John Craig

Spokane Valley got as step closer Tuesday to being able to plow its own streets this winter. The City Council unanimously approved a $90,072 contract with Poe Asphalt Paving, of Post Falls, to assemble and overhaul five used plow-sander trucks and prepare a leased maintenance yard.

The great thing about dogs is they don’t require batteries. When a Spokane Valley man fell asleep while cooking some food and his apartment filled with smoke about 1 a.m. Sunday, his smoke detector didn’t go off. Fortunately, his dog did.

A Spokane Valley home was destroyed by fire last Saturday, killing a dog, and a home shop for an electrical business was razed Wednesday. The incidents were among 13 reports of structure fires and 245 calls of all types to which the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded in the reporting period that ended Wednesday night.

The Spokane Valley City Council grilled a pair of retired ministers and a computer specialist Tuesday in search of a replacement for one of its founding members. Ian Robertson, Diana Sanderson and Ben Wick all said they would try to improve the council’s communications if appointed to replace Steve Taylor, who resigned June 30 to become city administrator in Connell, Wash.

Spokane Valley firefighters were called this week to deal with a burning love affair. Responding to a report of an illegal trash fire about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters found a resident in the 1700 block of North Raymond Road was burning a stack of love letters in an outdoor fireplace.

Ever wonder why anyone would want to be a city council member? Four finalists for an opening on the Spokane Valley City Council will answer that and other questions at Tuesday’s 6 p.m. council meeting.

Salaries for Liberty Lake Mayor Wendy Van Orman and City Council members will be set in the future by an independent salary commission. With Councilman Ryan Romney absent, the council voted unanimously Tuesday to relinquish control over their paychecks.

The Spokane Valley City Council named four finalists Tuesday for the council position Steve Taylor vacated last month. They are Planning Commission Chairman Ian Robertson, former Planning Commissioner Fred Beaulac, retired minister Diana M. Sanderson and information technology engineer Ben T. Wick.

Spokane Valley City Attorney Mike Connelly got a pat on the back Tuesday for diplomacy on a contentious issue that could have plugged every toilet in the city. City Council members wanted some adjustments in the fine print, but generally were pleased with a proposed agreement to keep construction of a new Spokane County sewage treatment plant on schedule.

Mount Spokane-area resident Bob Webb has settled his dispute with Spokane County Assessor Ralph Baker over Webb’s participation in a timberland tax-reduction program. In an overhaul of several loosely managed tax breaks, Baker tried in August 2007 to remove Webb from a program for owners of 20 or more acres of timberland.

Spokane Valley firefighters dealt with a fatal incident and one that easily could have been fatal in the weekly reporting period that ended Wednesday night. Firefighters revived 64-year-old Sandra L. Personett after pulling her from her burning apartment shortly before 5 a.m. last Saturday, but she died later that day at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said Personett suffered smoke inhalation and burns to her arms, torso and legs.

Spokane Valley’s dispute over the cost of sheriff’s service may illustrate the wisdom of being careful what you ask for because you might get it. City officials got what they wanted, a contract that binds the county to a short list of administrative and other indirect costs.

Spokane Valley firefighters helped an elderly woman remove her wedding ring from a swollen finger in a relatively uneventful week. Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said the woman was suffering from severe arthritis and swollen joints when a hospice worker called the Spokane Valley Fire Department on Wednesday to remove the wedding band the woman had worn for 60 years.

The Spokane Valley City Council agreed in a special session Thursday to pay more than $1.1 million it has held back from Spokane County under the city’s contract for sheriff’s service. Council members said that despite their unanimous decision, they haven’t abandoned their claim that the county billed the city twice for the indirect services by sheriff’s administrative staff. They envision more expert review and possible mediation.

Years in the making, Spokane Valley’s Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan was approved Tuesday by a divided City Council. The vote was 5-2, with council members Gary Schimmels and Rose Dempsey dissenting.