Jim Camden

Washington state needs to find ways to encourage businesses and non-profit groups to work together to improve communities, a Spokane neighborhood worker said Monday. "We need to promote community revitalization," said Jeff Gombosky, a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives. He believes state tax codes should be revised to give corporations an incentive to donate to non-profit groups working to solve community problems.

Kay Bishop, 57, had cancer treatments that could cost $75,000. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

State Rep. Dennis Dellwo will resign to take a seat on a state board that settles disputes on how cities should grow. Gov. Mike Lowry said Friday he was appointing Dellwo to the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board.

As he officially starts his fifth campaign for the state Senate, Republican Bob McCaslin concedes he has changed his mind about some things. For instance, the amount of time someone should serve in that body. Challenger McCaslin in 1980, running against two-term incumbent William Day, said no one should serve more than eight years in the Senate.

The pre-dawn bomb blast boosted Spokane to its highest state of alert ever on Monday and sent city workers on searches of government buildings, dams and bridges. Police Chief Terry Mangan said the city was placed on a level 4 alert after the bomb damage was discovered outside the east doors of City Hall. The city has seven levels of increasingly tighter security procedures. Spokane had been at level 2 since the system was implemented, shortly before the Persian Gulf War, Mangan said.

Browne

The Fairchild Heritage Museum may soon stop being a museum under a proposal the Air Force is calling a "change of status" for the base's historic treasure trove. Supporters fear the change to what the Air Force calls a "historic holding facility," would lessen the museum's significance and eventually lead to its closure.

James Fallows talks about journalists' responsibility to society during a visit to Spokane. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

The federal government spends billions of tax dollars each year feeding people who can't afford to feed themselves. But the agency in charge of food stamps, the school lunch program and other nutrition programs can't say exactly how it spent the $13.5 billion it was given in 1994.

Sounding some Republican themes and describing himself as a cheapskate, Democrat Gary Locke officially began his campaign for governor Tuesday in Spokane. King County's chief executive called for smaller more efficient government, limits on benefits for long-term welfare recipients and tax breaks to spur economic development. "Government can never do it all," the former state legislator told a crowd of about 100 at the downtown Red Lion hotel. "We must pick and choose our priorities. Do a few things really well."

Spokane's two main political parties tuned up for the fall elections Saturday by listening to candidates who want their support and deciding which issues constitute their core values. In other words, they held their county conventions. Nearly 500 Republicans gathered at Cowles Auditorium on the Whitworth College campus to hear would-be governors, lieutenant governors, insurance commissioners and even a state schools superintendent. That job is officially nonpartisan, but King County Councilman Chris Vance made no pretense that his campaign would be.

A former Veterans Affairs nurse and health-care instructor will announce her campaign for the Legislature today. Judy Personett will run as a Democrat for the state House of Representatives seat currently held by Republican Jean Silver. One of the driving forces in her decision, she said, was the Legislature's reversal on the state's comprehensive health care reform during the last session.

McCloskey

Lane

Theodore Kaczynski is escorted from the federal courthouse in Helena on Thursday. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Washington state should "go back to the drawing board" for its presidential primary, a candidate for secretary of state said Monday in Spokane. Phyllis Kenney of Seattle, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the statewide office, also said school levies should be approved with a simple majority, rather than the 60 percent required under law.

Election workers feel like the Maytag repairman Tuesday as they wait for voters at the South Hill Woman's Club. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Washington voters have a chance Tuesday to voice a preference in the race for the White House in the state's presidential primary. It's a special election with special rules that was specially scheduled for March 26 in an attempt to affect the presidential race. But with an incumbent Democrat seeking re-election unopposed and a Republican race that mathematically has been decided, the spotlight on the race is dimmed.

Rep. Linda Smith says she's dedicated to one thing for the next two months, and it isn't running for governor. After that, the Vancouver congresswoman is leaving the door open - a little or a lot, depending on interpretation - for a run at Washington's chief executive. In Spokane to attend the county Republican Party's annual fund-raising dinner, Smith said she hopes to force a tough campaign finance reform bill to a vote before May. The bill, which would eliminate political action committees and put new restrictions on campaign contributions, has enemies in high places, including the office of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

As she begins her campaign for Congress, Sue Kaun is quick to say she doesn't have solutions to some of the nation's toughest problems. The federal budget should be balanced, although a seven-year time limit isn't crucial, she said. But which programs to cut requires further study. The tax code favors businesses at the expense of individuals, she said. But citizens need to discuss the changes before any overhaul is attempted.

Alex Wood puts in his last day at KXLY radio. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Sen. Bob Dole's resounding wins in Tuesday's primaries mean Washington voters will have few doubts about the eventual Republican nominee when they go to the polls in two weeks. But neither Dole nor his chief rival, Pat Buchanan, will ignore the state's March 26 primary, campaign spokesmen said. "There's still delegates at stake. We're taking nothing for granted," said Lance Henderson, Washington state coordinator for the Dole campaign.

From For the record (Friday, March 8, 1996): Only persons elected at precinct caucuses and precinct committee officers in office by mid-January may be delegates to Republican county conventions. A Thursday story indicated otherwise.

Seattle Mayor Norm Rice got the question from reporters on both sides of the mountains Wednesday when he kicked off his gubernatorial campaign in Spokane. Why should voters in Eastern Washington care about a West Side politician?