Kevin Graman

A Spokane-area woman who was injured by an enemy mortar explosion while working as a helicopter mechanic in Afghanistan has received approval from a government-contracted insurance company to receive the treatment her doctors say she needs.

An African boy born without a fibula is walking, running and playing soccer today because of a chance meeting in an airport nearly a year ago. The boy named Pride, now 6 years old, is visiting Spokane this month with his father, Fredrick Mafira, who is learning to evaluate, fabricate and care for his son’s new prosthesis.

A highly trained helicopter mechanic sits in her Chattaroy home and wonders what will come next: another debilitating brain seizure or the therapy she hopes will help her recover from injury as a result of a mortar explosion 20 months ago in Afghanistan. Jennifer Barcklay says she is being denied the specialized inpatient medical treatment her doctors believe is her only hope for a normal life.

The House of Charity will suspend its overnight accommodations for 108 homeless men this summer for lack of funding. The shelter, run by Catholic Charities, will continue to offer other services, including lunch, counseling and a medical clinic during daytime hours, but will suspend its sleeping program for at least July and August, said associate director Gene DiRe.

Margaret Belote, energy program coordinator at SNAP, is retiring at the end of this month after 33 years of service to the community. During her time at the private, nonprofit social service agency, she has helped thousands of low-income Spokane residents get through the winter months by managing local distribution of the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and other heating assistance programs.

A group of Eastern Washington University students have begun a weeklong protest on the Cheney campus to draw attention to imminent spending cuts by the state Legislature, now beginning its second week of a special session. The protesters, largely comprised of students in the School of Social Work and Human Services, are calling on lawmakers to consider eliminating millions of dollars worth of tax loopholes in order to soften the coming blow to education, health care and social services.

If downtown commuters passing through one of Spokane’s busiest corridors see only a large nondescript single-story building, it’s only because they lack the vision of those promoting the Spokane Public Market. Renovation of the building at 23 W. Second Ave. is well under way, but board members officially launched the project on Monday at a ribbon-cutting – make that a wall-busting – ceremony attended by Mayor Mary Verner.

A group of American Indian women, inspired by an environmental prophesy, passed through Spokane on Earth Day on their 1,800-mile walk from the Pacific Ocean to Lake Superior. They were welcomed on Canada Island in Riverfront Park on Friday by the representatives of several Inland Northwest tribes, the sound of Native drumming and the roar of the raging Spokane River.

The effects of the conflict in Libya are being felt by a group of students thousands of miles away at Washington State University. About 34 Libyan students currently attend WSU. Their education is paid for by Libya’s Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, which covers tuition and health insurance and provides a living allowance.