Jonathan Martin

Armed with legal codes, flow charts and hot rhetoric, more than 110 irate North Spokane residents met Tuesday night to discuss strategy to block proposed development in their neighborhood. A map of the proposed 40-acre commercial center and Wal-Mart store hung in the front of the meeting room in the North Spokane public library, giving the crowd a target at which to aim their comments.

Michael Engle works with a group of YWCA kids to paint flower pots for children at Shriner's Hospital. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Over the last five years, the warbling drone of JET SKIS has become as routine on Long Lake as the water skier's mantra: "hit it." But with rising counts of accidents and fatalities statewide attributed to reckless personal watercraft drivers, local and state authorities are taking a harder look at the high-powered, high-priced water hot rods. Since 1994, five accidents in Spokane and Stevens counties involved personal watercraft, as opposed to just one involving a boat.

The Logan neighborhood is holding an old fashioned party next week, offering everything from free ice cream to a Frisbee throwing contest. The third annual neighborhood party will be held Wednesday and Thursday at the Fourth Memorial Church, at the corner of Indiana and Standard. The festivities will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. both days.

Over the last five years, the warbling drone of Jet Skis has become as routine on Newman Lake as the fisherman's mantra: "Got one!" But with rising statewide counts of accidents and fatalities attributed to reckless personal water craft drivers, local and state authorities are taking a harder look at the high-powered, high-priced water hot rods.

In apple-pie Deer Park, high school coaches are given keys to the city and men two generations past their glory days debate the merits of an 18-year-old's jump shot. Deer Park High School sports could be called sacrosanct, with Friday wrestling matches and football games sometimes outdrawing Sunday services.

A group of north Spokane parents, angry at having their drive to oust an elementary school principal labeled racist, now are asking the Spokane School Board president to quit. Board President Terrie Beaudreau angered the parents Tuesday by characterizing their conflict with a Japanese-American principal as racially motivated. "It almost smells like the KKK walked into town," Beaudreau told a television reporter.

Emmett Arndt

Got a sewing machine but need a set of brakes? Want to learn how to cook low-fat meals? Willing to teach someone how to give a perm on the cheap? Come on into the West Central co-op. Prices are optional and all you need is the right zip code.

The president of the Spokane School Board outraged parents Tuesday when she portrayed a neighborhood revolt against an elementary school principal as racially motivated. "I'm sorry if 16 parents simply don't like Shari Kirihara," Terrie Beaudreau told a television reporter. "Maybe it's because she is Japanese-American ... It almost smells like the KKK walked into town."

Shari Kirihara

Net gains 1. Erica Hauck, 12, puts up a shot while Hoopfest teammate Ashley Troxel, 12, looks on during a practice Friday at Lake City High School. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Hoopfest volunteer Angela Vold stacks T-shirts Friday in the registration tent at Riverfront Park. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Iris lovers Frank and Edna Nickell devote much of their backyard to the flower. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

While many businesses in the North Division construction corridor suffer from declining revenues, lawyers are working overtime to settle disputes over the project. The state attorney general is locked in often divisive negotiations with North Division property owners who allege the state is forcing them into accepting low-ball payments for their land. Most properties had to sell the 10 feet of land abutting North Division. The state can condemn property - in effect taking without asking - and negotiate reimbursement later.

1. Street widening on North Division has put the squeeze on businesses and motorists. Drivers are cautioned to be mindful of construction workers. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. North Division traffic, businesses and pedestrians are crowded as construction continues on the south bound lanes on the Garland hill. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Riverside School District has a deal for voters: approve a pair of bond issues totaling $2.8 million and get almost $6 million worth of school expansion and repair in return. The deal comes via a state fund available to modernize aging schools. If Riverside voters approve a property tax hike in September, the district middle school will get a facelift paid for mostly by the state. The Riverside School Board is expected to rubber stamp the proposed bond issues, drafted by a committee of administrators and taxpayers.

1. Virginia Hansen at the former Hillyard high school building, which is now the Martindale Apartments. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Inset: Fred Wanless in 1953 yearbook.

A rash of white supremacist graffiti shook the West Central neighborhood earlier this week. Police are investigating graffiti spray-painted on vehicles, houses, a school and a church near the intersection of Summit Boulevard and Sinto Avenue. There are no suspects.

Traffic engineers have studied a North-South freeway for longer than Tricia Berger has been alive. But the 15-year-old Rogers High freshman and 74 of her peers threw themselves into the divisive and ancient debate last week with the gusto of youthful idealism. When assigned a research project eight weeks ago, Berger was opposed to the freeway. She thought a freeway corridor would kick up air pollution and kick out helpless families. But, as she said, "If people research instead of guessing, they'll find it's all right."

Four months after he saved a class of Moses Lake ninth-graders from a gunwielding student, Jon Lane is still playing the role of protector. Lane will join 14-year-old Natalie Hintz as grand marshal of the 87th annual Ephrata Sage-N-Fun parade today. Parade officials chose the two in an attempt to put a brave, positive face on one of the worst public school tragedies in Washington state history.

1. Sarah Adams 2. Kimberly Aked 3. Ben Allen 4. Kimberly Allen 5. Merrill Alley 6. Maris Baltins 7. John Barneson 8. Molly Bloom 9. Jared Bock 10. Aaron Caprye 11. Joy Crosby 12. R. O'Connell-Elston 13. Amy Fong 14. Jim Gilles 15. Sarah Guske 16. Nick Hebb 17. JoEne Heimbigner 18. Jenny Hutchens 19. Amy Janosik 20. Jason Kettel 21. Karen King 22. Irene Klarmeyer 23. Jennifer Kuhlmann 24. Jeff LeBret 25. Heather Leeming 26. Betsy Myers 27. Alisha Neighbors 28. Andrea Palpant 29. Sarah Pederson 30. Peter Raber 31. Meighan Rasley 32. Naomi Rush 33. Amy Sawatzky 34. Steve Smith 35. Nick Stucky 36. Munir Tanas 37. S. Underwood 38. Gloria Wood

Kim Aked shines Florence Henley's quiet days. Aked, a Shadle Park High senior, spends about an hour a week chatting with the elderly Henley, bed-bound at Manor Care nursing home. No credit. No pay. Just two friends, separated by many decades, talking school, friends, work and boys. The conversation is one-sided because Aked has a hard time understanding Henley, who lost her teeth.

Minda Dentler gets ready for a performance in the Mead Talent Show May 8. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Southbound traffic on Country Homes Boulevard is being rerouted for a month, which suits Perry Davis just fine. The 75-year-old Country Homes resident is so frustrated with speeders on the commuter thoroughfare that he yells at drivers as they zip past. The antic angered a driver Monday, who threatened to hit Davis.