Tom Lutey

writes Exit 289, a column about faces and places in Spokane Valley, which appears Mondays on the Northwest pages. He also writes cover stories for Your Voice.

Contact Tom

Email: toml@spokesman.com
Phone: 509-927-2179
Fax: 509-927-2175

Recent stories by Tom

This game’s the ultimate

July 11, 2004 in Idaho on Page B2 SANDPOINT – A white pie plate-shaped disc floats across the field of battle, over the heads of a dozen combatants in gym shorts, directly toward two women careening toward each …
Canine terrorizes neighbors

July 2, 2004 in City on Page B2 It’s hard to catch a shadow, even one with four legs and a tail. A black lab named Shadow in the Kokomo neighborhood of Spokane Valley has been terrorizing residents, …
Neighborhoods, developer cited by county alliance

July 1, 2004 in Voices on Page S8 Three Spokane neighborhoods and a Liberty Lake developer are being honored for improving the quality of life in the area. Hillyard, Five Mile and East Central Spokane received Most Outstanding …
Three civilians greet Bush on arrival

June 18, 2004 in City on Page A10 Spokane rolled out the red carpet for the president of the United States on Thursday, and 85-year-old Margaret Connaway marched up it and gave George W. Bush the dickens. “I …
Pride takes center stage

June 14, 2004 in City on Page A6 Months ago, when the Rev. Mark Pridmore offered to conduct a mass wedding for gays and lesbians in Riverfront Park, he was thinking half a dozen couples might be interested. …
Ponderosa development proposal upsets neighbors

June 11, 2004 in City on Page B2 A packed, 179-home development is in the works for the Ponderosa neighborhood just one week after residents pleaded with Spokane Valley’s City Council for the right to preserve acre lots. …
Local car buffs to get air time

June 10, 2004 in City on Page B3 The motor in Mike Bond’s hot-rod yellow ‘55 Chevy is so large that, to the untrained eye, it looks like two engines riding piggyback. And when Tim Stromberger fired it …
Woman says house built by strangers ‘a God thing’

June 7, 2004 in City on Page A1 The sun slides westward at the end of the day. Its white-hot face has cooled to a brilliant orange, washing everything at Sherrie McGowan’s place in golden light. On days …
Time slipping for watchmaker

May 31, 2004 on Page A14 For watchmakers like Larry Verhaag, time is running out. He sits behind a glass display counter just inside the door of Halpin’s Pharmacy and Treasure Room on Sprague Avenue, a …
Preserving neighborhoods

May 29, 2004 in Voices on Page V4 The man on Deloris Davis’ doorstep wanted her land. He had plans to replace her chicken coop with duplexes, her tall grass with trimmed sod, her 46,560 square feet of …
‘The city that Jim Frank built’

May 24, 2004 in Nation/World on Page A1 Everyone has a shade tree. Everyone is five minutes from a public park. The power lines are underground. Property values are rising meteorically. This is Jim Frank’s town. Few communities …
Pasadena Park faces prospect of business, again

May 24, 2004 in City on Page A6 “All of Argonne is going to be commercial,” Ron Armacost said. It was 1988. He was battling the neighbors of Pasadena Park for the chance to build a Zip Trip …
Prom special for these teenagers

May 17, 2004 in City on Page A8 Jamie Stone loves high school dances. She shows up early. She stays as long as she can. She never sits down and, usually, she dances alone. But not last Friday …