Melodie Little

Thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of puppies and paint ball guns in a burglary that could cost the lives of three small Chihuahuas that require special feedings. The break-in at the family-owned Pink Poodle Grooming Parlor, which sells pets, and the attached Camokaze Paintball Supply, on North Monroe in Spokane, was discovered Tuesday morning.

Christmas Memories craft show started a new tradition in Spokane Valley, after organizers tired of dealing with the city of Spokane. For nearly a decade, the popular holiday craft show (which runs through today) was held at the Spokane Convention Center and Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, but this year it moved to Sports USA on Cataldo Avenue, near Barker Road.

The halls of Shadle Park and Central Valley high schools filled with thousands of shoppers, who hunted for lederhosen-clad reindeer and other handmade creatures and goods on Saturday. "I think there are more specialty handcrafted gifts instead of everything that's made in Taiwan and mass produced," Sherry Murphy said.

MOSES LAKE – It's not every day that adult pirates cast adrift on giant, motorized pumpkins, but in Moses Lake the phenomenon happens every year at Halloween. "It's a lot of fun, it's pretty crazy and we get to live out some of our adult fantasies," said Richard Teals, a retired English teacher, who pioneered the race with his good friend, Dennis Parr.

Social workers expect more people to seek help paying their heating bills this winter, as rising utility rates cast a bitter frost on household budgets across the region. Locally, the cost of heating oil has risen 40 cents a gallon since last year. However, the greatest increase in need may come from low-income residents of homes and apartments heated by natural gas. That common heat source will become about 12 percent more expensive starting Monday.

Liberty Lake city staff traded in their cubicles for offices and meeting rooms inside a spacious new city hall. Visitors will likely feel more at ease in the new facility, at 22710 E. Country Vista Drive. The 7,000 square-foot building has windows galore that flood the entire building with natural light. It boasts several small conference rooms and planning areas for people seeking permits. A main meeting room can accommodate 80 to 100 people, sports a gas fireplace and is large enough for City Council and community meetings.

Skiers trudged through drizzle and gray on Friday to bid farewell to their old ski gear and hopefully make a few bucks in the process. The 40th annual Ski Swap, sponsored by the Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol and held at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, is a hot ticket for skiers who arrived in droves to sell off used clothing and equipment.

Area pet shelters are bulging at the seams in spite of efforts to promote adoptions and make pet sterilizations affordable. While adoptions are up and euthanizations are down, shelters are experiencing record numbers of animals picked up as strays or turned in by owners.

It's time to batten down the bank account because fund-raiser season is knocking on the door. More than ever, John Q. Public is being asked to donate or make purchases that fund things that schools used to cover. In the next few weeks, students will sell everything from gift wrap to poinsettias in an effort to raise money to bolster sports and outside learning activities. Throw in candy and Entertainment Book sales and household checkbooks are in for a triathlon-style workout. "It's just a lot when you get the band raising money and you get the cheerleaders raising money and you get all the groups raising money and it seems like someone is at your doorstep a lot," said Doug Matson, assistant superintendent for West Valley School District.

Hundreds of nature lovers met amid a golden canopy of maples Saturday to clean up a neglected landscape that was once a gathering place for the Northwest's Indian tribes. More than 400 people joined forces to pick up trash on riverbanks, trails and roads that stretched from under the train trestle by High Bridge Park to Peaceful Valley.

The presidential debate and Major League Baseball playoffs took a bite out of the attendance at Wednesday's town hall meeting in the Valley. At a time when hot issues like a potential utility tax are on the table, Spokane Valley City Council's Conversation with the Community was less talkative than organizers had hoped.

A handful of volunteers battled wind, mud and rocks as big as bowling balls to plant trees at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. "At first it was pretty easy, but we've got a lot of rocks in here," said Autumn Carlsen, a biotech intern helping with the project.

A flu shot clinic Thursday at Costco attracted hundreds of people who waited over an hour and formed lines that snaked between several check stands, past the shampoos and vitamins to the fresh flower display. "I have to get one. I usually try to get it the first day out," said Don O'Neal, a Spokane resident who has asthma and suffers from a seizure disorder.

Don Carmichael was the kind of guy who could transform sticks into stilts. Armed with patience and a toolbox, he became the go-to guy for family members who needed a hand with home repairs.

SpokAnimal CARE is improving its outdated facility and planning to build a modern shelter in the future. In addition to replacing 52 kennels in the aging North Napa shelter with new, modular units, the nonprofit is looking for 20-plus acres to build a new facility.

Gray wolves will continue to enjoy federal protection in Idaho, U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said Saturday during a visit to Spokane. During a press conference at Riverfront Park to support congressional candidate Cathy McMorris, Norton said that although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is turning over management of the wolves within Idaho to the state, the service will ensure that healthy populations are maintained.