Dan Hansen

A temporary worker whose last job with Spokane County sparked allegations of cronyism started a new county job this week. Terry Hentges' first job was as an "extra help" safety officer, a position that expired June 30. County officials say he performed well. This time, he's a "temporary" safety officer, hired to work through the end of the year.

Expand the Spokane County Health Board and keep the city as a major player, advises a committee appointed to study a political hot potato. It is the second time the same committee has considered the future of the health district at the request of county commissioners, who may turn the agency into a county department.

Spokane County does not have to refund more than $3 million collected from city residents to help build sewers in the suburbs, a Superior Court judge has ruled. Judge Michael Donohue said there is nothing improper about the county's aquifer protection fee, which is paid by anyone who owns land over Spokane's underground water supply.

Owners of Telect Inc. said they were stunned by a $37,000 bill for road improvements required if they expand their high-tech communications plant. Written over two years by a team of eight Liberty Lake developers and county officials, the Harvard Road mitigation plan mandates impact fees for new construction or the expansion of businesses. The money is set aside to pay for improvements that will be needed when the Harvard interchange becomes congested.

The guns won't be silenced at a popular hunting and shooting area north of Newman Lake. Armed with signatures from 11 of his neighbors, Fred Palahniuk asked county commissioners to add more than 2,000 acres north of Foothills Road to the county's "no-shooting" zone. But commissioners said Tuesday there are already plenty of laws to prevent the misuse of guns. It would be impossible to enforce a shooting ban in the rural area, they said.

About 400 Valley homeowners' sewer bills will be higher than expected, but not as high as they might have been. Spokane County commissioners last year decided to charge $3,100 for a typical residential lot in the Miller Park sewer project, which will be built this year. The project includes land from the north side of Sprague Avenue to the south side of Fourth Avenue, between Park and Eastern roads.

After several years of rapid growth, the number of visitors to Lake Roosevelt fell sharply this spring, hurting tourist-based businesses and communities. Speakers at a forum here Friday blamed flood control drawdowns for the 32 percent drop in visitors during the first six months of this year compared to 1995.

With four workers fresh on the payroll, the Spokane County assessor needs nine more to catch up on work, a state consultant said Thursday. County Commissioner John Roskelley estimated the nine employees, plus new computers and other improvements included in consultant Rich Baird's recommendation, would cost taxpayers $600,000.

James LaVigne is the county's artist in residence. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Taking aim at their own signs and pamphlets, Spokane County commissioners Tuesday decided it's OK to shoot bows in suburban areas. It was a good night for people who think government has too much control over weapons. Commissioners said they may ease restrictions on BB guns. They voted against expanding a no-shooting area near Newman Lake. And they said they'll consider adding shooters and other county residents to the committee that reviews the no-shooting boundaries.

Harold and Joyce Read, who live on South Bank Road, support the paving. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane County and the cities within its boundaries will miss a key Growth Management Act deadline by at least two months. The 1993 law requires counties and cities to work together to determine where growth will occur during the next 20 years, and which local governments will serve which areas. One of the first steps in that process - drawing "interim urban growth areas,"- was supposed to be completed by Oct. 1.

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.