Who's reviving the electric car? • Boy who lost his arm doing well nine years later • Love for the library • Where have all the grizzlies gone? • Another misfire with Idaho liquor license laws • Idaho inmates keeping busy

Who's reviving the electric car?

The Associated Press says scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory are analyzing whether hybrid vehicles that are converted into straight electric cars are as efficient on the streets as they are in the laboratory.

Thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity program, by the end of the year, the Energy Department plans to have 140 plug-ins for INL to analyze, including cars in California, Arizona, Hawaii and New York.

Converting standard hybrids into plug-ins costs about $10,000 to $15,000 per vehicle.

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Boy who lost his arm doing well nine years later

BYU-Idaho junior Michael Adams was just 13 when a farming accident severed his right arm. Adams, now 22, had to carry his arm through fields in tiny Crane, Oregon, to get help.

The ordeal thrust him into the national spotlight, when newscasters, a German documentary filmmaker, the "Maury Povich Show" and other national media went to hear his story.

Thirteen surgeries and nine years later, Adams has about 85 percent of the movement back in his arm.

He was profiled in Sunday's Bend Bulletin.

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Love for the library

The Times-News reports that the Magic Valley is mirroring a national trend of increased library visits.

The paper says library visits in the United States increased from 1.2 billion in 2003 to nearly 1.3 billion in 2007, according to data compiled by the American Library Association.

It's well known in the library world that economic woes can increase the number of people coming in, said Susan Ash, director of the Twin Falls Public Library.

"They just know that the library is a place to save money and yet use it as an education tool all at the same time," said Julie Woodford, director of Burley Public Library.

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Where have all the grizzlies gone?

A Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist talks about the brewing court battle over whether to remove the grizzly bear's Endangered Species Act protection and how protection is still crucial for the ursus horribilis.

"Once abundant from the Great Plains to the Pacific, just two sizable grizzly population centers remain in the Lower 48, in Glacier National Park and adjoining wilderness areas, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem."

The column quotes former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as saying, "I oppose bringing these massive, flesh-eating carnivores into Idaho."

The Gem State's vast Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area, according to the columnist, is ideal potential grizzly habitat.

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Another misfire with Idaho liquor license laws

The Coeur d'Alene Press says that changes in Idaho's liquor license regulations that were intended to increase taxes may have backfired.

At least four of the licenses issued in Kootenai County since March 2007 were returned because the recipients were unable to meet the deadlines for putting them to work.

The licenses, which are issued from a waiting list of those who paid $375 for that privilege a decade ago or earlier, also cannot be transferred until after two years of operation, and the holder must be the owner of the business.

A task force formed by Gov. Butch Otter is looking at changes in the rules that could create liquor license exemptions, such as those that exist for golf courses and marinas, to sell licenses to restaurants and hotels.

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Idaho inmates keeping busy

Idaho continues to come up with new and creative ways to keep its prison inmates busy.

The Idaho State Journal profiled a program that has some inmates at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center working in the prison's wood shop, producing high-quality desks, book cases and cabinets.

Even though the program is designed to boost self-confidence and give participants skills that they can use once they are released, some women have been allowed to participate while serving life sentences.

The products are sold in a showroom in Boise as well as directly to retailers.