Jim Lynch

Cross the border from Washington into Idaho and state child care regulations almost vanish. An adult can watch no more than four infants at a time in Washington, while an Idaho provider can juggle 12 babies simultaneously. And even if Idaho providers do break state rules, they have little to fear. The state doesn't conduct surprise inspections and rarely punishes anyone.

(photo of Mark Bridges, AIDS patient)

Sparks

Colville tribal leaders lashed out at the state Tuesday, accusing it of illegally seizing 96 slot machines bound for the tribe's casino near Lake Chelan. Tribal attorneys claim the state Gambling Commission lacks the authority to interfere with any aspect of the Colvilles' gaming activities. About $400,000 worth of slot machines was seized from two trucks Friday night as they crossed the Idaho border into Spokane County.

Eastern State Hospital could soon turn into the big house for young criminals as well as the mentally ill. The state is working on a little-known plan to fill three empty wards at the hospital with as many as 80 juvenile offenders by the end of the year. The proposed makeshift prison is unrelated to a multi-county plan to convert Martin Hall, an empty building on the hospital campus, into a 56-bed juvenile jail.

Marilyn Franck got a public apology and gifts of money Thursday when people learned power to her home and life-support machine was nearly turned off because she hadn't paid her bill. "There were mistakes made," said Marc Schaffner, customer service manager for Washington Water Power Co.

A life on the line. Marilyn Franck, 57, cries and wonders where she'll come up with the money to pay her WWP bill. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Eastern State Hospital's future is threatened if patient care doesn't improve at the psychiatric institution. The state hospital is in trouble after a recent inspection found staff ignoring patients' medical and therapeutic needs. The federal Health Care Financing Administration is now reviewing the hospital's plans to correct nursing shortages, care problems and safety concerns.

Congressional candidate Susan Kaun attacked Rep. George Nethercutt Monday for his "callous failure" to help troubled dairy farmers. Kaun called it Nethercutt's duty to help 120 Northwest dairy farmers recover $2.7 million in milk payments they lost when Foremost Dairies Northwest Inc. collapsed in 1990. Kaun said many of the small farmers were financially ruined by the controversial bankruptcy in which they didn't get paid for a month and a half of milk production.

The state has closed a South Hill day care with chronic problems less than a week after a surprise inspection found the center supervisor lying on the floor, not watching the children. Kinder College Corner, E1518 29th Avenue, provided care for up to 43 kids before the state shut it down Monday. "The department doesn't feel it can insure the health and safety of children at that facility, so we took immediate action," said Tim Nelson, director of the Office of Child Care Policy. The office monitors child care for the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Airway Heights residents fidgeted Wednesday night as a panel of Indians and out-of-state businessmen tried to sell them on building a glitzy casino in their tiny city. Then the local critics questioned if the project would undercut businesses, overburden city services and lure criminals.

An ongoing Spokane County Health District study indicates whooping cough may be almost commonplace among Spokane teenagers. More than 10 percent of the teens recently tested at Gonzaga Prep and Cataldo Catholic School suffered from the incessant cough that can kill infants. County epidemiologist Paul Stepak is leading the investigation, which has verified 27 cases of the illness in the past two weeks.

Olson

Health worker Lynn Everson hands out a list of suspects. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The head of Eastern State Hospital billed state taxpayers for at least 98 personal, out-of-state telephone calls, the state auditor's office reports. Investigators also found Steven Covington, CEO of the Medical Lake mental hospital, misused state vehicles and received too sweet of a deal on the big house he rents from the state for $91 a month.

Ken Whitehall is running for a House seat in Spokane's 3rd Legislative District. File/The Spokesman-Review

The deal Washington Water Power Co. struck with its downtown neighbors last week came at a steep price, as the utility bought its way out of a lawsuit and into a downtown parking garage. To quell the furor over its underground oil spill, WWP agreed to pay the Davenport Hotel owners an undisclosed amount of cash to drop their lawsuit against the utility. Sources indicate the settlement was well over $1 million. WWP also agreed to give the city up to $250,000 to revive plans for a long-sought parking garage, at First and Post, which would serve the Davenport and other neighborhood businesses.

1. A line of car seats awaits children who may require transportation by CPS workers. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Patricia Hicks says goodbye to her son Shelby, 5, after one of their weekly visits. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 3. CPS official Roy Harrington. 4. Lenny and Victoria Jones have cribs ready for the return of their twin boys, who were taken shortly after birth. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

CPS investigations often begin with a telephone call from someone accusing a parent of abusing or neglecting a child. The allegations pour in at about 25 a day to Spokane's child welfare offices at Washington and Maxwell. Pat Miller, who supervises the hot line, said many of the calls are groundless vendettas from "parents out to get each other."

State Sen. John Moyer ignited his re-election campaign with a rousing breakfast party Thursday as more than 300 people and a Dixieland jazz band crammed into a Spokane ballroom. The festive throng gave the Spokane Republican several standing ovations and chanted "GO JOHN GO" at the $15-a-plate event.

The tiny Kalispel Tribe announced a bold plan Tuesday to build a casino and hotel complex just west of Spokane in Airway Heights. The northeast Washington tribe is teaming with Carnival Hotels and Casinos to pursue the project on the tribe's 40-acre field across Hayford Road from the Spokane Raceway Park.

Some of Deborah Senn's harshest words are heaped on the state's largest health insurer, Blue Cross. In March, Senn questioned the company's wisdom in boosting annual compensation for Chief Executive Officer Betty Woods to more than $700,000 while the firm was suing the state to raise premiums on individual policy holders. Senn notes the company tried to cash in on state insurance reforms by lowering premiums to sell more individual policies in anticipation that the expenses would be spread across all policy holders. Now the company says it's losing big money on those policies. She claims Blue Cross put itself in its own financial bind, and then claimed it was the victim of public policy decisions. "It's like the child who shoots his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he's an orphan," she says. Blue Cross spokesman Jack McRae is appalled at Senn's analogy. "She said that? ... The crisis has been created by public policy decisions of one type or another." Sheryl Hutchison, of the state's Health Care Policy Board, agrees that Blue Cross brought on some of its own problems and losses. "As we say, they got caught with their premiums down."

Deborah Senn

Sister Cathy Beckley greets Joanne Moyer at The Women's Drop-in Center on Friday. Beckley is leaving the organization she founded five years ago. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review