Amy Cannata

Gas prices almost certainly will hit record highs in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene this week. They already have in many other parts of the nation.

A Latah County woman is recovering after a night of being beaten, kidnapped, hit by a pickup truck and possibly shot at. The Latah County Sheriff's Department arrested the woman's boyfriend, 39-year-old Tracey L. Ferguson, of Juliaetta, Idaho, Saturday night on charges of felony domestic battery, aggravated battery and driving under the influence.

A Latah County woman is recovering after a night of being beaten, kidnapped, hit by a pickup truck and possibly shot at. The Latah County Sheriff's Department arrested the woman's boyfriend, 39-year-old Tracey L. Ferguson, of Juliaetta, Idaho, Saturday night on charges of felony domestic battery, aggravated battery and driving under the influence.

This is it – the day work begins in earnest on the Interstate 90 viaduct in downtown Spokane. Are you prepared?

These are the times when people's veins begin bulging, tempers catch fire and some drivers let frustration get the best of them. Calming techniques are a must. And the time to think about them is before you're stuck in road construction.

John Kenneth Olson was supposed to be the one surprising his fellow soldiers as he led intelligence exercises over the weekend at Riverside State Park. Instead, the 52-year-old Army National Guard chief warrant officer was himself shocked to see two vans filled with his family pull up on Sunday morning.

Spokane-area voters haven't even gotten a crack at deciding whether they want a regional light rail system, but some downtown Spokane development proponents are talking up the possibility of a smaller-scale downtown streetcar system. Light rail trains and streetcars both employ rails to move people, both could boost economic development along their routes, and their backers say the two systems could work together. But either would require a multimillion-dollar local investment.

The early bird gets a summer of riding. But other would-be motorcyclists may end up stalled in their attempts to take a state-approved class to get their license.

If Spokane gets a mass transit system someday, it will be light rail, not bus rapid transit. The Spokane Transit Authority board of directors accepted Thursday the recommendation of its appointed Light Rail Steering Committee that a diesel, light rail system, traveling along a southern Valley track between downtown Spokane and Liberty Lake, is its preferred mass transit alternative. But the board also expressed concerns about a lack of information regarding how to pay for building and operating such a system.

Loretta Cael almost fell out of her chair Thursday when her son, Jon Cael, was named one of four Spokane armed forces personnel of the year. Cael, a senior airman with the Washington Air National Guard, was recognized for his work ethic, volunteerism with Big Brothers Big Sisters and high achievement as an Eastern Washington University student.

Local Army reservists will move into a $31 million consolidated center at Fairchild Air Force Base in just three years. The federal government is poised to begin building the $31 million Armed Forces Reserve Center and Organizational Maintenance Shop next year as part of the 2006 Base Realignment and Closure process.

Cars aren't the most environmentally friendly devices. They use energy, spew pollution and encourage us to pack on the pounds by reducing exercise. So in the spirit of Earth Day on Saturday, this week's Getting There will focus on ways to make getting around the Inland Northwest healthier for you and the natural world.

Air traffic controllers warned Monday that congressional acceptance of a Federal Aviation Administration contract freezing wages for three years could hurt passenger safety by prompting a wave of controller retirements, leading to fewer controllers monitoring planes above Spokane and other cities. "This is a very stressful job, so if you're not getting as much time off between sessions, safety could be in jeopardy," said David Bagwell, a Spokane air traffic controller.

It's the kind of predicament truck drivers don't like to find themselves in – stuck under an overpass or stopped in front of one with no way out but back. And backing up a tractor-trailer rig is no simple matter. It can require the assistance of police to stop traffic.