Dan Hansen

Washington residents have until May 2 to request money to help recover from severe winter weather. The new deadline is for people whose property was damaged between Dec. 26 and Feb. 10, officials for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. The agency originally had requested those claims by March 31. Eastern Washington was hit with heavy snow and flooding in that period. Other parts of the state also were battered.

CORRECTION: 7-17-97; Pg. 3 The Box Tops concert at Liberty Lake's Pavillion Park on Aug. 2 is an evening concert, starting at 7 p.m. An opening act starts at 6 p.m. A recent edition of the Valley Voice reported incorrect starting times.

After Tuesday's decision by Spokane County commissioners, the creek that flows through Qualchan Golf Course is now, officially, Latah Creek. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Valley resident Sherman Spencer says he favors a proposed ban of powered watercraft on parts of the Spokane River. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

More flooding at Newman Lake is inevitable this spring, according to the Spokane County engineer. "We've about run out of ways to deal with it (runoff), so my prediction is: There will be more flooding," Bill Johns told county commissioners Tuesday. County officials have called a meeting for 5:30 tonight at the Tri-Community Grange near Moab Junction to discuss Johns' dire predictions with Newman Lake residents.

As a bicyclist rides past, debris sits along Centennial Trail near the site of the new Valley Mall. Some of the trash has blown across the trail and now sits on the riverbank. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Forty-six years after a north Spokane freeway was proposed, an overwhelming majority of county residents still hope it will be built, according to a recent survey. Asked whether a freeway linking Interstate 90 with the North Side should be built, 83 percent of 400 people said yes. Their reasons ranged from easing congestion and pollution to providing a safer, faster route through town.

Dan Groves of STA pulls the new low rider bus to the curb and extends it to allow passengers to walk straight on board without any steps. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Politicians are entering the debate over the name of a creek in southern Spokane County. On Tuesday, county commissioners will vote on a resolution requiring use of the name "Latah," rather than "Hangman," in county documents referring to the Spokane River tributary that starts in Idaho.

Four-wheel drive, air conditioning, an extended cab and cruise control. Add a gun rack and mud flaps, and it'd be a truck-lover's dream. But this 1997 Ford Ranger, and 19 other vehicles worth a total of $387,000, aren't headed for private carports. They would have been added to Spokane County's motor pool if county commissioners hadn't stalled deals with Wendle Ford, Camp Chevrolet and Becker Buick/GMC on Tuesday.

Developers who missed it the first time will have another chance to bid on a prime piece of commercial real estate owned by Spokane County taxpayers. The county is selling the former site of a Gull service station at the northwest corner of Argonne Road and Trent Avenue.

Starting this spring, passenger trains will rumble through Spokane every day for the first time in two years. The Empire Builder, Amtrak's most direct - and soon to be only - route between Chicago and the Northwest, was cut to four days a week in February 1994 as a cost-cutting measure.

Sewers, sidewalks, swing sets and streets were among the federally funded projects approved Tuesday by Spokane County commissioners. Every year, the county gets more than $2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for projects to benefit low-income residents.

A Geiger Corrections Center officer is suing Spokane County and some of its top employees, claiming co-workers conspired to get her fired. Sunny Pilkington was fired in 1992 for alleged sexual contact with an inmate. She won an arbitration ruling and returned to work, with back wages, in 1994.

1. County official Fran Boxer delivers eviction notices to carny workers Thursday. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Marge and her husband have been evicted from their fairgrounds home. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Labrador retrievers may be known for docility, but Brutus, a black lab from Otis Orchards, is dangerous, county commissioners ruled Tuesday. The dog, owned by Dawn Mason-Dunkle, was accused of biting one person, mauling a foal, and chasing or threatening several people on different occasions. The "dangerous" designation means Mason-Dunkle, 24119 E. Joseph, must meet stringent regulations if she wants to keep the dog. The requirements are so expensive, many owners have their pets euthanized rather than comply.

A levee damaged by the New Year's Day flood leaves the town of Rockford in danger should Rock Creek rise again, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps plans $45,000 in repairs beginning April 6. The work should take about two weeks, said Doug Weber, natural disaster manager from Seattle.

Saying his office is in "crisis" due to an increasing caseload, the Spokane County public defender is asking commissioners for a $445,000 budget boost. "We're getting pretty close to desperate," said Don Westerman. "I'm concerned that I'm going to have some attorneys either have nervous breakdowns or just plain walk out on me."

The common practice of golf professionals selling advertising space on golf balls won't be allowed on Spokane County courses, county commissioners said Tuesday. The decision nixes a potential deal between the pro at MeadowWood Golf Course and a Spokane car dealership.

The band will play on. In a reversal of an earlier decision, Spokane County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to give the Spokane Symphony $17,000 from a pot of money reserved for promoting tourism.

Ding-dong. Animal control calling. After a one-year hiatus, Spokane County animal control officers may rejoin Girl Scouts and Jehovah's Witnesses in the door-to-door parade. Residents in unincorporated areas of the county will be able to buy a pet license without leaving the porch, if county commissioners approve the one-year pilot program today. People who don't buy a license would have to look a uniformed officer in the eye when they claim they don't have a dog or cat.

Dr. Kim Thorburn is the new director of the Spokane Regional Health District. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Waverly residents who attended a county hearing Wednesday criticized as "ridiculous" one man's request that a crumbling bridge be saved as a historic landmark. The residents, including members of the town council, support the county's plan to tear down the 77-year-old concrete bridge when it is replaced with a new one.

Development regulations proposed by one Spokane County agency were criticized as costly and ineffective by the head of a closely related agency Thursday. The regulations, which are opposed by at least one major developers' group, would require plans for controlling runoff and erosion in new developments.