Kim Barker

When Mary Marple saw the pearls hanging off a piece of paper in a garbage can, she knew it wasn't an ordinary aluminum can-picking day. She started digging. The pearls were hooked to a necklace. She sifted through papers and old bagged lunches, and found rings and watches and bracelets in the garbage can in Coeur d'Alene Park in Browne's Addition. She stuffed the jewels in her pocket and went home, also carting her one aluminum can of the day.

Jason Fleenor, day manager at Zanie's on North Division, shows a sample of Herbal Ecstasy. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Timber Taj Mahal. At a construction site near Republic, Wash., Kevin Pritt of Republic Log Homes measures a log as work nears completion on 400-tree temple for the Cowboy Church. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Samantha Browne, 7, holds her ears as a drag racer passes by on Sunday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

A gunman in a pickup truck fired at least six shots at Spokane police gathering evidence in a murder case Sunday afternoon. The officers were combing a taped-off area at railroad tracks on Spokane's northeast side.

After 20 years of living hard, doing drugs and sleeping where he could, Samuel Roberson wanted to clean up and drive to the Oregon coast. Jennifer Stradley is taking him. It's not quite the trip they had wanted, walking along the beach on their first baby steps toward living clean. But it's Roberson's last right, Stradley figures. He died after being stabbed Tuesday at the Del Mar Apartments, 111 W. Third.

Kelly

1. Waitsburg resident Frank McGraw removes the last of his ruined furniture, two months after the Touchet River flooded his living room with 4 feet of mud. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review 2. Waitsburg Mayor Tom Baker sits on a park bench up to its seat in mud. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

Sights set on summer. Pam, Robbie and Jolene Payne try to stay warm while watching a youth soccer match Sunday at Spokane Falls Community College. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review<

Ilene Hill, whose horse Misty died recently, stands by a memorial erected by her neighbors. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The arrest of a 58-year-old man in the strangling of Rochelle English nine years ago might put to rest one mystery, but it awakens others. English, 22, was one of at least six women allegedly strangled over 20 months in 1986 and 1987. The killings raised eyebrows, but at the time police couldn't say whether one person was responsible for the slayings. Last week, police ruled out that possibility.

Nine years after Rochelle English was found strangled in a north Spokane apartment, the alleged killer is behind bars. A computer match to a fingerprint on a beer can found near her body led authorities to Robert Daniel Clark, 58, of Escondido, Calif. He's being held in the Grant County Jail on an unrelated probation violation. This week, Spokane Police obtained an arrest warrant charging Clark with first-degree murder.

Strait

I've just recovered from my trip to New Orleans after sleeping about 48 straight hours, slumbering open-eyed through work and crashing on my bed by 7:30 p.m. Everyone wants to know if I had a good time on vacation. But Mardi Gras isn't a vacation. It's the Party Olympics, and damn if I didn't train enough. My five days in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah were spent with about a dozen people, most of whom I didn't know before the trip.

Spokane Police property specialist Phyllis Costello holds a few of the more bizarre items that will go on the block in the upcoming police auction March 9. Goods are auctioned off about every two months. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

The biggest winner at Junior Bloomsday will utter the same words as a sports superstar: "I'm going to Disneyland." One day after the race, a lucky young runner will win a round trip for four to the amusement park. The 11th running of Junior Bloomsday, the largest children's race in the country, will be April 13.

Sheri Bartlett shivered under drizzling snow Sunday at Fairchild Air Force Base, looking forward to a belated Valentine's Day celebration with her husband. When John Bartlett stepped off the KC-135 tanker, after several weeks enforcing a "no-fly zone" over Bosnia, he had similar plans. "I got three bottles of wine and a bottle of Grappa (Italian liqueur) that's just dying for a private evening," said Bartlett, kissing his wife on the cheek.

Carol Weltz fought Amend after her husband's death was ruled a suicide. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Karen Black worked at Kiddee Kollege Child Care Center only nine days, but her departure has started a flurry of name-calling and threats of lawsuits. The state shut down the North Side center Feb. 15, the day after owners Darrell and Helen Nelson fired Black, the director. Most of the other eight employees quit. Children weren't being properly supervised at the center, according to reports from the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Facing the abortion issue. Anti-abortion protesters sing a hymn in front of Planned Parenthood on Saturday morning. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Members of Grace Harvest Fellowship church prayed Sunday evening in an unusual sanctuary - a snow-covered church parking lot. Arriving members of the Spokane Valley church spotted smoke and flames coming from the roof. While firefighters battled the fire, church members prayed that their metal-framed building at 24th and Sullivan would be spared.

1. Colored streamers fill the sky as the ribbon is cut to officially open the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland on Sept. 1, 1995. AP photo 2. The Supremes are in fine form in their gold dresses as part of 20 fashion displays. Hal Stata photo

Scott Waterhouse started to die in the back of a patrol car last week, his belly allegedly full of drugs. Less than an hour later, he was dead.

Reporters talk to Andy Zeller's brother Jake, mother, Eileen and father, Jeffrey, when Andy was found on Saturday after being lost near Silver Mountain for two days. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review