COEUR d'ALENE - An Athol resident announced she is running for Idaho Senate seat representing District 2.

Shirley McFaddan said she will be challenging Sen. Steve Vick.

"Idaho is my native home. I love this state and the people that live here. So far, in my lifetime, Idaho has undergone many changes," she wrote. "The changes that occurred during this last legislative session really spurred me into action."

The 58-year-old said Idaho has been under one-party rule for more than 30 years and the actions of legislators show where their priorities lie. They cut education spending and gave tax breaks to the wealthiest residents, she said.

McFaddan, a Democrat, said the Legislature "manipulated and restricted the May primary ballot by excluding the independent and unaffiliated voter."

"That's very manipulative and even though it's legal, I felt it was very unfair to the voters," she said.

It is time, she said, to restore education in Idaho to an above-average grade, restore fair treatment to all of Idaho citizens, and restore balance to the legislature.

"I believe we need to create a balanced government in our state, because when you have balance, you've got fairness," she said.

McFaddan, born and raised in Grangeville, worked on a family farm in southern Idaho. She is a University of Idaho graduate, with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture. She recently retired after a lengthy career in the telecommunications industry.

If elected, she said she has three primary goals, with education being No. 1.

"When we keep sliding down the scale to the bottom of the ladder, that's not doing justice to our students, it's not doing justice to our business community, and it's not doing justice to our state," she said.

With a still-struggling economy, she said many people are still looking for jobs to feed families and keep a roof over their heads.

"We need to find a way to give the economy a shot in arm," she said.

One way is to encourage and assist residents with job training and education, McFaddan said, "so they're be able to slide into the workforce a little more smoothly."

Tax breaks for the elderly and low income would be a place to start.

"When workers and their families spend money it helps keep local economies strong," McFaddan said.

Key is a balanced government and being sure all people are represented.

"Idaho is better off when we work together," McFaddan said. "Share your concerns and ideas with me. I want to talk to you. I will listen."

Olympics come to rocking ending

By PAUL HAVEN

Associated Press

LONDON - With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular, technicolor pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun.

The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats.

The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python's Eric Idle sauntered through "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" - accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.

It all made for a psychedelic mashup that had 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organizers estimated 300 million or more were watching around the world.

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What a way to end a games far more successful than many Londoners expected. Security woes were overcome, and traffic nightmares never materialized. The weather held up, more or less, and British athletes overachieved.

It all came with a price tag of $14 billion - three times the original estimate. But nobody wanted to spoil the fun with such mundane concerns, at least not on this night.

"We lit the flame, and we lit up the world," said London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe. "When our time came, Britain, we did it right."

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the Olympics over with praise for the athletes.

But the night was about splash more than speeches.

Festive and fast-moving, the ceremony opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the Union Jack - the floor of Olympic Stadium floor arranged to resemble the British flag.

Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben's clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye ferris wheel and the chubby highrise known as the Gherkin.

Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy, and dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London after riots shook neighborhoods not far from Olympic Stadium just a year ago.

Liam Gallagher performed "Wonderwall," a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem "Survival," and Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing "We Will Rock You."

The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50.

The night ended with the extinguishing of the multi-petaled Olympic cauldron and a supercharged rendition of "My Generation" and other classics by The Who that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Confetti rained down, and fireworks lit up the sky.