Dan Hansen

Forty-seven women have applied for newly required licenses to be exotic dancers in Spokane County. But a recent county inspection shows that the adult arcade where the women strip has not complied with many other provisions of the county's new adult entertainment ordinance.

A Spokane Valley teenager has failed in his latest attempt to have charges filed against a woman who stabbed him in 1996. Tim Buchanan Jr. and his parents filed a "citizens complaint" in December, asking a District Court judge to decide that there is sufficient reason to file criminal charges against Karen Beeman. The Buchanans wanted Beeman charged with assault, reckless endangerment, obstructing a law enforcement officer and making false statements to authorities.

Parts of Spokane will look more like Reno tonight. Using equipment that lights the exteriors of casinos and other buildings around the world, Doug Davidson plans to flood colored light over St. John's Cathedral, the Pavilion in Riverfront Park and other city landmarks. Davidson, a Spokane theatrical consultant who helps companies design interiors and sets for special events, will haul the computerized equipment from building to building in the back of a pickup, starting shortly after dusk.

Years of studies are for naught at Eloika Lake, where residents are giving up plans to build a dam they hoped would save the weed-choked lake. Spokane County commissioners said Tuesday that they're turning down a $400,000 state loan. That interest-free money sat unused for three years as engineers and lake residents discussed the dam proposal. It would have been the responsibility of 325 landowners surrounding the lake to pay back the loan and raise an additional $300,000 that county engineers said was needed.

A booster of Spokane's elusive north-south freeway is accusing Spokane County commissioners of not being team players. In a March 4 letter, the president of the Inland Automobile Association contends the commissioners are "irresponsible" for proposing a beltway around Spokane as one way of easing traffic.

Jim Lindow enjoys his free time at his Five Mile home. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

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Spokane County is demanding that an officer from Geiger Corrections Center resign, now that a former inmate has testified that the pair repeatedly had sex in 1992. A Feb. 24 letter from county attorneys also demands that Sunny Pilkington drop a lawsuit or face the prospect of civil penalties.

Planned improvements at Liberty Lake's public launch would shift the noise and congestion of boaters from one neighboring homeowner to another, those pitching an alternative proposal said during a hearing Monday. But state officials say their plan is best for users who don't live at the lake. Any alternative would require dredging the lake, adding to the cost and regulatory headaches of the work, they told the state Shorelines Hearings Board. "It's not easy living next to a site like this," acknowledged assistant attorney general Jay Geck, who represented the Department of Fish and Wildlife at the hearing.

Spokane County commissioners approved higher rental fees for groups and promoters using the county fairgrounds. The rates, approved Tuesday, include a hefty increase in the cost of camping at the fairgrounds, a first-ever fee for parking, and a 2 percent increase in the cost of renting the exhibition hall and other buildings. But nonprofit groups that work with children will get the break they said they needed to continue their work. Such groups will pay 20 percent of the rental fees charged adult or for-profit groups.

Spokane County commissioners boosted the sheriff's budget Tuesday by about $300,000 a year to help solve murder cases. The money will fund three detectives, a sergeant and a secretary to replace employees working to solve the murders of 19 women. The money also will be used to buy equipment and pay for travel for homicide investigators. The investigation of other crimes has suffered because so many staff members are working on the city/county task force trying to solve the murders, Sheriff John Goldman told commissioners. The effort includes following up on about 750 tips from the public and cataloging evidence.

State lawmakers adopted Washington's Open Public Meetings Act in 1971. The act forced state and local governing bodies to hold most of their debates in public. Before, they only voted in public; the political wrangling, compromises, trade-offs and arm-twisting could be done behind closed doors. The law requires agencies to notify the public at least 24 hours before meeting and requires them to meet within the area that they govern. It defines a meeting as any gathering of a majority of the board, if business is discussed.

Only a sliver of the money collected under a Spokane County tax intended to build soccer fields and softball diamonds for amateurs has been used for those purposes. Until this year, Seafirst Stadium is the only sports field that has benefited from the tax on rental cars, which county commissioners adopted in 1992. Including the money promised this year, more than a third of the $1 million spent from the tax since 1995 has gone to maintain and improve the stadium. The county-owned stadium is home to the Spokane Indians, a professional team that uses the field for 38 home games each year. Amateur baseball teams used the field 40 days last year, with all but high school teams paying $100 a day.

A Spokane County corrections officer who claims co-workers conspired to get her fired may face criminal charges for having sex with an inmate, a county prosecutor said Friday. Former inmate Walter Zackman testified that he and Sunny Pilkington had sex several times at Geiger Corrections Center in 1992, according to two attorneys who questioned him under oath.

The gnashing of teeth from kids clubs that use Spokane's fairgrounds soon may be silenced. For two years, nonprofit youth groups have warned that the county's policy of charging them half-price for renting the fairgrounds might force them to eliminate shows or move into other counties. Now, county commissioners may cut the fee to 20 percent of what they charge everyone else. "I'm really, really tickled with this proposal," said Treva Norris, business manager of the annual Spokane Junior Livestock Show.

(photo of Spokane.net page)

An adult arcade has filed suit against Spokane County to pre serve the right of exotic dancers to perform on customers' laps. The suit filed Monday by Deja Vu Inc. alleges that the county's new adult entertainment ordinance violates First Amendment rights to offer "non-obscene dance entertainment and motion picture films." In November, county commissioners approved the ordinance, which requires a distance of 4 feet between dancers and their customers. If the ordinance stands, it will prohibit scantily clad entertainers from squatting, grinding and gyrating in their customers' laps.

(From For the Record, February 14, 1998): Story wrong: The Washington Department of Natural Resources levies a Fire Protection Assessment in areas prone to wildfires, regardless of whether the land is in a fire district. A story on the regional page of Friday's Spokesman-Review said otherwise.

A developer is suing to make Spokane County immediately redraw boundaries that designate where urban development is allowed. The suit by Harley Douglass could set back county efforts to comply with the state's Growth Management Act, said County Commissioner Kate McCaslin. It would force staff and commissioners to redo work that took months to complete.

Darrell Tribar takes care of the ORV park on the West Plains. The facility is facing a substantial budget cut. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

County Commissioner Kate McCaslin, right, hasn't echoed Commissioner Phil Harris' pro-growth sentiments. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane County commissioners often start their careers by learning what not to say. Phil Harris alarmed civil libertarians with talk about chain gangs during his first year. John Roskelley was still a newcomer when he angered golfers by calling theirs a sport for the wealthy. For Kate McCaslin, the jeers came from classical music lovers and the people who ride Jet Skis and other personal watercraft.

FOR THE RECORD: 2-6-98 Map wrong: Spokane County is offering to give away a bridge in Waverly. A different town was shown in a map that appeared on the front page Thursday. The county hopes someone will adopt this 250-foot concrete bridge in Waverly. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

Quick: Name a member of the Spokane County Planning Commission. That question may be getting easier to answer. Stuck behind a gavel until 1996, the seven-member panel decided whether this chunk of land could be subdivided, or that farm should become a strip mall. About the only people who could name a board member were those who were angered by a planning decision.