Stacking And Restacking The Decks

The Spokane Task Force on Race Relations may have quite a crowd when it meets Tuesday at the Ag Trade Center - and not just because it’s a topic that interests many people. It may also have some folks who go just to make sure they can balance out some other folks … The Spokane Police Department is sending officers to “dialogue” with participants at a law enforcement panel during the meeting … But Police Chief Terry Mangan was “concerned about a possible imbalance in the audience,” according to the minutes of the chief’s hand-picked Spokane Police Advisory Committee. The chief sent word asking that committee members attend as well … Member Rick Mendoza offered a compromise, having the committee chairman or vice chairman sit on the panel “which would be the politically correct thing to do.”

Travel note

Tourists planning to spend Memorial Day weekend in the woods near Mount Rainier can rest assured that Cayuse Pass will be open. Crews for the state Department of Transportation expect to have the pass, on the east side of the mountain, cleared by May 23 - five days shy of breaking the 1993 record for the latest opening ever … If unseasonably warm weather continues, nearby Chinook Pass could be open by the second week of June.

Correcting myths

Everyone knows government is incapable of thriftiness. So, what’s up with Geiger Corrections Center? Periscope already noted the minimum security prison is using fencing from Walk in the Wild zoo for its expansion, paying $5,800 instead of $16,000 for new chain-link. Inmates are installing the fence and topping it with razor wire, saving tons on labor … “I love it,” said County Commissioner Phil Harris. “They get to put up their own fence to keep themselves in” … Center officials also shopped for inmate uniforms at the McCord Air Force Base surplus store, buying a truckload of used uniforms for $300. That’s a savings of about $11,700, said County Corrections Director Gary Oberg.

A mile farther, and they’d have used a canoe

No, officers didn’t violate any laws when they used a Jet Ski to pluck a man from the swollen Spokane River earlier this month. The alleged shoplifter, who took to the river while attempting to escape, was clinging to a tree limb inside the city limits … The county’s new restrictions ban powerboats only from certain free-flowing stretches of the river outside the city limits.

Vote info online

The voter guide for the upcoming vote on a new football stadium in Seattle should arrive in mailboxes this week. But those who want to get a jump on their deliberations can go to the Internet. The voter’s guide is on the Secretary of State’s Web page, at www.wa.gov/sec/vote97.htm

In the matter of State vs. Waldo …

People waiting to meet an attorney at the Spokane County Public Defender’s Office have a lackluster choice of reading matter to pass the time … On waiting room tables are computer magazines, dated Reader’s Digests, a few Sports Illustrateds and Redbooks, plus some kids’ books … For reasons not clear, the most-read books in the office are those featuring the stocking-cap hero of “Where’s Waldo?” fame … “People will sit there a while and then yell out, ‘Hey, there he is!”’ said receptionist CherryAnn Coballes.

Well, it’s better than a food fight

All you kids who have been told not to play with your food, take note: Mom’s advice may have cost you a trip to Washington, D.C … This is suggested by an item on today’s schedule for Rep. Doc Hastings, who will be a host for the state Apple Commission’s Lunch Box Derby. This contest, says the schedule, “challenges fourth- and fifth-graders to design, build and race cars made completely out of fruits and vegetables.” Six teams from across the country will compete for the international title … No word who gets to eat the winning entry.

, DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope, which runs Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports