Julie Sullivan

In the time it has taken to raise money for a World War II memorial for Washington state, as many as 10,000 of the men who fought in it have died. And, seven months before it was scheduled for completion, the grassy site in Olympia lies green and undisturbed. Construction that was to begin this week won't because organizers don't have the money to break ground. "It's shocking isn't it?" said retired Lt. Col Richard Kirk, head of the fund-raising effort. "There's only 130,000 of us left. We're vanishing off the face of the earth."

Don't fence 'em in. Ron Knudsen, Phil Thrasher, Jim "Chilicote" Brookover (mounted) and Darrell Howard, photographed with Thrasher's daughter, Vicki Staples, have planned a trek from Mexico to Canada. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Silver medalist Michelle Kwan burst into tears after completing her figure skating routine in the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Photo by Associated Press

A bill that would prohibit any future state contracts with Second Chance may be shelved without a legislative hearing. Rep. Mark Sterk said he learned Tuesday that the Government Administration Committee isn't likely to have time to hear the bill and six others filed last week because of the shorter 60-day session. The Spokane Valley Republican co-sponsored the bill targeting the private company that runs work release programs in Spokane and Seattle.

A Spokane Valley legislator wants to shut out Second Chance. Rep. Mark Sterk co-sponsored a bill Wednesday that would prohibit state business "of any kind whatsoever" with the operator of two workrelease centers in Spokane. Second Chance, a private nonprofit based in Seattle, has about $7 million in contracts to run state work release centers in Spokane and Seattle and a juvenile boot camp at Connell.

Chuck Fox founded Heart of Hope Ministry International after traveling to Romania with his daughter, Debbie Marshall, to adopt her daughter, Adriana. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Second Chance is getting its own second chance in downtown Spokane. After a long court dispute and the temporary loss of all its clients and most of its employees, the program will move state work-release inmates into the Brownstone Building at Third and Browne on Sunday. "It's the end of a long struggle," said Bruce Kuennen, chief of operations for Second Chance in Eastern Washington. "We feel like we'll be good neighbors, and we're real proud of the new facility and program we're going to operate there."

1. Mill on the Palouse. Joseph Barron Jr., photographed in 1928, has been milling grain in Oakesdale for more than 70 years. Photo courtesy of Joseph Barron Jr. 2. Joseph Barron Jr. recently sold the only remaining gristmill in Whitmas County after finding a buyer to carry on the tradition of his life's work. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review 3. Mary Jane Butters, a longtime customer, is the new owner of the Old Mill in Oakesdale.

1. Even at age 3, Ryan Leaf knew he wanted to play football. Leaf family photo 2. Washington State University quarterback Ryan Leaf chats with a radio station during media day at Martin Stadium in Pullman. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 3. The Ryan Leaf contingent making the trip to the Rose Bowl are, bottom from left, Jeff Leaf, brother; Marcia Leaf, mother; and Brady Leaf, brother. The dog is Licorice. At top, from left are John Leaf, father; Joan and George Lippert, grandparents on his mother's side; and Mary and Don Leaf, grandparents on his father's side. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review 4. The Leaf family presented this homemade trophy to Ryan to commemorate his successful season. 5. Ryan Leaf's family wrote this message in his high school yearbook.

Theobald

The Brownstone building at Third and Browne might house work-release inmates. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

1. Beaming with hope. Barbara and Steve Damitio hold a picture of Emily Teodora, left, and Natalie Dimana. The four will meet for the first time in Bulgaria in a few days. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review 2. Barbara and Steve Damitio prepared a bedroom for the two 4-year-old girls, who will share a bed while they acclimate to life outside an orphanage.

Drawn together by personal tragedies, Margie and Rande Lindner celebrate their first Thanksgiving as a married couple today. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

State officials can't wait for Second Chance to put its Cornelius House in order. Sunday, the Washington Department of Corrections will move the nonprofit organization's 41 work-release prisoners to Geiger Corrections Center, run by Spokane County.

The theme runs through cancer literature like a consolation prize: Cancer as a turning point, a priority setter in life, a wake-up call, cancer as a gift. Cancer, futurist Robert Theobald thought, a bloody nuisance. He didn't need cancer; he needed Australia. A five-week book-signing and lecture tour to connect with listeners open to his views on social change. That would tell him whether, after 40 years of bringing people together to talk, he had anything more to say.

No place is home "My family lives 110 miles away," says displaced Cornelius House resident Steve Daniels. "They don't know where I am and I don't know where I am." Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Davis

Dawn Davis on the world conference on violence: "People can share what works for them." Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Denise Brown brings celebrity to an issue whose victims are rarely safe enough to speak out. File/Associated Press

Autumn comes to the Inland Northwest with the scent of wood smoke, the crunch of apples and the sound of feet thundering to the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. Never mind the day after Thanksgiving. The real shopping season starts with Custer's 22nd annual Fall Antique and Collectors Sale. The show, beginning Friday, kicks off months of Custer shows that draw shoppers from Seattle, Montana and Canada and raises more than a few questions about the organizer:

Hard time is about to get a little harder at Airway Heights Corrections Center. Forty prisoners will begin sleeping on mattresses on the floor at the state prison this weekend to make room for newcomers. Most of the prisoners will be living in the day room at the minimum-security camp until new bunks arrive the week of Oct. 6, said prison spokesman Cly Evans.

Cal Brown won the USA Track & Field National Masters for racewalkers in his age group. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Rite of passage. Kim Johnson gives her son, Garret, a final hug before leaving him at kindergarten on his first day at Freeman Elementary. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

1. Just what's the hangup? "We can land a rover on Mars, but GTE can't get us in a phone book," says Tensed, Idaho, grover Diane Jensen. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Is Tensed quiet because the phone never rings?