Dan Hansen

Spokane firefighters try to reach flames burning within the walls of a house at 1718 S. Arthur Thursday morning. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane County commissioners have rejected a developer's plan to put 10 houses on land at Long Lake. Tuesday's decision settles - for now - what will happen to part of the land that was owned by the late Len Miotke, a fisherman and conservationist who led efforts to clean up the Spokane River reservoir. Family members were split over whether the scenic property should be developed into home sites or preserved in large chunks.

After months of silence, Spokane County commissioners are responding to residents' concerns about a landfill near Medical Lake. However, their attorney-approved form letter says little more than that the law prevents commissioners from discussing the Graham Road Recycling and Disposal Facility. The three-page letter is going to about 50 people who have written commissioners asking that they block expansion of the landfill. "I know there are some people out there who don't understand why ... the commissioners won't come" to community meetings about the landfill, said Commissioner Phil Harris. "Well, the reason is, we can't."

Spokane County won't plow the two-mile-long road leading to the Spokane Valley Mall because the developer hasn't completed all the work needed to qualify it as a county road. But developer Raymond Hanson contends the county took over Indiana Avenue before the mall opened last August. He threatens to sue to recover any money he spends maintaining the four-lane road. On Saturday, ice and snow caused a noninjury single-car accident on Indiana just west of the mall.

After spending at least $400,000 on the project, the city of Spokane is giving up plans to raise a Spokane River dam - at least for the next six years. "Obviously, we're very, very disappointed," said George Miller, design engineer for the city's department of water and hydroelectric services. "We thought this was going to be a win-win proposition for the community, but it isn't panning out that way." First proposed in the early 1980s, the plan called for adding 18 inches to the height of Upriver Dam so it could generate an additional $175,000 worth of electricity each year. Environmentalists, canoeists, fishermen and others fought the proposal, which would have stilled scenic rapids visible from the Centennial Trail in the Spokane Valley. Last month, the Washington Department of Ecology denied a permit that was critical to the project. Appealing that decision could have cost $100,000, said Miller. Even if the city won the appeal of the Ecology Department's decision, it would have to negotiate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which was concerned about the project's effects on bald eagle habitat, Miller said. Finally, it would have had to spend $771,000 to mitigate environmental damage staff for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the project would cause. "We've concluded that we're at the breaking point where all the additional revenue that would be generated would go back into the project," said Miller. In the 1980s, the city paid $225,000 to 91 landowners whose riverfront property would have been partially flooded if the dam were raised. The city spent at least another $175,000 on engineering studies and other costs, said Miller. Miller and hydroelectric director Brad Blegen said it's possible the plan could be revived after 2004. That's when the city must renegotiate its contract to sell electricity to Washington Water Power Co. The project may become financially feasible if energy deregulation causes electricity rates to climb at the time the new contract is being written, Blegen said. Miller noted that many world leaders are becoming concerned about greenhouse gases. One way to reduce them, he said, is to replace fossil fuels with electricity produced from hydroelectric dams. "Eventually, somebody may come to the conclusion that, regardless of some minor environmental problems, the best solution is to raise the (dam)," Miller said.

Planning for urban growth in Washington is like taking an algebra test: Cities and counties must show the math. In a written statement issued Christmas Eve, a state panel ruled that the city of Spokane and the county didn't show the math they used to draw temporary boundaries limiting urban development. Under the state's Growth Management Act, those boundaries are supposed to be just large enough to handle population increases expected in the next 20 years. The idea is to prevent urban sprawl into areas that don't have sewers and other necessary infrastructure. Developers who appealed Spokane County's "interim urban growth areas" contend the boundary is too small. Among other things, the city counted undevelopable land as developable, the builders told the GMA Eastern Washington hearings board. The three-member board said the city and county didn't compile enough data to defend itself. And the developers found enough flaws in the city's calculations to raise "serious questions" about whether the boundaries were properly drawn. Among the land counted as buildable: Parcels beneath power transmission lines, and land already developed as a Lutheran church, a library, a city park and a youth center. The city acknowledged it included some areas that are undevelopable and agreed to correct the problem before it and the county draw final growth boundaries. A more contentious issue is whether the city must deduct wetlands, steep slopes and other "critical areas" from its inventory of buildable land. Developers said those lands must be deducted, and the hearings board agreed. But city Planning Director Charlie Dotson said that's not the case. "We do not have to deduct for critical areas," said Dotson, who had not yet read the hearing board's decision. "If the board is telling us we have to, then we've got a problem because I think they've overstepped their bounds." The hearings board said its ruling doesn't necessarily mean the growth boundaries are too small. Nor do the city and county have to go back to the drawing board. Spokane city and county currently are working on comprehensive land-use plans, another requirement of the GMA. After those plans are completed, commissioners must approve permanent urban growth boundaries, sometime this year. The hearings board said the county must write a plan for correcting the problems noted in last week's decision before the permanent boundaries are adopted. "Our decision reflects a feeling that the interim boundary is just that; it's interim. It does not necessarily have to be perfect," said hearings board member Skip Chilberg. "In fact, the reason for the interim (boundary) is to find the errors so they can be corrected for the final boundaries."

