Dan Hansen

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.

Sports may help oldsters feel young, but in Spokane County, golfers are qualifying earlier than ever before for senior discounts. Spokane County officials decided this week to reduce the minimum age for senior season passes from 65 to 60, said Francine Boxer, the county's assistant chief administrative officer. The passes are good at the county's three courses.

When there's a doubt, Spokane County will let a committee decide which scientific studies to use for setting policies regarding wetlands and other sensitive areas. That decision stems from a case last year in which a state panel decided county commissioners ignored scientific evidence in setting buffer zones to protect rivers and creeks. Some biologists had said 250 feet should be the minimum distance between large waterways and new development. But commissioners noted that those recommendations were based on Western Washington studies, and they questioned whether they are valid east of the Cascades.

The state has withdrawn allegations that an inspector tipped off a Spokane hospital before a surprise inspection. The case cost inspector Terry Hentges his job and could lead to a financial settlement by the state Department of Labor and Industries. It also led to a three-day suspension for a Spokane County official who later was accused of cronyism for hiring Hentges soon after he lost the state job. L&I; fired Hentges in early 1996, citing seven instances of gross misconduct and negligence. Four of the allegations stemmed from complaints in 1993 that he misused a state car and retaliated against the co-worker who reported him.

A tax on land purchases and motel stays may help fund improvements at the Spokane Interstate Fair and Exhibition Center. Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin proposes issuing $2.5 million worth of bonds to improve the fairgrounds. The county would repay the debt over 20 years, using portions of existing taxes on real estate sales, and hotel and motel rooms. "They tell me that would give us a first-class facility," McCaslin said. The fairgrounds advisory board is still working on a priority list, but there are plenty of possible uses for the money, fairgrounds manager Dolly Hughes said.

Washington taxpayers have spent about $15 million on land-use planning that could be abandoned under a bill now before the Legislature. House Bill 2542 would allow rural counties to withdraw from the 1990 Growth Management Act without repaying money they've received from the state to help them comply with the act. County officials could make the decision without input from the cities within their boundaries. City councils often support the GMA, while commissioners in many counties - particularly rural counties - despise it.

A small lake, an old rail bed and a canyon popular with horse riders are among the properties people want Spokane County to preserve with their tax dollars. Residents voted in November to continue the "conservation futures" tax. Now, Spokane civic and county officials are asking for suggestions of natural areas suitable for purchase with the tax.

Washington residents may have thought they clamped a tight lid on property taxes when they approved Referendum 47 in November. In reality, the lid is loose. "It's going to be an absolute nightmare when tax bills go out and people say, 'I voted for tax reform. What happened?"' predicted Sharon Stern of the Spokane County Assessor's Office. Most cities, towns and other taxing districts in the county will increase their 1998 property tax collections by about as much as they did each year before the referendum became law. An escape clause written into the referendum makes that possible; sponsors thought the fear of bad publicity would make politicians reluctant to use it.

Flood control taxes doubled Newman Lake resort owners Mary and Bill Walters' tax bill. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

A former golf pro won't get the money he thinks he deserves for building a shed for golf cars at MeadowWood Golf Course. Kaye Walker, who retired last year from the Liberty Lake course, asked county commissions to pay him for the 2,400-square-foot shed he built in 1988. County staff initially offered $18,000 for the building, $2,000 less than its appraised value.

Harris

Spokane's top young golfers are about to learn a lesson tougher than the 16th hole at MeadowWood: There's no such thing as free play. Not on Spokane's public courses.

Spokane County government is caught in a dispute between a labor union and two corrections workers who refuse to pay their union dues. The battle could lead to a lawsuit against the county and ultimately could cost Larry Tjomsland and Larry Holquist their jobs at the county jail. Last February, the pair directed the county to stop deducting monthly union dues of $35.75 from their paychecks. They were upset over campaign contributions by unions nationwide.