000 over a two-year period. The additional money in the defeated levy would have covered inflationary costs of current operations and built a savings pot for the district to use on upcoming facilities upkeep and maintenance.<br>
</FONT></div>
<div class=postcontent>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<div><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" size=1></FONT></div>
</BLOCKQUOTE></div>
<div class="AOLPromoFooter">
<hr style="margin-top:10px;" />
<a href="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1081283466x1074645346/aol?redir=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaim%2Ecom%2Ffun%2Fmail%2F" target="_blank"><b>Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail</b></a> -- 2 GB of storage and industry-leading spam and email virus protection.<br />
</div>
</BODY></HTML>