Jim Lynch

1. 'We are not alone.' Jerry Rolwes, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, is serious about his job as assistant state director of the Mutual UFO Network. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. Headlines proclaim the finding of a UFO on July 8, 1947.

Rachel Carver

A new crusade to expand the nation's political party options got a sluggish start Wednesday night in Spokane. The fledgling Patriot Party - a mishmash of Ross Perot backers and other political independents - was greeted by a small, surly crowd at the VFW Hall, 300 W. Mission. A Christian conservative demanded to know where the party stood on religious values. A Democrat urged the Patriots to work within the two-party system. A Libertarian leader wanted the Patriots to join his party. A Perot man said he feared Patriots are too militant.

Ronald Wai Choi Ng explains reasons for lawsuit Thursday. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

A drunken Spokane mother came home and passed out on top of her infant this year. The baby suffocated. That little-known death struck nerves at the state Department of Social and Health Services, where workers were aware the baby was in possible danger.

Spokane District Court Judge Donna Wilson is harassing The Spokesman-Review with a bogus lawsuit that damages the newspaper's reputation, the paper's legal response to her libel suit says. Wilson accused the newspaper of fabricating a story about her reading a paperback book during court. She's seeking more than $1.5 million for libel, invasion of privacy and subjection to public ridicule with articles, columns and editorial cartoons in 1993 and 1994. Chris Peck, editor of The SpokesmanReview, said the newspaper filed a countersuit against Wilson Friday to preserve its ability to report the news and comment on it without fear or favor.

Martha Stephens owned two South Hill homes crammed with antiques and lived easily off her $900,000 portfolio of stocks and bonds. The 81-year-old had friends but no relatives in the area. She didn't know Brian Norris, a young loan officer at Spokane's West One Bank. But a year after meeting Norris and his wife, Jamie, in September 1991, Stephens gave him legal authority to handle her affairs. She bought the couple a home - as a gift.

Jenell Benjamin, 7, and Debbie Comes talk at the Harvard Park Children's Center, which won rave reviews. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Day-care providers are supposed to do more than just baby-sit children, the state warns. They are expected to educate youngsters, not just turn on the television. Some providers were stumped when inspectors asked what activities they had planned for the day. "The old way of doing things isn't acceptable. Television isn't appropriate," said Tim Nelson, director of the Office of Child Care Policy.

Barb Adjemian discovered four other people were using her card. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

1. Garden fresh Sara Vang's Spokane MarketPlace stand is lively despite a light turnout Saturday at the new Riverfront Park location. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Plums and nectarines grab customers' eyes at Fresh Start Produce

Spokane's refuge for street drunks dodged financial death Wednesday, and will likely stay open through the end of the year. The county rescued the indebted detox center by agreeing to give an extra $10,000 a month to help keep it alive.

The federal government is softening its stance against Spokane apartment house owners who want to invoke strict discipline in the freewheeling West First area. A top official with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Monday the agency likely will let the owners of the Commercial Building do as they wish. HUD is reversing an earlier decision to stop house rules - including room searches, urine tests and curfews - which the department said violated tenants' civil rights.

Washington Water Power Co. wants to dam its underground oil spill at First Avenue. After studying the downtown spill for nine months, the utility concludes digging up the heavy fuel is unnecessary, impossible and too pricey.

When social workers rescue toddlers from abusive Spokane homes, it's now often hard to find a safe place to put them. Some children spend hours in waiting rooms, or on social workers' laps. One toddler recently was checked into a psychiatric ward because there was nowhere else to go.

Jim Huntley helps a client get off the Spokane Care Service van at the Veterans Affairs Hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Lawmakers in Olympia and Washington, D.C., are crafting ways to cut public assistance. Many want to trim bureaucracies and simply pass federal welfare money on to the states to use as they see fit. Congress is debating ways to slash federal aid to the poor by as much as 30 percent. The state Legislature wrestled with its own drastic welfare reforms this session before tabling them for next year. Here are some of the proposals:

"Nobody has an easy answer to welfare," says Bernie Nelson, the top East Side public assistance official. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

1. Spokane's Sandy Moram and Al Sandham, who live outside the 3rd Legislative District, depend on public assistance to care for their seven children. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review 2. Thomas, 8, helps his little brother, Christopher, 5, make an after-school snack in the Moram-Sandham household. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review 3. Sandy Moram explains water-fight rules to six of her seven children. The children, clockwise from left: Matthew, 12; Michael, 13; Thomas, 8; Christopher, 5; Caitlin, 6; and Tay-rae, 19 months. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

Marlene Stewart, 32, opens Mother's Day gifts from her sons William, 7, and Jocob, 8. She hopes to be a city planner someday. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

1. (Color) Charles Washington wants to live in a clean and sober environment. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Ann Finke manages the Commercial Building. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Phil Gramm fired up his damage-control machine Friday, lashing out at the Spokane man who confirmed the Texas senator's past investment in risque movies. The conservative presidential candidate's office faxed The Spokesman-Review a detailed memorandum attacking his former brother-in-law.

1. George Caton says he had "no more reason to lie." Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Gramm

Spokane's "crown jewel" hotel shows up on the state's list of potentially polluted sites. The state Department of Ecology calls oil beneath the Davenport Hotel a possible hazard to public health or the environment.