One of Eastern Washington's renegade counties has been brought back into the fold. Chelan County, which for six years defied state law by refusing to comply with the Growth Management Act, recently received a glowing report from the state panel that reviews county plans.

Ashlock

If the charges against Lance Seurer are true, the accused killer of 93 ferrets is also a threat to people, a Spokane County judge ruled Tuesday. Seurer must post $50,000 bail if he wants to be released from jail while awaiting a February trial, Superior Court Judge Richard Schroeder ruled after Seurer pleaded not guilty to eight counts of animal cruelty.

Time's run out for Art Keinath - the county cut his position from the budget. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Nearly two months after voters cast ballots, a Stevens County judge has decided the winners in two Springdale races. Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker ruled last week that the county's election canvassing board acted properly in throwing out a pivotal absentee ballot.

1. Terry Judge uses tethers to give 3-year-old daughter Molly her first ski lesson. The two were at Mount Spokane on Friday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Mount Spokane skier Jay Harless wears the hat he received for Christmas.

There were no bells and whistles, no prizes, no chorus of riders singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." But sometime Monday morning, some unknown passenger took the 8 millionth ride this year on a Spokane Transit Authority bus. Even if no one else rides, it is a record year, STA officials say. They're predicting final ridership will hit 8.15 million for the year, a 4 percent increase over 1996 and 33 percent increase since 1965, the first year for which figures are available.

Pollution from an unknown source flows downstream through Riverfront Park Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

The proposed route for the Centennial Trail would cross the Spokane River using these old railroad bridge footings to support a wooden bridge west of downtown. In the future, the bridge may be part of a trail route that travels from Lake Coeur d'Alene nearly to Seattle. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Wayne Rau, left, and Baron Goodshield catch the STA trolley to the Arena parking lot - and their waiting cars - on Friday. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

The U.S. Postal Service likely will build a massive new distribution center at Spokane International Airport. Although the Postal Service's Board of Governors won't vote on the matter until late February, the Spokane Airport Board on Wednesday approved a 20-year lease for 31 acres in the airport business park. "We're confident and optimistic it's going to happen," said Al DeSarro, Postal Service spokesman in Denver.

The times, they are a-changin'. And so are the routes. On Wednesday, the Spokane Transit Authority board of directors approved the first major revision of bus service in 16 years.

The Western Dance Association built this dancing hall. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Regulations to stop erosion at construction sites aren't needed and will make houses more expensive, developers and builders told Spokane County commissioners during a hearing Tuesday. "Give us a break. Builders are going out of business," said Suzanne Knapp of the Spokane Home Builders Association. Commissioners said they'll decide Feb. 3 whether to adopt the proposed "erosion and sediment control" ordinance, which would set new standards for all construction projects.

Golfers who schedule their games creatively still can find bargain rates at Spokane County courses - despite a fee increase adopted by county commissioners Tuesday. The standard fee for 18 holes of golf will increase $1.50 in 1998 to $16 for adult county residents. Nonresidents and tournament players will pay $22 instead of $19.50, commissioners decided. But resident golfers can save 50 cents by playing on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Spokane County commissioners will wait until early next year to officially lower the salary of the next sheriff. Commissioners John Roskelley and Kate McCaslin made it clear Tuesday that Sheriff John Goldman's replacement will earn $82,000, rather than the $90,000 the county pays Goldman. On Tuesday, those two commissioners voted to cut the sheriff's pay effective Jan. 1, 1999. They rescinded that vote when Commissioner Phil Harris argued they had not followed proper procedure.

1. Goldman 2. Harris

After they design their projects but before they can get permits, builders would have to write plans for controlling runoff at construction sites, under a proposed county ordinance. Spokane County commissioners will consider the "erosion and sediment control" ordinance during a hearing Tuesday. The ordinance would set new standards for all construction projects and require written plans for most projects that require building or grading permits.