Jonathan Martin

From the NORTH SIDE VOICE, August 1, 1996, page N5: CORRECTION A photo caption accompanying a story in last week's North Side Voice about development in the Little Spokane River valley was incorrect. The photo showed the site of Haynes Estates, a proposed housing development. 1. This lushly vegetated area across the Little Spokane River in north Spokane would become an apartment complex if a zoning change is granted. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. Residents in north Spokane voice their feelings about a proposed rezoning in their neighborhood. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Native Americans clashed Wednesday with the Spokane School Board for failing to rescue an after-school program that strives to keep kids from dropping out. It was the only major controversy raised during a three-hour hearing over the school district's "status quo" $193 million spending plan. Board members wound up adopting the budget - minus the $200,000 sought by supporters of the Native Life Center.

Cameron Craig beat out 37 other racers in the Spokane stock competition. Now, he and his family are heading to the World Soapbox Derby in Akron, Ohio. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Looking into a better career. "I feel like a different person," says Elizabeth Daniels, 19, headed for WSU after participating in the Seafirst Youth Jobs program. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Grading at the NorthPointe Center softball complex is almost complete. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Traffic on Indian Trail Road, one of the busiest two-lane roads in the city, will be slowed for about four months next summer while it is widened. City engineers hope to keep two thin, 10-foot-wide lanes open during the $4 million construction job, which is scheduled to begin in spring 1997. But project engineer Dick Raymond says traffic will be slowed. "We will accommodate traffic, but we aren't saying there won't be delays," he said.

Shrinking budgets are forcing far North Side school districts to rethink old ideas of student busing. After a year of review, a Deer Park School District committee is recommending single-shift busing that would put high school students on the same buses as kindergartners. The school board is expected to act on the recommendation at its July 24 meeting.

A homeowners group is organizing to block several proposed zoning changes that they say would spoil stretches of the Little Spokane River. The group, Friends of the Little Spokane River Valley, hopes to protect the unique North Spokane habitat by exempting it from long-term development plans. But the group also has an immediate goal to stop three developers' requests for rezoning.

Mischievous burglars paid two visits to the Shadle Park Pool this weekend, apparently searching for nothing more than a quick dip and a few laughs. They did not damage the building, pool or equipment during two break-ins Friday and Saturday nights. Pool officials believe the burglars had a key. Pool workers are not suspects, said David Early, director of pools for the Spokane Parks Department.

While children splash and laugh in the Hillyard Pool, police say there is a darker kind of activity going on outside the pool's chain-link fence. A cast of seedy characters congregates daily, looking for drug deals, fights and young girls, police say. Some 20-year-old men are thought to be targeting 12- to 15-year-old girls for sex. Neighbors and police have known for more than a year about problems outside the pool. It routinely has the most complaint calls in the area.

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.