It began with a tragedy - a retired fireman randomly murdered while returning from a Seattle Mariners game with his family.
The killer had fallen through cracks between the courts and mental hospitals, a paranoid schizophrenic who didn't get treatment after a previous crime.
The tragedy last year angered lawmakers. Their attempt to fill the cracks should be signed into law soon by Gov. Gary Locke.
'Toon time
Eilshia Elwwod, 12, left, Rachael Calton, 8, center, and Emily Calton, 7, munch away while waiting to see the Bugs Bunny Film Festival at the Spokane Valley Mall movie theater on Sunday. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review
Spokane Housing Authority is launching an aggressive campaign to more than quintuple its stock of public housing.
The campaign begins next week with the expected purchase of a $7.6 million Valley apartment complex.
By the year 2003, the agency plans to add 1,335 units to its inventory of 310 subsidized homes and apartments.
(From For the Record, March 23, 1998):
Story incorrect: Terry Lawhead is operations director for the Downtown Spokane Partnership. Lawhead's title was unclear and the group's name was incorrect in a Sunday story.
1. Shortly after leaving detox, friends share a beer downtown. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review
2. Van driver Glen Dowd shakes hands with a man in the "sobering unit" at the detox center. Dowd had just transported another man from the Deaconess Medical Center emergency room to detox. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review
1. Merril Knut Nystuen gets a kick out of Pickels, who came out of his cage when Nystuen's wife, Janet, came to visit at the Riverview Care Center. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review
2. Below right, Riverview staff member Casey Morphis takes a break to play with Schurman the cat at the nurses' station.
3. Riverview Care Center resident Jean McAlister usually brings back treats from her meals to give to her two birds, Twee-Dee and JoJo. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review
Welfare recipients rarely hear a kind word but that's about to change.
Complaints about inconsiderate treatment by welfare workers have prompted extra training on being professional and polite.
"It's an ongoing process to personalize the faceless structure of the government," said Bernie Nelson, regional Department of Social and Health Services administrator.
Hundreds of friends and family members gathered Thursday to remember George Freije and Dean Cox, who died in a plane crash last week. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review
Pending a ruling, the state will allow John Thaemert, who suffers from fibromyalgia, to stay home and take care of his kids without paying a fine. File/The Spokesman-Review
Suzanne Coyne looks up information at the Spokane Business Information Center to help her start her own business. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review
Spokane residents marched through downtown Friday afternoon in a rally to oppose air strikes against Iraq. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review
1. Colby Hagestad, left, and Quinton Swanson work on a computer at the preschool run by Rosie Zaring. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review
2. Preschool owner Rosie Zaring helps a child draw letters of the alphabet while others work on morning session projects. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review
