Brian Coddington

Three people were jailed over the weekend after separate incidents in which thousands of dollars in merchandise was stolen from Spokane Valley stores. Christina C. Brandvold-Lyons, an 18-year-old K mart employee, was booked into the Spokane County Jail Saturday on second-degree theft charges. Sheriff's deputies said Brandvold-Lyons and an acquaintance stole $1,700 worth of merchandise while working as a cashier at the K mart store at 15303 E. Sprague. Store security cameras recorded Brandvold-Lyons passing merchandise to an acquaintance who took it from the store, said sheriff's deputy David Reagan.

State health officials are testing for rabies a bat that was captured Wednesday morning outside a Spokane Valley elementary school. A maintenance worker discovered the bat curled up above a side door at Trent Elementary, 3303 N. Pines, said Nancy Sattin, county animal control director.

State Rep. Mark Sterk this week was named vice chairman of the House Law and Justice Committee. Sterk, a Spokane police sergeant who has introduced several criminal justice bills that became law, has served on the committee since taking office in 1995. During the upcoming legislative session, the Spokane Valley Republican plans to reintroduce a bill that would prohibit gang members from transferring from one school district to another without district approval. Sterk has also said he is considering introducing legislation that would make violent, repeat juvenile criminals as young as 15 eligible for the death penalty. Earlier this year, Sterk was instrumental in gaining the passage of a bill requiring sex offenders to remain in jail while awaiting sentencing. He also introduced a bill that would have prohibited registered sex offenders from living within a mile of a school. That bill died in the Senate.

YMCA executive director Rich Wallis and board president Heidi Stanley discuss the YMCA executive committee's decision to build a new YMCA in the Spokane Valley at Mirabeau Point. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

With one commitment in hand, backers of a proposed Spokane Valley community center complex will now go after a second one that would effectively launch Mirabeau Point. County officials have agreed to help fund infrastructure construction for the 70-acre multi-purpose complex at the former Walk in the Wild zoo site - provided the YMCA commits to building its new Valley facility there.

A man watched a woman cash a check at a Spokane Valley business Monday night before he and at least one other man robbed her at gunpoint in her car. The men escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, said sheriff's deputy David Reagan. Neither the 27-year-old victim nor her friend were injured during the 5:30 p.m robbery.

1. Ross Taylor has lived on his family's farm off of Park Road all of his life and is worried about Growth Management Act impacts. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Ross Taylor would like all of his land included within the proposed urban growth boundary so that it may be sold and developed in the future. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

State Rep. Larry Crouse, R-Spokane Valley, has been named chairman of the House Energy and Utilities Committee. Crouse, who earlier this month was elected to his second term as a 4th District state representative, served the past two years as vice-chairman of the committee.

Arguing that a subdivision proposed for Greenacres "supports urban sprawl," a neighborhood group on Tuesday urged Spokane County commissioners to reverse a zoning change. Meanwhile, an attorney for Richard Dahm, the project's developer, told commissioners the county hearing examiner was right to approve the re-zone request for the 335-home Morningside Heights development.

A sign at 44th and Van Marter on Monday directs Washington Water Power crews to a downed power line. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane Valley firefighters chased nearly two dozen reports of structure fires - including six in one day - in the wake of last week's ice storm and massive power outage. The fires sent scurrying cold residents who were huddled around fireplaces trying to keep warm.

The state Department of Licensing has decided not to close its Spokane Valley office, officials said Monday. For the nearly 66,000 people who use the office at 11530 E. Sprague each year, that's good news.

A Spokane Valley salvage yard is offering a $1,000 reward for information that solves a vandalism spree that caused several thousand dollars of damage to more than 100 vehicle windows earlier this month. Vandals crawled under a fence along the north side of Spalding Auto Parts, 2210 N. University, sometime after the business closed on Nov. 11, said Steve Spalding, one of the owners.

Power that slowly returned to stores along the Spokane Valley's Sprague Avenue business corridor seemed to miss a few blocks. Namely, auto row, the stretch between Argonne and Park roads that is dominated by car dealerships.

As tree branches snapped under the weight of a glossy coat of ice several times their own thickness Tuesday, complaints of downed power lines began to roll into Spokane Valley Fire. During the ice storm's 12 bitter hours Valley Fire received nearly 300 calls for help.

