Patrol volunteers go the extra mile

Vern Ward spent his 65th birthday setting up a radar trailer along a Post Falls road last Thursday.

Then he patrolled the Centennial Trail on a candy-apple red Yamaha Rhino all-terrain vehicle.

On his way to the trail, with the wind whipping through his windbreaker, he pulled the Rhino behind a woman in an older-model Volvo. She had run out of gas.

Ward spent much of his life in the military and law enforcement, so when asked to coordinate the inaugural volunteer program at the Post Falls Police Department in 2004, the retiree proudly clipped on a radio and badge once again.

“When I first started, I worked, like, 40 hours a week,” he said. “It was like a full-time job.”

Ward was one of a handful of people who signed up for the Volunteers in Patrol program, one half of the Volunteers in Police Service program. Their duties include radar setup, traffic control, vacation and property watch, business checks and Centennial Trail patrol.

“We’re an extra set of eyes and ears on the street,” he said.

Ward is in charge of the 11 volunteers; most are in their 70s or 80s and have no law enforcement experience. Although the requirement is four hours a week, many put in 20 to 30 hours weekly.

The volunteers do not carry weapons and can’t give out tickets. If volunteers stumble across a crime in progress or an automobile accident, they immediately call a police officer.

“If there is an armed robbery, we tell them to go the other way,” Ward said. “We don’t want to put them in harm’s way. We tell them, ‘When in doubt, just leave.’ ”

Ward has stumbled across an aggressive citizen who mocked his lack of authority, noting that Ward wasn’t a “real officer.”

“I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right. But I can have an officer here in 30 seconds,’ ” Ward said.

Usually when you’re cruising around in a white Crown Vic with police lights, people still slow down, Ward said, even with “Post Falls Volunteer Patrol” painted on the side.

“We make ourselves visible because you never know if this car prevented a crime or not,” Ward said as he drove around Post Falls, the dispatcher’s voice cutting in though the radio. “We could be a deterrent.”

Although their duties are limited, the volunteers are treated like employees. They have access to computer records, which means the application process is thorough. Potential volunteers undergo background checks, fingerprinting and polygraph tests and spend 20 hours in field training with Ward.

Ward is in talks with the department to let volunteers issue parking tickets.

“I’m chomping at the bit to pull people over,” he said.

Carley Dryden

Cheney students bring town back to life

The sleepy, summer days in Cheney have passed, giving way to a bustling city with people walking through downtown and on campus after classes resumed at Eastern Washington University on Sept. 24.

EWU recently welcomed its second-largest freshman class. As of Sept. 30, there were 1,509 freshmen enrolled, 173 more than last year, said Dave Meany, a university spokesman. In 2005, there were 1,631 freshmen.

“I don’t think we’re going to quite reach that,” Meany said.

Those figures won’t be final until 10 days after the start of school, on Wednesday. “Our residential life dorms are roughly up 110 or so over last year,” Meany said.

He added that in July, total confirmations of students living in the dormitories reached more than 1,800. Last year at the same time, there were 1,690 students confirmed to live in the dorms. Overall enrollment also is up this fall. As of Sept. 27, there were 9,905 students enrolled, compared with 9,841 last fall.

Mayor Allan Gainer, the owner of the Tree of Knowledge Bookstore on First Street, said he can definitely notice how busy the city is.

“There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the downtown area,” he said. “I like the students. They’re good for the city.”

Lisa Leinberger

Jefferson Elementary celebrates 100 years

Reading, writing and arithmetic still form the basis of education at Jefferson Elementary, but students attending the school a century ago would be hard-pressed to figure out what to do with computers, calculators and a climbing wall.

Even so, the same building constructed at 37th Avenue and Grand Boulevard in 1908 continues to serve students today, albeit with an addition and several detached classrooms out back.

Jefferson students, faculty, parents and neighbors past and present celebrated the public school’s 100th birthday on Thursday with cake and discussions of the good old days.

“We are having an open house all day,” said Jefferson Elementary Principal Mary-Dean Wooley. “It’s just a small, little neighborhood school celebration.”

Perhaps not so small.

About 520 students are enrolled in the school today, and thousands have been instructed there over the years.

Bert Evans said he remembers going to woodshop, Thursday church school and on field trips to Hangman Creek and Manito Park.

Evans graduated from eighth grade at Jefferson in 1952.

“The school was really, really wonderful,” said Ed Huneke, who attended from 1945 to 1954. “I consider myself very, very lucky.”

Huneke remembers the new addition being built while he was there, adding a top-notch library.

Jefferson Elementary started out as a kindergarten through eighth grade school in 1908. The main addition was built 40 years later for about $280,000. Portable classrooms have also been on the grounds for about 50 years, Wooley said.

Grades 7 and 8 moved to Sacajawea Middle School when it was built.

It’s not certain how much longer the school will remain standing.

Jefferson Elementary is one of the schools being considered for rebuilding under a proposed new Spokane Public Schools bond issue.

Amy Cannata