Jonathan Martin

Joanne Taylor helps Nick Cantlon, who is diabetic, measure his blood sugar at Garfield Elementary. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

School nurse Linda Brodwell, left, and Laraine Nortell, a nurse with National Medical Care, go over details on administering Calab Wilhelm's medicine at Regal Elementary School. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

(From "Things to do" column, January 26, 1997:) The phone number for Whispering Waters Bed and Breakfast featured in a Hideaways column Jan. 12 was incorrect. The correct number for the Priest Lake B&B; is (208) 443-3229. The End of the Trail room has a definite outdoors feel.

Jim Mitchell used voice mail to set up an apartment for himself while staying at the Union Gospel Mission. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Possible expansion of softball and soccer fields in West Plains parkland is under consideration in a Spokane County plan to update recreation facilities. The County Commission is deciding how it will spend the $200,000 budgeted for parks improvements in or near Cheney and Medical Lake in 1998.

North Side water sports would get a boost under a five-year, $6.6 million parks improvement plan before Spokane County commissioners.

The pamphlets about condoms and frank talk about parenting responsibilities left the 50 teens fidgeting and, amazingly, without a thing to say.

The Nine Mile Falls School Board wants to design a student-friendly middle school, so who do they ask? Heidi and Trevor. Got a question about new curriculum. Turn to Heidi and Trevor.

Bruce Benedict will soon find out whether he has what it takes to play professionally when he tees off on the PGA circuit in two years. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The Spokane County Hearing Examiner last week approved a rezoning request that makes way for 21-unit apartment complex overlooking the Little Spokane River. The decision ends a contentious five-month battle over a 3-acre triangle on the Little Spokane River, which included threats to the land's would-be developer and formation of a citizens conservation group.

Police responding to two calls 10 minutes apart early Monday found a 20-year-old North Side man with a stolen car, snowmobile, snowmobile trailer and a bag of methamphetamine. They arrested Ricky Mueller, 1724 E. Wabash. He was in the Spokane County jail Tuesday.

(From For the Record, January 1, 1997): Two teens convicted of spraying graffiti on Spokane buildings attend Spokane County Juvenile Court's structured alternative confinement program. An article in Tuesday's Spokesman-Review incorrectly said they attended another alternative program.

North Side neighborhood improvements in 1997 will include a community garden for Hillyard, bathrooms in Emerson Park, new roofs on West Central homes, trees for Logan and better day care in Nevada-Lidgerwood. North Side neighborhood steering committees recently finished their yearly budgeting for federal Community Development money, and their decisions are as diverse as the neighborhoods themselves.

Dan's temper is as black as his hair. "Why are you angry?" playground supervisor Jane Frohlich asked gently, her hand on the fifth-grader's head. "He ruined my tunnel," he said through clenched teeth.

Saying no to drugs has never been so profitable. But Kyle Kiesel's anti-smoking artwork earned the Ridgeview Elementary sixth grader booty: a trip to Disneyland, free movies, even a model airplane from Southwest Airlines.

A week of cold weather leisure will cost north Spokane school children the early days of summer. As a result of school closures during the November ice storm, Mead, Nine Mile Falls and Riverside school districts will extend the school year further into June than planned.

Eleven-year-old Crystal Eastman reads a book for Gonzaga University sophomore Elizabeth Watson as part of a mentoring program. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Behind the plywood front door of Mount Spokane High School, things are cooking. Workers stretch miles of cable across rooms as long as a city block. Thick rolls of blue-grey carpet await nailing. Plaster board sprouts.

A routine traffic stop in north Spokane on Sunday uncovered a variety of weapons and drugs. When officers pulled over Paul Brown at Indiana and Lidgerwood, the 44-year-old Hayden Lake man reached for a sheathed knife, police said.

It's been just three months, but Ellen Gillespie's class has a killer travel itinerary. Fiestas and fireworks in Mexico. Baseball and seaweed in Japan. In-line skating in Germany. It's an eighth-grader's dream, but that's the point of Gillespie's class. Four languages and a cultural carnival of dancing, food, music and history, tightly shoehorned into a semester so that even a 13-year-old can't get bored. "It's a really cool class," said Shawn Craig, 13.

So you remembered to remove the turkey's giblets and neck. But did you remember to break the beak off, lather it in peanut butter and Parmesan cheese, and serve with french fries and scrambled eggs? Here's some tips for your turkey Christmas dinner preparations, courtesy of Teresa Buddington's kindergarten class at Brentwood Elementary. Brandon Lynch: Get the turkey from the farm. Cut off the feathers and throw away. Cook 10 minutes at "70." Serve with turkey sauce on plates. Put peanut butter on it and jelly.

1. Leta Commellini's famed recipes are still used 10 years after her death. Family photo 2. Commelini's current operators, from left, Rod Dickinson, Gina Seghetti and Debbie Dickinson. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 3. Albert Commellini 4. Albert and Leta Commellini ran the Italian Importing Co. at the corner of Pacific and Browne. Photos courtesy of Commellini family 5. More than 5,000 chickens a week were slaughtered at the A.C. Ranch. Albert Commellini closed the rance in 1967 to concentrate on the restaurant.

Mike and Marla Emde and their 6-month-old baby, Martina, stand in the kitchen of Sprouts Fresh Deli. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

A Holy Family Hospital campaign to help people open day-care centers in their homes could become a national model. The hospital, working with neighborhood groups, state Sen. Lisa Brown and day-care providers, is trying to set up a child-care training center, Holy Family administrator Linda Crabtree said.