Dan Hansen

Of the almost $1 million that will be spent for erosion control at Hangman Valley Golf Course, more than $300,000 is for the area near the driving range. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

View getting ever better. Metropolitan Mortgage is cleaning up the Summit Project site, with the Spokane skyline in the background, and marketing it to commercial and residential developers. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Some Valley mobile home residents may soon have a new and unlikely landlord: Spokane County. After a briefing Thursday about the impacts of building the Valley Couplet, county commissioners agreed to expand an existing mobile home park to make room for people who have to move from the path of the road.

Small high schools participating in next year's cross country district finals will get a break, compliments of Spokane County commissioners. Commissioners decided Tuesday not to charge Northeast District 7 schools for use of Hangman Valley Golf Course, the site of the October event. The race draws about 500 runners from 50 mostly rural schools in the easternmost counties of Washington.

Despite last-minute lobbying, Gov. Gary Locke has signed a bill that Spokane city and county officials say undermines efforts to protect drinking water. The new law, which unanimously passed both houses of the Legislature, exempts existing mobile home parks from connecting to public sewers, as long as their septic tanks don't fail. It was sponsored by Republican Reps.

"I've always chosen challenge," says Francine Boxer. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Wall Street is bullish on Spokane County. Standard & Poor's announced Friday that the county has maintained its double-A bond rating. In addition, the financial rating company upgraded the bonds the county sold between 1991 and 1996, from double-A-minus to double-A.

A bill championed by two Spokane legislators undermines efforts to protect drinking water and should be vetoed by the governor, several city and county officials contend. The bill, which unanimously passed both houses of the Legislature this month, exempts existing mobile home parks from connecting to public sewers as long as their septic tanks don't fail. Current law requires that all buildings be connected within a year after public sewers are available.

There's no doubt the county will replace the crumbling Valley Mission Park pool after it closes this fall. The question raised by one county commissioner on Tuesday is where exactly the new pool should be built. Spokane County officials planned to put the replacement across Mission Avenue from the current pool, on four acres owned by Modern Electric Co. The county and the utility have been negotiating a price for that property.

Facing a lawsuit over the death of an inmate, Spokane County commissioners agreed Tuesday to an investment that could prevent future claims. They decided to spend $6,000 on four "violent prisoner chairs" equipped with straps to hold down struggling inmates. An autopsy in 1995 concluded that inmate Mario Lozada died of restraint asphyxiation less than 10 minutes after jailers had strapped his arms to his chest, strapped his legs together and left him stomach-down in a jail cell.

One gathering of car salesmen every two months is plenty at the fairgrounds, Spokane County commissioners said Tuesday. Ditto for antique shows, boat shows and other sales. The "non-compete" policy stems from an unsuccessful lawsuit filed last year by three auto dealers. If formally adopted by commissioners, the policy will prevent competing shows 30 days before or after one another.

Runners race down the hill at Hangman Valley Golf Course last year. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review