Kim Barker

Maybe it's the clean air. Or the healthful lifestyle and outdoor activities. Whatever the reason, Big Timber, Mont., is one of the fastest towns in Bloomsday, posting an average time of one hour and 15 minutes for its 11 runners last year.

Kay Walkup and her three daughters went to Burger King for the 99-cent Whoppers on Sunday, but instead they saw the restaurant's roof get flamebroiled. About eight customers and a dozen workers were cleared from the restaurant at 2120 N. Argonne about 4 p.m. Sunday.

This year's Bloomsday registration is running ahead of last year's numbers. As of Friday, 18,490 people have registered for the race, said Karen Heaps, Bloomsday coordinator. That's 3,000 more than had signed up on the Friday before the registration deadline in 1994. More than 55,000 people completed the race last year.

A 49-year-old Spokane woman was found dead in her East Central home early Sunday, apparently the victim of a homicide, police said. The body of Linda Lewis, 49, was found by her two sons just before 1 a.m. inside her home at 2023 E. Hartson.

It's not a typical Easter hunt. Instead of looking for eggs, Al Siemen spent Sunday looking for deductions and itemizations. His doors were open. He scheduled appointments with clients - the tax preparer's annual dance on the day before taxes.

Seattle Seahawk quarterback Rick Mirer got in a little road work on Wednesday afternoon with students from Balboa Elementary school on Spokane's North Side. Mirer was in town to promote Junior Bloomsday, which will be on Saturday. Organizers expect about 9,500 area kids to run the race. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Joe Ross and Matt Davenport have different goals for Bloomsday than most people. Last year, they ran up and down Doomsday Hill seven times. This year, they're hoping for more trips.

A 27-year-old convicted baby killer was charged Monday with second-degree murder in the death of 2-year-old Devin Erb. Kenneth Galloway, 27, is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $500,000 cash bond.

Angela Trickler, 7, had something to smile about when this photo was taken in happier days.

Officers talk with a caregiver, carrying her dog, shortly after she had discovered the bodies of an elderly woman and a temporary caregiver. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

After a week of fires that killed six Spokane residents and injured three others, something finally went right Sunday. Harold Heskett and his family may be shopping for a new home, but his family escaped a potentially dangerous fire early Sunday unharmed.

Mary Terao adds finishing touches to a dish being served at the Spokane Buddist Church spring food bazar. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

City workers Shane Warner and Craig Dowdy remove transient camp. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Sandra and Joe Utt, with their son Jonathan, and Alex Biggs, with her daughter Alison, in the West Plains area where landfills are encroaching. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Unpublished correction: The name of the boy who died is Brandon Keller-Farnworth. His father's name is Troy Farnworth. District 9 Lt. Doug Bleeker searches for clues to the cause of a mobile home fire that killed a 3-year-old on Monday morning. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

A 29-year-old Spokane woman who was riding her bike Sunday evening suffered head injuries when she collided with a Spokane Transit Authority bus on the South Hill. Tamara Thurlow was listed in satisfactory condition at Sacred Heart Medical Center Sunday night.

Four African American students at Gonzaga University's law school received copies Saturday of a threatening letter that contained racial slurs. The letter, dated March 31, was addressed to Aryan Nations' leader Richard Butler and signed by the Law Students for a Pure America. The letter writer named the four students and said they walked to and from school.

In the past year, Dean Zuck suffered three heart attacks and underwent open-heart surgery. The 70-year-old Bellingham resident still plans to run Bloomsday this year, as he has for the past two years.

FOR THE RECORD: (March 29, 1995): The company that hauled the new skywalks for the Spokane Transit Authority bus station Sunday was BLT Transport and Crane Service of Spokane. The company was misidentified in a Monday article. Into the breach. A crane lifts a skywalk into place between Crescent Court and the STA transit center Sunday morning. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

The Peone Cemetery Association is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of vandals who toppled about 100 headstones over the weekend. In addition to knocking over headstones - some of which weigh hundreds of pounds - vandals pulled up flowers, scrawled graffiti and destroyed mementos such as children's teddy bears. "We have had many offers from the community to help," said Neil Ziegler, secretary of the cemetery association's board.

Young people who want to get involved in manufacturing will be able to start the wheels turning before graduating from high school in a program being developed by a state advisory group. Representatives from Spokane area manufacturing companies met with representatives from the Manufacturing Technology Advisory Group at the Spokane Club on Monday.

After his wife of 52 years died in September, Frank Lehman buried her in Peone Cemetery and marked her grave with a temporary homemade cross and a bouquet of pink silk flowers. Lehman went to visit his wife's gravesite Sunday, as he often does.

Ray Paulson displays the true meaning of Easter as he converts a bunny-shaped balloon into a cross. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

It's a run within Bloomsday, and hundreds of people are already racing just to get into it. Corporate Cup, which opened its registration last week, is filling up with companies fielding teams. As of Thursday, 208 teams had signed up. The cup accepts the first 250 teams that register. "People are pretty much following directions, thank goodness," said Mark Starr, Corporate Cup committee chairman. "A couple of people jumped the gun and sent stuff in without the proper registration forms. They didn't send the right amount of money, they sent it to the wrong P.O. box."