JoNel Aleccia

City crews scrambled on Wednesday to adjust a monitoring system that allowed raw sewage to spill undetected into the Spokane River, possibly for days or weeks. Engineers and other officials were considering whether to remove a piece of faulty pipe or whether to move or add sensors designed to warn when overflows occur, said Dave Mandyke, acting director of Spokane Public Works and Utilities.

Raw sewage may have spewed into the Spokane River for days or weeks near the Downriver Golf Course after a blocked pipe caused a gushing overflow that went unnoticed by city crews. "It's obvious that something has been happening for a while," said Richard Koch, a senior engineer with the state Department of Ecology, as he pointed to an unusual growth of brown algae on the riverbank as evidence.

From the computer in his office at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Dr. Nour Juratli can peer into a human heart 100 miles away. He won't, he said, at least not in front of visitors, out of respect for the privacy of the patient who last month became the first in Washington to receive a cardiac device expected to change the way erratic rhythms are monitored and treated.

Smokers can light up with impunity on the patio at the Swinging Doors tavern in Spokane, even if they're closer to the business entrances than a recently enacted state law allows. Owner Bob Materne this week was granted the region's first – and, so far, only – variance to the Clean Indoor Air Act that took effect in December. Materne said he spent more than $4,000 on airflow equipment to be able to allow cigarettes in the outdoor area less than 25 feet from the building's doors. He had to prove to Spokane Regional Health District officials that not a whiff of smoke would enter the Francis Avenue establishment.

Searchers equipped with sonar scoured the bottom of the swift-flowing Pend Oreille River on Monday, searching for the missing son of a church camp director. Jordan Mason, 7, was presumed drowned after a Friday boating accident witnessed by his father, Tim Mason, who runs the Riverview Bible Camp north of Cusick.

Cindy Finke always figured she'd finish Sunday's Coeur d'Alene Ironman triathlon. It might not be pretty and it might not be fast, but the 50-year-old Spokane nurse practitioner assumed she'd complete the grueling swim, bike and run event.

Here's something to ponder on the brink of beach season: Nearly one in four Americans ages 18 to 50 has a tattoo, a new study says. Think about that this summer as you watch the parade of tribal armbands, ankle flowers, shoulder portraits and so-called "tramp stamps" – the lower-back tattoos favored by young women in crop tops and hip-slung jeans.

The little boy with the bulging pockets caught David Cardinale's eye. As the child moved through the lunch line at the Boys and Girls Club of Spokane County, he secretly stashed second helpings – then thirds, then fourths – in his clothing.

Umbrellas blossomed and shoppers scattered Sunday afternoon as yet another cloudburst baptized the final hours of ArtFest in Spokane. But artists and patrons alike seemed to take the uncertain weather in stride, figuring it was worth the risk of getting wet to celebrate the three-day art festival's 21-year tradition. Though the total number of visitors was down about 6,000 from 35,000 last year, sales on Saturday topped $125,000, said Bruce Eldredge, chief executive officer for the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.