Dan Hansen

Money collected from Spokane postal workers to help congressional candidates will aid people with muscular dystrophy instead, a union official decided Friday after learning that the collections may have violated federal law. Since June 24, representatives from the National Association of Letter Carriers have visited six Spokane County post offices during work hours, asking members for money for the union's political action committee. They had the blessing of Spokane Postmaster Ken Symbol.

Federal researchers greatly overestimated the environmental threat of raising a Spokane River dam, consultants for the city of Spokane contend in a recent study. The $12,500 study, paid for by Spokane city water customers, disputes many of the figures and assumptions included in an environmental impact statement prepared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Engineers want to raise by 18 inches the height of the city's Upriver Dam, located near Felts Field airport. The project can't be done without federal approval.

Nathaniel J. Brown could have bigger problems than a criminal record when his days behind bars are done. The 19-year-old inmate may get a whopper of a plumbing bill. Brown is accused of plugging the toilet in his Spokane County Jail cell, then flushing it repeatedly last June 14.

A debate that started more than four years ago ended Tuesday when Spokane County commissioners quietly passed one of the most contentious laws they've ever considered. The "critical areas" ordinance, required under the state Growth Management Act, establishes rules for protecting wetlands, forests and other fragile areas. It pitted developers against environmentalists in a battle neither group won.

Spokane County commissioners agreed Tuesday to give Prosecutor Jim Sweetser most of the additional money he requested for fighting crime. Moments later, commissioners announced they'll not consider any other requests for more money from any county departments, at least until new budget figures are available in October. Sweetser, who warned he'd have to start letting some felons go if he didn't get $163,000, will receive $120,000 and a promise that commissioners will consider giving him more in October.

A potentially huge development a mile from their neighborhood has some Peaceful Valley residents worried. Neighbors fear traffic jams on their narrow streets if Central Pre-Mix Concrete Co. builds apartments, houses and offices on a played-out gravel pit, said Nancy Roth, who chairs the Peaceful Valley Steering Committee. Roth spoke at a hearing Monday before the Spokane County Boundary Review Board, which decides if the city can annex Central's gravel pit, west of the city.

The people who guard the public's health are feeling a little queasy. For more than a year, a possible takeover by county commissioners has hung over the Spokane County Health District. Employee apprehension intensified late last month, when commissioners Steve Hasson and Phil Harris balked at a committee's recommendation that they abandon the idea, saying they want more time to think about alternatives.

A Valley businessman hoping to reopen a sewage dump site lost his last appeal to the Spokane County Health District. Short of a court battle, the only recourse left for Larry Wendel, owner of Appleway Septic Tank Service, is to take his case to the state Pollution Control Hearing Board in Olympia. Wendel said he plans to appeal the decision. For 11 years starting in 1983, Wendel operated two sewage lagoons about four miles northwest of Fairfield. Neighbors say the pits, where Appleway dumps sewage from home septic systems, threaten the environment and their health.

A planner fired a year ago by Spokane County has a new county job, plus back pay for the work he missed. Steve Horobiowski was fired June 9, 1995, along with two other planners, in a reorganization that is proving costly for taxpayers.

Two exotic snow leopards - a species with fewer than 4,000 surviving members - were euthanized at Walk in the Wild zoo because they were ill and aged. Meanwhile, zoo staff continue searching for homes other animals. The zoo closed the last day of 1995, and plans to move to Silverwood Theme Park in North Idaho collapsed in June when supporters missed a deadline for raising $2 million. The snow leopards, a male and female that mated in the past, were star attractions after arriving at Walk in the Wild in 1994.

Dr. John Beare

It'll cost a buck more than last year to get into the improved Spokane Interstate Fair this September. But that's not all. Next year, it'll cost an additional $2 for every carload of fairgoers.

FROM FOR THE RECORD (Saturday, June 29, 1996): Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson abstained from voting when commissioners decided to buy 2.3 acres to add to parks near Downriver Golf Course. A story in Wednesday's newspaper indicated otherwise.

A Spokane Valley man whose cougar was euthanized in April after biting a child replaced his controversial pet with a cougar cub. By getting another cougar quickly, Randy McGlenn may avoid being legally blocked from keeping such an exotic pet. Spokane County commissioners expect to vote soon on an ordinance that would limit such animals to rural areas. It would require owners to install double fences and meet other restrictions.

A park from Fish Lake to Pasco 1. State workers walk through a tunnel along an old railroad line that is being converted into a trail. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. The Cow Creek train trestle stretches 1,800 feet across a canyon. It has ties but not tracks, making passage a bit tricky. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The first leg of the Fish Lake to Pasco trail may be scenic, but its destination's a pit. Using $500,000 in federal money, the city of Cheney is paving 3.5 miles of the old Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Co. corridor from the town's sewage treatment plant to a Spokane County park at Fish Lake. Crews should finish the work this summer.

The players in the Growth Management Act poker game have tipped their hands, revealing that Spokane city and county are drawing for the same cards. The act, adopted by the Legislature in 1993, requires cities, towns and counties to estimate how much they're going to grow in the next 20 years and where the new people will live.

Crumbling pools and rusting swings didn't stop Spokane County commissioners from refunding $84,000 that builders reluctantly paid to help the county's park system. It's unclear whether the people who paid most of the money - home buyers - will get any of it back. The county sent checks to developers, who will decide whether to pass on refunds to their customers.

Spokane County spent nearly $19,000 - more than twice the expected amount - for security during last month's murder trial of a Hells Angels member. More than $15,000 covered 454 hours of overtime paid to sheriff's deputies who helped protect Deputy Prosecutor David Hearrean and his family, as well as jurors and witnesses.

Spokane County commissioners should drop plans to take over the county health district, say most members of a panel appointed to decide the wisdom of the move. But it's unclear whether commissioners will follow the Health Advisory Board's advice. While John Roskelley supports the recommendation, fellow commissioners Phil Harris and Steve Hasson want to consider alternatives giving the county more control - and the city of Spokane less - over the health district.

A judge has added 69,000 city of Spokane taxpayers to a class action lawsuit that could cost Spokane County $3 million in sewer money. The suit, brought by city resident Sandy Smith, claims it's illegal for the county to collect a $15 annual fee from city landowners to help pay for sewer construction outside the city limits. Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue last week ruled the lawsuit should be expanded to all city water customers, each of whom is required to pay the fee.

The Spokane County assessor's office needs a major attitude adjustment and four additional workers to dig out from under an avalanche of paperwork, a state consultant told county commissioners Monday. Commissioners tentatively agreed to hire the workers for at least 27 months.

Running a red light could become a Kodak moment. With three people killed in the last month by drivers running red lights, the Spokane City Council may let a private company install automatic cameras at some problem intersections. The cameras, in bulletproof boxes, would activate when a car enters an intersection after the light turns red. Cars that go into intersections on green or yellow lights would not be photographed.

The founders of Riverside Memorial Park probably would disagree with board members who oppose running the Centennial Trail through land owned by the cemetery. While the current board contends trail users would disturb cemetery visitors, the founders apparently wanted the area to be used for recreation as well as graves. In 1912, two years before the Riverside Park Co. opened the cemetery, John Finch and his partners donated 105 acres to the city.