Tools of the trade: Liberty Lake police believe these items were used to commit numerous garage burglaries and car prowls in Liberty Lake in recent weeks. Photo is courtesy the Liberty Lake Police Department.

It has been an interesting week or so in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake and the stories coming up in Thursday's Valley Voice will have the highlights. Liberty Lake Police believe they have arrested a couple who are responsible for a series of garage burglaries and vehicle prowls in recent weeks. Both have extensive criminal histories and the male was arrested in Liberty Lake for similar crimes in 2006.

The Liberty Lake City Council held a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the 2011 budget, which has been the subject of some controversy. The Spokane Valley City Council voted by a narrow majority in a contentious meeting to appoint the mayor's half-brother to the planning commission.

Last week the Spokane Valley Planning Commission met and the majority voted to recommend that the city council reject a proposed emergency comprehensive plan amendment to remove the City Center zone from the Sprague/Appleway Revitalization Plan. Some of the commissioners, however, said they believed the city council would ignore their recommendation.

If so much city government conflict has you reaching for your Tylenol, there will also be a fun story on a new Christmas tree lot that allows kids to write a letter to Santa and sends it to the North Pole via homing pigeon.

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