December 8, 1996 in City on Page B13 The future of Christmas has been sighted at the corner of Sprague and Sullivan in the Spokane Valley. Other places, of course, also will be used to stock Santa’s sleigh …

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B13 The first time I was called a nigger - I smiled. It was after I moved from Kenya to the United States in 1991. A naive college student, I viewed …

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B14 Like the young woman in the commercial who snapped “Mother, I’d rather do it myself,” Attorney General Janet Reno has informed Congress that she needs no independent counsel to investigate …

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B14 In the 1960s horror comedy “Dr. Strangelove,” Gen. Jack D. Ripper is a cigar-chompimg paranoid who happily triggers a nuclear Armageddon. Warned about millions of casualties, he growls, “I didn’t …

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B14 The Spokane area recently got a glimpse of the pioneer days when people lived in closer touch with Mother Earth, and it wasn’t pretty. Fireplaces poured soot into the air …

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B14 1. Why is he smiling? 2. Congratulation, Strom 3. Nuclear ban proponent?

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B15 A few years ago my husband spent a summer working in Europe. With little else to do, I spent that summer living at work. My firm, a small research company …

December 8, 1996 in City on Page B15 Golden Pen

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C1 Drew Bledsoe is earning his share of applause this season. Photo by Associated Press

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C1 WSU’s Carlos Daniels delivers two in traffic over Eastern’s Jon Berger, Karim Scott and Kevin Lewis. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C1 Why is anyone surprised? There are too many college football jobs open for Mike Price not to be considered for one of them.

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C1 They will be sucked in by the blare of the Washington State University volleyball band, subjected to the raucous Bohler Gym atmosphere that has become the trademark of Cougar volleyball, …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C1 1. Brandon Nava and the Longhorns celebrate their Big 12 title. Photo by Associated Press 2. James Brown passed for 366 yards and made good on a bold prediction. Photo …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C1 The results were ugly - the Spokane Chiefs’ fifth straight loss Saturday night wasn’t all that close - but the show wasn’t bad. Seattle’s Patrick Marleau is a treat no …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 Russian champion Maria Butyrskaya upset short-program leader Tonia Kwiatkowski of the United States and won the NHK Trophy women’s gold with a graceful free program. In the pairs event, Americans …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 Austrian Renate Goetschl, so fast even a bobble on the steep slope leading to the finish line couldn’t slow her, claimed a downhill victory in the opening race of a …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 The family of Jim Thorpe is expected to receive some of the medals once stripped from him when they attend a March ceremony in Wisconsin. And the Leader-Telegram in Eau …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 Payne

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 Matt Davis inspires others. Photo by Associated Press

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 Bareback rider Larry Sandvick, who came back from broken ribs and compressed vertebrae in July, scored an 81 on Skoal’s Elk Mountain for first place in the second go-round of …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 Overemphasizing academics? Some schools have to beg their athletes to go to the library. Utah Valley State College has now ordered one to stay away. David Sawyer, a freshman basketball …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C2 The 80-year-old president of soccer’s world governing body, Joao Havelange of Brazil, says he will retire as FIFA’s boss, but not until the end of the 1998 World Cup in …

December 8, 1996 in Sports on Page C3 Tennis Boris Becker and Goren Ivanisevic head into the richest final in tennis. Ivanisevic is the defending champion in the Grand Slam Cup, a $6 million tournament that brings together …