Dan Hansen

A committee given more than half a million dollars in state money to help Spokane County kids spent 64 percent of it on surveys, lobbying and consultants, prompting county commissioners to request a state audit. The audit is not yet completed. But there's no indication the Spokane County Community Network has done anything but follow its controversial legislative mandate. Created in 1994, the 53 networks in communities statewide are supposed to give top priority to finding long-term solutions for child abuse, youth violence, youth drug abuse, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, high-school dropouts and teen suicide.

Many Spokane County residents use parks in Cheney and Medical Lake, so it's only fair that the two cities get county parks money, commissioners have decided. Spokane County commissioners say they will contribute $50,000 for Waterfront Park and Lake Trail in Medical Lake. The money, from the county's real estate excise tax, will help pay for $159,000 worth of improvements planned this year. In addition, commissioners agreed to contribute $14,000 to the city of Cheney from the sale of timber cut from county parks after last November's ice storm.

Spokane won't have Steve Hasson to chase through the window any longer. The outrageous, ambitious Hasson, who sometimes entertained and sometimes infuriated Spokane during eight years as county commissioner, is moving to the Midwest. The move ends speculation that Hasson, who lost the commission seat to Kate McCaslin last year, would run for the state Senate.

Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday decided not to ban lots smaller than 40 acres on thousands of acres near urban areas.

Paul A. Sorensen grins for the camera Monday while playing golf. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review

People who care about Riverside State Park can discuss its future during four days of workshops. But be forewarned that organizers are calling the series "A Week of Hard Work." The state Parks and Recreation Commission is hosting the workshops next week to gather information it will use to write a management plan for the park, said Daniel Farber, state parks planner.

This outhouse and another at the Island Park trailhead along the Centennial Trail have been closed because of vandalism. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday approved a land-use ordinance they hope will pass muster with state officials who rejected an earlier version. Required under the state's Growth Management Act, the "critical areas" ordinance is designed to protect streams, farms, wetlands, forests and other sensitive areas. The county's original ordinance was rejected in April, when the growth management hearings board for Eastern Washington ruled that commissioners hadn't used "best available science" in setting buffers between streams and new development.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke spoke Friday at a conference for the Association of Washington Cities on the importance of infrastructure, welfare reform, citizen responsibility and ... Don't get us wrong, governor. It's not that streets and budgets aren't important. In fact, your audience of city officials seemed to find it all quite fascinating. But reporters want the skinny on the flying rodents in the mansion.

Standing in a small wetlands on Spokane's South Hill, Rep. Joyce Muliken, R-Ephrata, says the state's GMA is too strict and that the land's owner should be free to develop the site. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

A state panel ruled Thursday that Spokane County went "far beyond" legal requirements for providing public participation when it set boundaries that now guide development. Spokane resident Lila Howe filed a complaint with the Growth Management Hearings Board of Eastern Washington, saying citizens did not have enough input when county commissioners set "interim urban growth boundaries." Development is limited in areas outside those boundaries. Howe also complained that some meetings between county Commissioner John Roskelley and two City Council members were not properly advertised.

Spokane County commissioners agreed this week to tax landowners in small towns, the suburbs and semirural areas for a soil study. Landowners with 20 acres or less will pay $2 a year for five years to fund the study. That's in addition to the $3 they already pay to the Spokane County Soil Conservation District. The rate charged for unplatted lots - those 20 acres or larger - will not increase from the rate of 5 cents an acre for undeveloped land or 10 cents an acre for cultivated fields. That's the maximum allowed under state law.

Spokane County commissioners agreed Tuesday to replace the county's 14-year-old mainframe computer system. Commissioner Kate McCaslin voted against spending $730,000 on a PeopleSoft system, saying the company's warranty is inadequate. It requires the county to take the company to court if the system fails and covers only the cost of the software, not the county's time for installation, training and troubleshooting. Commissioners John Roskelley and Phil Harris voted to buy the system, noting the warranty is standard for the industry.

The Spokane County Planning Commission is recommending a "critical areas" ordinance strikingly similar to one county commissioners softened a year ago. The commissioners' version was rejected by the regional Growth Management Act hearings board, which said there was no proof the ordinance was based on science. The state requires counties to write laws protecting streams, wetlands, forests and other sensitive areas. A key provision of the ordinance is the minimum distance between new development and streams.

A state House of Representatives subcommittee will be in Spokane on Thursday and Friday to discuss the Growth Management Act and wetlands regulations. The House Government Reform and Land-Use Committee wants to hear success stories and complaints, as well as ideas for reforming regulations, said committee staff member Kathy Thompson. The meetings are part of a series scheduled across the state.

The crowd that gathers for a U.S. Senate hearing on Saturday could fill every motel in this central Washington farm town. Could, that is, if there were any motels to fill. "Several people have contacted us, asking if there are spaces for RVs, and where are the motels," said Judy Esser, mayor of the town of 2,000. Like most people in town, Esser wants locals to control the Columbia River and the counties to decide the future of Wahluke Slope.

1. Strong feelings run deep. Mark Ufkes descends the White Bluffs toward the Hanford Reach on the Columbia River. "Why give it away? We (the public) already own it. Why give it to a special interest?" Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Pelicans rise off a flooded island. 3. Mattawa mayor Judy Esser is all for giving Hanford Reach lands back to counties for private development or farming. Hearings on the Reach will be held in the town of 2,000, where she is a Realtor. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Flooding in the Columbia River and landslides off the White Bluffs are combining to erode an island so rich in archeological treasures that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At its midpoint, Locke Island is about 35 feet narrower than it was two weeks ago, said Paul Nickens, archeologist for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. The island, which is a half-mile wide and 3 miles long, has lost 85 feet of width since 1995. Nickens said the causes are two-fold.

Saying they want time to consider turning over sewers to private operators, Spokane County commissioners put the brakes on a plan to build a large Valley shop. County utilities director Bruce Rawls on Tuesday asked permission to pay $200,000 for 3.5 acres east of Millwood owned by Hugh and Anita Smith. The Utilities Department would spend another $300,000 to build a 8,000-square-foot shop. The county now leases a 5,000-square foot warehouse, with no outside storage space, near Felts Field. That lease costs $1,500 a month, and may increase when it's re-negotiated in October, Rawls told commissioners.

Time is short for people who want to tell senators their opinion of "wild and scenic" protection for Hanford Reach, one of the last free-flowing stretches of the Columbia River. The hearing, hosted by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 21, at the middle school in Mattawa, a small central Washington town near the river. The deadline for applying to speak at that hearing is Friday.

The artist who put runners in Riverfront Park and horses in the central Washington scablands plans to put a pioneer back in the Spokane Valley. The county is paying David Govedare $30,000 to create a sculpture for Plantes Ferry Park, the site of a ferry operated by Antoine Plante in the mid-1800s. Elements of the multipiece sculpture may span the Spokane River and Centennial Trail.

Mountain bikers hit a section of the Centennial Trail west of Barker Road that was recently rebuilt with sand and gravel after being flooded by the Spokane River, which is still lapping at the edges. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane County commissioners and three of their top employees went behind closed doors Tuesday, announcing they were going to talk about personnel issues. Instead, they discussed a fairgrounds contract officials say ran afoul of the law. The meeting itself may have been illegal.

Spokane County violated state law by not seeking competitive bids before hiring a contractor for a $134,000 project at the fairgrounds, officials say. The work - building an elaborate electrical system in a failed attempt to lure a motor-home convention - was called "ordinary maintenance," a designation that eliminated the need for bidding. The details were worked out during an informal meeting last winter in a hospital cafeteria. County Commissioner Phil Harris participated in the meeting.