Cindy Lopez stood at the free-throw line sizing up the basket. She knocked down one shot, then another Thursday afternoon while her sons, Danny and Nate, counted the baskets. Her two daughters and a friend chased a basketball at the other end of the court at Sta-Fit Racquet and Athletic Club, 14210 E. Sprague. Like many Spokane Valley residents suffering through icy temperatures and an extended power outage, Lopez and her family welcomed the warmth and entertainment.

Another car window exploded on the freeway Thursday night, this time near the Barker Road interchange on Interstate 90 in the Spokane Valley.

Backers of two proposed Spokane Valley cities have withdrawn their appeals that stopped a vote on both last spring, clearing the way for a February election.

Washington Water Power donated $1,500 to the Sheriff's Community Oriented Policing Effort during a small ceremony Tuesday at the Central Valley community policing station. The money will be used to help the Spokane area's eight SCOPE groups address administrative needs, such as improving communication between the sheriff's department and the community policing stations.

A teenager roughed up and robbed a 9-year-old boy in front of a Spokane Valley store Monday afternoon while the boy's friend, also 9, watched in terror. No one was injured during the 2 p.m. robbery. The suspect escaped with an undisclosed amount of money. He was described as 18, white and having spiked brown hair. He was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans cut off below the knees and white tennis shoes. He had a gold earring in his right ear.

Danita Cinkovich and Heather Hendrix saw a problem in their high school and thought they could help fix it. So the two Future Homemakers of America from Selah, Wash., put together an hourlong teen pregnancy prevention program and went to work.

Bullets fired from a passing car tore through the side of a house late Saturday in the Spokane Valley, injuring a 21-year-old woman inside. Angel M. Smith was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center with a gunshot wound to her side, said sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Mathews. Smith was talking to deputies when medics wheeled her to the ambulance, but was only able to tell them "I don't know who did the shooting," Mathews said.

Medics from Valley Fire and Spokane Ambulance treat a man for a stab wound he got on the bus, which stopped at Sprague and McDonald. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Authorities called for calm Friday as Spokane-area commuters continued to worry about getting caught in the cross hairs of a freeway sniper. Washington State Patrol dispatchers have been flooded with calls during the past several days. Publicity about the freeway shootings prompted more than 100 reports of chipped windows, sightings of men in fatigues lurking near the freeway and even people in trees scanning Interstate 90. "Some of them appear to be legitimate," said WSP Capt. Jim LaMunyon. "Many of them are not." The high volume of false calls and a lack of evidence are complicating the investigation, LaMunyon said. Authorities still are unable to say if the freeway sniper is using a pellet gun or a rifle. "We haven't found any projectiles in the vehicles," LaMunyon said. Tests to find residue from a pellet or bullet on glass fragments have been inconclusive, he said. Reports of freeway shootings decreased Friday, but authorities were no closer to catching a suspect. Authorities thought they got a break in the case early Friday when sheriff's deputies descended on a Valley apartment complex that overlooks the freeway. Deputies heard two shots fired as they surrounded a unit at the Villa 90 apartments, and arrested Alfred S. McFarland, 25, without incident. McFarland, who was booked into the Spokane County Jail for second-degree reckless endangerment, was reported to be shooting an assault rifle in the area, said sheriff's Lt. David Wiyrick. Deputies found an SKS assault rifle inside McFarland's apartment, but nothing to link him to the freeway shootings, Wiyrick said. He is being held on a $5,000 cash bond. "At this point, it's under investigation," LaMunyon said. "We're looking for links." Extra patrol cars continued to cruise the freeway Friday. Officers checked several reports of suspicious people seen walking near the freeway, including one near Pines Road. Workers at Regional Telephone Directories near the Pines interchange called deputies about 1 p.m. when they saw a man dressed all in black acting strangely in the brush. "He was just standing there looking over the freeway," said Jorene Primmer, one of the employees who saw the man. Suspicious men also were reported at the Broadway and Argonne interchanges. Several reports of shootings and sniper sightings Thursday also produced no solid leads, LaMunyon said. Authorities asked people to consider the circumstances before calling police. "If it's reasonable to suspect a rock flew up and struck their car, we are asking people to look at it in that light," LaMunyon said.