Fallen Brother
COEUR d'ALENE - The family of Michael Kralicek, a Coeur d'Alene police officer who was shot during an arrest in Hayden on Dec. 28, would like to announce two upcoming benefit events to help raise money for the officer's mounting medical costs. Officer Kralicek is the brother of Inlander Production Manager Chris Clancy, who says that while the family is hopeful over Kralicek's recent return to consciousness, the situation remains critical. Kralicek is still undergoing treatment at Harborview in Seattle.
On Wednesday, Jan. 26, the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department and Northwest Women in Business will sponsor a benefit dinner and auction for Kralicek at the Best Western Convention Center at the Coeur d'Alene Inn, 414 W. Appleway Ave., Coeur d'Alene. Tickets for the event, which begins at 6 pm, cost $20. For more information, contact Diana at (208) 664-4663.
The Kralicek family is also holding a benefit raffle, which will culminate with a drawing at the Coeur d'Alene Police Department on Friday, Jan. 28, at 10 am. Tickets are $1, or six for $5, and prizes include posters and a fire helmet autographed by John Travolta, a guided fly-fishing tour in Montana, ticket packages to Seattle Mariners and Gonzaga Bulldogs games, lodging and dinner at the Coeur d'Alene Resort and Beverly's, and the Davenport and Steam Plant Grill in Spokane.
Tickets for both events can be purchased throughout Coeur d'Alene at fire and police stations, the Kootenai Fire Administration and Northern Lakes Fire Station 1, as well as some locations in Post Falls. In Spokane, you can buy tickets at The Inlander office, 1020 W. Riverside Ave. For more information, contact Mandy Jacques or Chief Ken Gabriel at the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department at (208) 769-2340.
The Kralicek family would like to emphasize that individuals can also make donations at any area Wells Fargo bank. Just tell them that you want to donate to the foundation for Coeur d'Alene Police Officer Michael Kralicek, and the bank will take care of the rest.
Officer Kralicek has been with the Coeur d'Alene police force since June 2004. Before that, he served with the North Bend Police Department in Oregon. He is married with two children. (Joel Smith)
American Jihad
SPOKANE -- For its first annual Hesburgh Lecture on the Gonzaga campus, the Notre Dame Club of Spokane will be presenting a lecture by Rev. Patrick D. Gaffney, a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, on Thursday, Jan. 27.
Rev. Gaffney, who specializes in the anthropology of religion and politics, has studied and taught extensively in Egypt, Israel and Uganda. At the event, he will present "The Writing on the Wall: The Fusion of Religion and Politics from the Beltway to Baghdad." Gaffney claims that "the current conflict in Iraq ... is being conducted in a context of both political and religious justification, although the terminology of jihad and liberation arise from different traditions." Gaffney's lecture is Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7:30 pm in the Barbieri Courtroom of the Gonzaga Law School. For more info, call 324-2416. (Joel Smith)
A New Rx
SPOKANE -- For many low-income families and seniors, finding free or discounted prescriptions is a tedious task. There are hundreds of discount drug programs out there, but often those who most need access to these services know the least about them.
But earlier this week, a group of health organizations came together to launch RxHelp for Washington in Spokane County. RxHelp is a statewide clearinghouse of 275 prescription drug programs; qualified individuals are matched with the program that will give them free or reduced cost on more than 1,800 types of medicine.
"There are 130,000 in Spokane County who have no insurance or are underinsured, so all these people obviously need help," says Lily Eng, spokesperson for RxHelp. "[It] is one-stop shopping where people can go to the Web site or use the phone and get something called the Patient Assisted Program."
Pharmaceutical companies are making the medications available at low or no cost, and Eng says the only thing patients need to do is identify the medications they need.
RxHelp for Washington was launched in Seattle, Yakima and the Tri-Cities late last year, and so far it has received more than 82,000 inquires; of those, RxHelp for Washington was able to match 50 percent with discounted prescription drugs. Visit www.rxhelpforwa.org or call (877) 923-6779. (Cara Gardner)
Publication date: 1/20/04
