Dan Hansen

Amway isn't just a soap company anymore. Vacuum cleaners, spark plugs, pet food, cosmetics and clothing are some of the 6,500 products the company offers.

While some recruiters claim big tax advantages by starting an Amway business, the Internal Revenue Service keeps a close eye on distributors who claim big deductions. Distributors can't deduct the cost of heating their homes just because they occasionally hold sales seminars in the living room. But they can deduct the cost of heating a room that is used solely for the business.

1. The house that Amway built. Ron Puryear envisions the completion of his 26,000-square-foot mansion on the Spokane River in Post Falls. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. A back injury helped keep Ron Puryear from becoming another jobless mill worker. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 3. A window in the Puryears' 26,000-square-foot home shows their dock, six jet-powered skis, cruiser and ski boat. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 4. At first, Georgia Lee Puryear was adamantly opposed to joining Amway. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane kids will be a lot warmer this winter, thanks to 6,500 Amway conventioneers. Urged by their leaders to share their wealth, Amway distributors fanned out from the Spokane Arena during Sunday's lunch break to help local radio stations provide coats for needy children.

Socialism began eroding American culture when the government started running schools, an Amway hero told 6,500 fans in Spokane. Bill Britt, a millionaire Amway distributor credited with pioneering many of the company's recruiting techniques, was greeted with a prolonged standing ovation as he took the stage Saturday at the Spokane Arena.

It's impossible to understand Amway without knowing the language spoken by distributors. Here are a few key terms: The plan. Amway's sales and marketing plan. Showing the circles. Demonstrating the plan to potential recruits using a series of circles representing Amway distributorships.

1. An attentive crowd listens to Ron Puryear talk about Amway. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Shirley Mack of Spokane joined Amway a couple of months ago. "It's a business I can get into for a very reasonable cost," she says. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 3. Rich DeVos 4. Jay Van Andel

Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George Bush are among the dignitaries who have spoken at national Amway conventions. Don't expect Bill Clinton, or any other Democrat, to join the list.

The odds are more than 8,000 to 1 against Amway distributors earning enough money to quit their jobs. Distributors are nearly twice as likely to draw four of a kind on their first hand of poker. Amway documents show that the average monthly income for distributors was $88 in 1995. That doesn't take into account the money distributors spend on motivational tapes, gasoline or conferences.

Soap products like these are now only a small part of what Amway sells. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Creston Valley Wildlife Area's Summit Creek offers canoeists a gentle ride and the opportunity to observe elk, swans and other wildlife. Photo by Dan Hansen/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane residents who rejected a chance to change city government on Tuesday may get another opportunity next year.

The Valley's Painted Hills subdivision can grow by six more houses, despite concerns about how those newcomers would get off the hill during an emergency, two county commissioners decided Tuesday. Bill Barry, whose own home is near the end of Apache Pass Road, first asked to develop 20 lots on his 165 acres in 1993.

Steve Hasson discusses his defeat in Tuesday's primary. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

1. Commissioner turned out. Republican county commissioner nominee Kate McCaslin serves up cakes she baked to supporters at a party in the Spokane Valley Tuesday night. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review 2. A tired Steve Hasson waits out election results Tuesday at a party for him held in Percy's Restaurant. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Talk about lousy timing. Just as a state archivist was digging through dusty Spokane County court documents, a black widow crawled out of the box. The archivist recoiled as a county worker calmly slipped off her shoe and squished the arachnid.

An adult entertainment store is challenging Spokane County's rule prohibiting such businesses near residential neighborhoods. In a suit filed last week in U.S. District Court, World Wide Video of Washington, Inc., claims the long-standing regulation unconstitutionally suppresses free speech.

Revenue hit a record but attendance at the Spokane Interstate Fair dipped for the second straight year. Nearly 281,000 people attended the 10-day fair, which ended under Sunday's clouds. That compares to nearly 285,000 people in 1985 and 287,000 in 1994.

The carrot and the steak. Roger Dudley, center, moves his barbecue into position as PETA volunteers, including a carrot, try to pass out animal rights materials to schoolkids. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review <

Even with 110 beds empty, Geiger Corrections Center received permission Thursday to add 75 more. The $438,000 expansion will allow the county to move more low-risk offenders out of the downtown jail and into Geiger, where incarceration costs are lower and inmates are sent out on work projects to earn their keep, said Mike Pannek, Geiger administrator. The project will make room for an ever-growing population of criminals. "The trends tell us the offender population keeps growing," Pannek said. County commissioners also approved spending nearly $100,000 for an inmate substance abuse treatment program and $88,000 for electronic monitoring equipment. All three projects are funded with a tax increase voters approved last year. Geiger now has 450 beds and 340 inmates. After the expansion, it will have room for 525 inmates. County commissioners approved the project on the condition that the center not be allowed to grow larger than 550 beds without a public hearing. "What I don't want is for the West Plains to become the incarceration center for Eastern Washington," said county Commissioner Steve Hasson. The expansion will rely on inmate labor to keep costs down, said Gary Oberg, county director of corrections. Geiger officials first proposed the expansion in 1994, when they expected the number of federal inmates to increase from about 200 a day to 340. The county makes money on those inmates, who are primarily from the Spokane area, because the federal government pays $58 a day. It costs about $35 a day to keep an inmate in Geiger's casual, dorm-like cells. It costs $65 to keep them behind bars at the jail. Instead of growing, the number of federal prisoners sent to Geiger has fallen to 180 a day. Competition from new federal prisons in other states and reduced sentences for minor marijuana charges caused the drop, Oberg said. County Commissioner John Roskelley voted against spending money on drug treatment, saying Geiger should apply for federal money for that program. Hasson and commissioner Phil Harris voted for the entire $626,250 package, saying Geiger can pay back the money for the drug program if it gets a federal grant. Spokane County voters approved the 10th-of-a-percent sales tax increase by a slim margin last November. The tax is expected to raise $12 million before it runs out in 1999. The money can only be spent on jails and related programs.

Melanie and Dick Wilkie are spending $20,000 remodeling their West Plains home to get a better view of the wheat field across the street. On Saturday, they and their neighbors received notice that Spokane County has been asked to approve a landfill in the field.

As a candidate for Spokane County commissioner, Kate McCaslin calls Chelan County's costly fight against the Growth Management Act "a waste of money." Repeatedly on the campaign trail, McCaslin has said she can live with the law, even though it includes provisions she doesn't like.

If Spokane County commissioners Steve Hasson and John Roskelley appear impatient during Tuesday's commission's meeting, it probably has nothing to do with the agenda. Both men will be waiting to learn whether they've survived that day's primary election.

These signs saying private property are on many trees at Horseshoe Lake northwest of Spokane. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review