In brief: CdA woman, 82, dies after July 3 crash

An 82-year-old Coeur d’Alene woman who was hospitalized after a July 3 crash near Loon Lake, Wash., has died.

Florance L. Westgaard was riding in a Toyota Echo driven by Donald H. Hodge on Garden Spot Road at U.S. Highway 395 when a semitruck on U.S. 395 hit the Toyota, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Toyota was rammed into a Subaru Impreza driven by 16-year-old Lindsey L. Buffington, of Loon Lake.

Westgaard was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she died Monday evening.

Hodge was taken to Sacred Heart, where he was treated and released.

Buffington suffered minor injuries but neither he nor the truck driver, Kenneth M. Comstock, 60, of Vancouver, Wash., required hospitalization.

– Amy Cannata

Washington, D.C.

Idaho senators back effort to keep copters

Idaho Republicans Larry Craig and Mike Crapo are supporting a Senate proposal that would force the Pentagon to keep a helicopter rescue squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Craig and Crapo signed on Tuesday as co-sponsors to an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill, introduced Monday by Washington Democrats Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. That amendment gives the Air Force an extra $4 million for the squadron and orders the military not to reassign them to another base.

The Defense Department announced plans early this year to move the 36th Rescue Flight’s four helicopters away from the U.S. Air Force Survival School, where they are used as part of flight crew training. The helicopters also are available for civilian rescues throughout the region.

– Jim Camden

Coeur d’Alene

Children’s activities planned for July 21

The North Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children expects more than 500 young children and their families at the 16th annual Children’s Parade and Kid’s Day in the Park on July 21 in Coeur d’Alene.

The theme this year is “Get a Clue about Change for Children.”

The day will begin at 10 a.m. with a parade starting at Zip’s Drive-In Restaurant at Eighth and Sherman, then proceed down Sherman to City Park, where vendors will have exhibits and activities for children under age 8 and their families.

When children complete their “Treasure Hunt Map” and return it to the Bookmobile, they will receive a mystery prize. The Coeur d’Alene Kiwanis will have a hot dog lunch free for children under age 6 and $1 for everyone else. The event ends at 1 p.m.

Artwork from child care and preschool programs will be displayed at the Human Rights Education Institute at the edge of the park Monday through July 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and July 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For information, call Martha Anderson at (208) 415-5145.

– From staff reports