Public Periscope

Blue-ribbon crop

Spring has just sprung, but Spokane County Juvenile Court administrators are anxious to start planting in the garden begun last year for young offenders. The youths weeded away more than 1,000 hours of community service sentences and grew 2,500 pounds of vegetables for needy families … This year, the county plans to double the size of its garden, and Spokane Community College is offering its greenhouse to start seedlings … The Vermont-based National Gardening Association was so impressed with the program that it’s sending the county $750 worth of gardening tools.

Penny wise

Folks at the Spokane County Conservation District take collections seriously, as north Spokane resident Ray Jacobsen learned … He visited the district office on Havana a few weeks ago to order 20 honeysuckle bushes, and apparently misunderstood the price. He wrote a check for $27.02, instead of $27.03 … The district recently mailed Jacobsen a notice that he must pony up a penny when he comes for the plants.

Word is, she’s a cool hand, too

Kay Walter, superintendent of Airway Heights Correction Center, cleared up any confusion over her title at a meeting of the Inland Northwest Partners, an economic development group. “The secret question is,” Walter related about herself, “is she really the warden? Or is someone with a potbelly, sunglasses and a Southern accent out there running things? I am the warden.” … Got that, y’all?

Best government money can buy

The Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C., organization that pushes campaign reform, offers an interesting take on election financing. One-tenth of 1 percent of all Americans gave $1,000 or more to a candidate in 1996; 80 percent gave nothing at all. Among those who don’t donate, the closest they come to greasing the political wheels is the $3 checkoff on their income tax forms.

Kudos

The odds of arriving safely at a destination are good any time a passenger climbs aboard a Spokane Transit Authority bus. But commuters looking to cut the risk to an absolute minimum should ride with J.J. O’Connell … He’s among 20 drivers STA planned to honor during a ceremony Sunday. Each has 10 or more years of safe driving. O’Connell tops the list with 33 years. , DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope is published weekly and is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. You can contact us by mail c/o The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane, Wash., 99210; by fax at (509) 459-5482; or by e-mail at jimc@spokesman.com.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Tuesday: A Redmond-based group, the League of Washington Taxpayers, will be describing two initiatives it wants to put on the November ballot. One involves property taxes, the other would change the tax system for vehicles. 7 p.m., Room 1A, downtown Spokane Library. Wednesday: Want some information on the county’s Sprague Avenue widening project? The Public Works Department will discuss the $4.6 million project at an open house. 4:30 p.m., Greenacres Junior High cafeteria, 17915 E 4th. Thursday: A citizens committee will take comments and recommendations on land to be bought with the conservation futures program that voters extended last November. 6:30 p.m., Cheney High School, 460 N. Sixth.

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