Best of the Northwest (2/10/05)
The Spokane Area Economic Development Council is holding its 31st annual meeting today with one thing in mind, sez columnist Bill Virgin/PI: attract global attention. Writes Virgin: "But why does Spokane (and, for that matter, the rest of Eastern Washington) care whether anyone notices it or knows anything about it? Because, from an economic development point of view, the region wants to be in the minds of those who make decisions about where the next plant or research lab will be built." For whole column, click here.
Photo: Actor Jim Caviezel portrays Christ in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." In a letter to the Gonzaga Bulletin Online, two philosophy profs say a good way to begin Lent is to view Gibson's masterpiece.
1. A somewhat dated cartoon from David Horsey/PI re: Iraqi voting here.
2. Alleged teen scalper turns herself in to deputies at the Ada County Jail here.
3. Another 20 Idaho National Guardsmen leave Boy-C for training to eventually join the 116th Brigade Combat Team in northern Iraq here.
4. A regional manhunt is underway for a 27-year-old Nampa man suspected in the shooting of a police officer. Sez Nampa Police Chief Curtis Homer: 'It's hard to express in words how bad we want to get this guy'. Click here.
5. "Ron Abramovich of the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Snow Survey group, which measures snowpack throughout Idaho said this winter is the fourth driest on record since the snow telemetry sites - where snowpack is measured - were brought on line in 1961," according to the St. Maries Gazette here.
6. IMHO-NW: Idaho Statesman (Crapo's setback), Blaine Newnham/Seattle Times (Noisy fans), Seattle Times (Keep hands off Bonneville), Kefi Lewis/Daily Evergreen (Valentine's Day advice), and David Calhoun & Douglas Kries/Gonzaga Bulletin (A good way to start Lent).
*The Statesman provides a good roundup of legislative news here.
*Ex-UW football coach Rick Neuheisel begins testimony here.
*The Washinton Supreme Court has struck down the state's strictest smoking ban here.
