Kelly McBride

Deloris Walker organizes paper bags filled with donated food for the Thanksgiving Food Basket Distribution run by the Salvation Army. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

A mother of two listened attentively Friday as the speaker described her sons during a conference on fetal alcohol syndrome. They don't learn from their experiences. They are often friendless. They don't pay attention, the speaker said.

Hard times ahead For United Way of Spokane County to better serve those in need, Executive Director Jose Pena says the charity itself needs a big helping of donations. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

1. Choir members and Harvest Christian Fellowship pastor Steve Allen lead the congregation during Sunday services. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Churchgoers join hands at Calvary Chapel as pastor Ken Ortiz leads the group in prayer. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 3. Worshippers at New Life Community Church in Rathdrum affirm their faith. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

The coffee bar at Life Center Foursquare Church goes through more Starbucks than a small diner. The congregation downs at least 600 cups during the traditional fellowship hour on Sunday mornings. Mega-churches are minicorporations - and not just on Sunday mornings.

Dante Little, 4, scrutinizes lunch at the newly opened G&B; ABC Day Care. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Tracy Zidrashko, left, shows Bea McElroy a photo of her husband David, who Zidrashko met when the couple were students at Crosswalk. Crosswalk is celebrating its 10th anniversary wiht an open house today. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

FOR THE RECORD (October 28, 1995): Clarification: A Sunday afternoon prayer service and benefit promoting peace in Bosnia is sponsored by St. Michael's Institute at Gonzaga University. The group sponsoring the event wasn't listed in a story on Friday. Tatjana Stojak, Misad Jacevic and Ana Kapor are organizing a prayer service on the eve of a summit to end the Balkans war. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Ruth Hamp is helping to organize local congregations in the National Concert of Prayer on Saturday. File/The Spokesman-Review

More people are turning to the Spokane Food Bank for emergency help rather than relying on food stamps or welfare. The latest results in the annual food bank client survey indicate that many people getting emergency food packages are needy for the first time in their lives.

The majority of Washington parents say more time - not money - would improve their family life, according to a survey released Wednesday in Spokane. In fact, 84 percent of parents surveyed said they have enough money. But more than 50 percent said that if one or both parents could spend less time at work, the quality of their family life would improve.

Prayer in public schools: Rogers High School students hold hands while praying in a small alcove in the back of the school before classes begin. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

From inside their cages, three Abyssinian kittens try to attract a prospective owner at the Spokane Cat Club's 22nd annual show held Saturday and Sunday at the Spokane Convention Center. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Hanson

A way in the wilderness. After giving his last sermon at First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Pastor David Peterson, center, listens to a final prayer from the congregation. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Unpublished correction: The name of Mukogawa is misspelled in this story. Mary Medved is congratulated during a celebration of her first vows at Holy Names Convent. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

No longer will the Spokane United Way campaign look like a Jerry Lewis telethon with volunteers biting their fingernails and monitoring the money meter. There is no goal this year. No magic number. No lofty target. The Spokane United Way kicked off its annual fall fund raising efforts Wednesday morning with the traditional fanfare. But no grandiose dollar amount was touted for the public to see.

The Spokane Police Department is on the Internet. The department is one of the few law enforcement agencies in the country to create a home page on the Internet's World Wide Web. Anyone with access to the worldwide network of computers can get Spokane crime statistics and department press releases.

Editor's note: The teenagers involved are not named in this story because of a Spokesman-Review policy of protecting the identities of juveniles in such cases. Seven teenagers overdosed on a prescription drug Wednesday night and three remained hospitalized Thursday, one in critical condition. The teens, all friends, had congregated at a north Spokane home where one boy produced a bottle of prescription muscle relaxants, according to a Spokane Police Department statement.

Before the centennial service Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church, a precession of dignitaries and visiting clergy enters the 100-year-old church on West Dean. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Perko

Michael Wolf of Tulalip, Wash., checks his face as he prepares for the Grand Entry at the sixth annual Northwest Indian Encampment and Pow Wow on Saturday at Riverfront Park. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Ray of hope. Madisen Stewart, 2, listens to music during a Sunday church service at Salem Lutheran Church. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

The U.S. Supreme Court is tearing down the wall of separation between church and state, one court watcher says. Jesse H. Choper will say whether he thinks that's a good idea tonight during a free symposium at The Met in downtown Spokane. Choper, a professor of public law at the University of California-Berkeley, will lead a public symposium titled "Religion and the Social Order."