Brian Coddington

Jayne

Jon Lane shoved aside the barrel of the high-powered rifle and slammed the 14-year-old gunman against the classroom wall. He held the teenager there while a classroom full of terrified Frontier Junior High School students rushed to safety, said student David Juergens, who witnessed the gym teacher's heroics.

Nikki Marchand will perform at the halftime show of Sunday's Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

The bitter cold wave turned lethal Thursday, claiming the lives of two men who became stranded in their car in southern Stevens County. Although a farmhouse was just 75 yards away, authorities said the men made no attempt to get help.

1. Ronald L. Acre is taken away by sheriff's deputies after his December arrest for allegedly dealing in methamphetamine out of a Valley day care center. File/The Spokesman-Review 2. Wearing a ski mask, a deputy leaves the scene of a meth lab bust in December. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Byron Koesterman bragged about his job on a crab boat. He didn't mind the 18-hour days, or the danger of being at sea. But the job wound up claiming his life. Koesterman, 19, who grew up in Spokane, was one of seven fishermen lost in the Bering Sea Saturday night when their 127-foot boat capsized during a violent storm. It sank in 2,400 feet of icy water.

Trees dot the steep, snow-covered hillside. Light poles and horse stables loom ominously below. All are dangerous obstacles for sledders at Valley Mission Park, one of the Valley's favorite sledding hills.

It took more than 30 stitches to mend 3-year-old Kayla Kunz's torn scalp after she was mauled two weeks ago by a pit bull. As the Spokane Valley girl recovered from the attack, Todd D. Bates, the dog's owner, was cited on Thursday for three offenses: keeping a dog with vicious propensities, a misdemeanor; dog threatening a person; and not keeping the dog's rabies shots current. County animal control director Nancy Sattin deemed the squatty, brown dog dangerous after Bates's mother turned it over to the animal shelter last Friday.

Enough already. Working to dig out his car, Dax Barrett, front, is pelted by Chris Hansen, left, and Geoff Hensley, right. Clearing the sidewalk at the 29th Avenue home is Bo Chalick, center. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Caffeinated kids. Anna Shablimskaya, 17, and Kristina Sanderson, 18, joke with a friend at the bar of The Coffee Club. Kristina's sister, Michelle, 16, finds the nearest place to sit - under the bar. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

A 22-year-old man was charged Friday night with threatening to kill a Spokane Valley woman. Shayne P. Rockstrom, who gave his address as 11012 E. 17th, was booked into the Spokane County Jail for felony harassment. He was also charged with driving with a suspended license. The 18-year-old victim and a friend left her house in the 3000 block of South Whipple in a car and were followed by a blue Honda Civic, deputies said.

Sheriff's Sgt. George Wigen testifies at a dangerous-dog hearing Thursday as Donald Boe's family looks on. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

A Rockford man was arrested Sunday after he pointed a handgun at four people and threatened to kill one of them, deputies said. Witnesses told deputies that Terry Douglas LaShaw was upset with his wife and pointed the gun at her inside the home they shared on the corner of Baker and Marsh. LaShaw then turned the gun toward another woman inside the house, before going outside and confronting two men sitting in a vehicle parked in front of the house, deputies said.

1. Tom Danners and Barb Smith collect fingerprints from the car of James Zellers, which was damaged by a thief or thieves in a break-in. In inset photo above, Smith inspects a fingerprint impression from a burglarized car. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Don Chatterton prepares for a tour as a SCOPE volunteer: "A lot of times (criminals) will decide this isn't the area they want to be in." Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

1. Below, Steve Spuler gets help with his mask after finishing the practice course in record time. Right, pulling a railroad tie attached to a section of fire hose is tough sledding for Larry Rider. Photos by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Left, Steve Spuler charges into the dark tower with 75 feet of hose on his shoulder.

Two teenagers were injured early Monday when they were attacked by a group of men outside a Spokane Valley home. Deputies said up to four men about 20 years old jumped out of a pickup truck about 2:30 a.m. and started fighting with the two 17-year-old boys in front of a house in the 10200 block of East Valleyway. One of the boys suffered a severe cut to his ear. The other had a cut over his eye and a swollen nose. Both were treated at Valley Hospital and Medical Center and released.

Remembering the struggles of their ancestors and pointing to hope for the future, families and friends from the African-American community gathered Saturday night to celebrate Kwanzaa. Nearly 100 people squeezed into a small room in the East Central Community Seventh-day Adventist Church to learn what the ceremony was all about. "Now that I have been to my first one, I can do a little reading up on it," said Manuel Brown.

Clyde Starr and his grandson, David Highbarger, 10. Starr is an active member of SCOPE East and the state's crime prevention program. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane Valley Fire District 1 says it needs money for vehicles and buildings. So the district will ask voters to approve a $5.7 million levy for 1997, or $1.49 per $1,000 of assessed property, on Feb. 6. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $149. Money from the levy will fund more than half of Valley Fire's projected $10.5 million budget for 1997, said assistant chief Karl Bold.

Convicted child rapist Bruce Johnson is handcuffed after being sentenced to 96 months by Judge Kathleen O'Connor. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Garth Werner, owner of the Blue Dolphin Tavern, advises New Year's Eve revelers to "bring a friend who doesn't like to drink" to his or other party locations in the Valley. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Kate Blankenship of Spokane searches the Santa's Tree Farm lot, with her mind set on buying a noble fir. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

A state drug team on Friday found thousands of dollars worth of methamphetamine and a working drug lab in a garage at a Spokane Valley home child-care facility. Spokane County sheriff's detectives added manufacturing methamphetamine to the list of charges Ronald L. Acre faces.

The line of people waiting to pick up Christmas gifts for their families Thursday stretched out the door of the gymnasium at Redeemer Lutheran Church. Inside, a small army of volunteers rushed to help needy parents choose a household items, a gift for their child, a stocking stuffer and a stuffed toy. Many of the volunteers were from area schools and youth groups. East Valley, Freeman and University high schools were all represented, as were North Pines and Greenacres junior highs.