Jody Lawrence-Turner

Despite the drop in temperatures and recent snowy weather, the Spokane Valley Fire Department had a relatively calm week. Firefighters responded to 18 motor vehicle crashes between Nov. 22 and Tuesday, but only three resulted in someone being taken to the hospital, said David Lobdell, an assistant fire chief. Most of the crashes occurred Sunday and Monday after snowy weather hit the area.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department's 2006 budget includes a Public Information Officer/Public Education Officer and a chaplaincy program. The chaplain, who hasn't been selected yet, will respond to anything that happens within the fire department, such as a co-worker's death, and any major incident in the field, such as a fatal crash, Spokane Valley Fire Department spokesman Bill Clifford said.

A Greenacres Middle School student said his own good fortune encourages him to help those in need. "I'm just grateful I don't have to go to the food bank or worry about food," said Jacob Amini, 14, as he stood outside the Liberty Lake Safeway during the annual Fill the Bus food drive.

Spokane Valley firefighters responded to 169 calls Nov. 1 through 7, including seven fires, a Molotov cocktail and 22 motor vehicle crashes. The most damaging of the seven blazes happened Friday, said David Lobdell, an assistant fire chief. "We had a house fire where the residents were doing remodeling and laying carpet in the basement. The fumes from the carpeting cement found their way to the pilot light on the gas hot water heater."

A Spokane man and some of his friends picketed Evergreen Pet Shop Wednesday to protest its sale of a dog he felt was misrepresented. The 5-month-old Airedale that Ray Harper's fiancee, Caroline Lemus, bought at the Spokane Valley store Saturday was presented as a healthy, registered, purebred dog, he said. When the couple took the dog to a veterinarian two days later, they found out it possibly had distemper and couldn't be bred.

An animal shelter's dangerous dog declaration was overturned Monday after a Labrador mix's owner appealed Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service's declaration. Michael Dempsey, the Spokane County hearings officer, determined that a person bitten by the dog, Little Bear, willfully trespassed on the dog owner's property.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to 170 calls between Oct. 25 and Monday. Firefighters responded to five fires, and none of them resulted in injury or major destruction, said Dave Lobdell, an assistant fire chief. The blazes involved a vehicle, an oven, a stove top, a fireplace and a broom – possibly a prank.

Fat-burning soup, diabetic sponge cupcakes, touchdown chili, watermelon pickles and $500 See's fudge are all recipes that can be found in a new cookbook. The 200-recipe book was published by Edgecliff Sheriff's Community Oriented Policing Effort, or SCOPE, to be sold as a fund-raiser. The recipes are from SCOPE volunteers throughout Spokane County.

Gallon milk jugs played a part in two Spokane Valley fires within a week. Firefighters were called about 4:30 p.m. Monday to respond to a truck engine fire at Progress and Forker roads, officials said. By the time they arrived, the man had put the blaze out with a gallon of milk.

Candidates vying for a fire commissioner spot in Spokane County's Fire District No. 8 are focused on finances, and interaction between volunteer and paid firefighters. Incumbent Gregory A. Hesse, 58, and James Oberst, 60, are running for the third commissioner position. The elected official will join commissioners Lee Boling and Ken Kessler. Commissioners serve a six-year term.

Ethan Young was 5 when Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol members rescued him. He hurt his leg when he crashed on the snowy downhill slope of Mt. Spokane's No. 3 run. "It was cool," Young, now 14, said. "I was sitting there and suddenly I was in this bed thing (a toboggan). Then they took me down the hill."