Lisa Leinberger

SPANGLE – Pots of purple petunias still hang from the porch of the Spangle Saloon, 145 N. Main, and the sign hanging from the door invites visitors to "Scramble on in." From the outside, the neighborhood watering hole looks like it always has, except for the heavy duty lock securing the front door.

With the weather heating up, there are many local farmers markets and sales sprouting up throughout the area. The Latah Creek Variety Market is no exception and kicked off a summer of events Saturday. It was held in the parking lot of the Latah Bistro, 4241 S. Cheney-Spokane Road and reached Chaps Coffee Company, 4235 S. Cheney-Spokane Road, on the other side of the parking lot. It was organized by the Latah Partners, businesses in the area who have formed a partnership to help publicize the area and each other's shops in the area near Cheney-Spokane Road and Highway 195.

The children in Tamra Ireland's third-grade class at Windsor Elementary School may have been getting a little antsy for the last day of school last week, but their attention soon was focused on the special visitor who came to read to them. First gentleman Mike Gregoire stopped by the class to read from the book "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs," by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Gregoire said he chose that book because it tells the classic children's tale from the wolf's point of view.

CHENEY – The weather hasn't really been cooperating lately, but that didn't stop the opening of the fifth season of the Cheney Farmers' Market last Friday. Pathways to Progress, a nonprofit organization that is working to revitalize downtown Cheney, presents the market every Friday from June through October. Pathways members noticed that summertime is extremely slow for businesses in Cheney once the students from Eastern Washington University go home.

In the late 19th century, the area around Cheney and the West Plains was growing quickly. Children were taught in a brick building on College Avenue and C Street in Cheney. There were four teachers and six levels of study. "In 1890, the school board and citizens decided to build a new school across the street from the present Fisher Administration Building," according to the Cheney High School 2006 Alumni Directory. "The building housed only eight grades, since high schools had no legal status in Washington."

If there is one thing you can say about Shianne Bright – she certainly is driven. The North Central High School senior, who will graduate on Saturday, is a master at finding scholarships to attend Gonzaga University.

When Kadi McKinley started her career at Cheney High School, she had hopes of playing on the girls basketball team and the volleyball team. But during her freshman year, she began having fainting spells and couldn't perform as well athletically.

"Nearly 300 students, all in the first high school year, left their names yesterday morning on the rolls of the North Central high school, the doors of which were thrown open yesterday for the first time."

Most little girls don't grow up dreaming to own their own luxury car lot. Carly Williams will graduate from Rogers High School Saturday and hopes to one day do just that.

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – After two months of work along U.S. Highway 2 in Airway Heights, the strip of landscaping has been completed and was dedicated with a little help from the Airway Heights Falcon's Club. Mayor Matthew Pederson brought out his golden shovel last week to help plant the last tree in the area near Lundstrom and Highway 2 along 14th Avenue and asked the children in the Falcon's Club how trees help the environment and the community.

Sally Madsen came to honor her great-grandfather, Officer Robert J. Rusk, a member of the Spokane Police Department who died when two men he had arrested escaped from jail. Rusk was going on a vacation to do some mining up north, and everyone in town knew he was leaving. The two men found Rusk's campsite and shot him to death on April 22, 1886. The two suspects later died in prison.

Sally Madsen came to honor her great-grandfather, Officer Robert J. Rusk, a member of the Spokane Police Department who died when two men he had arrested escaped from jail. Rusk was going on a vacation to do some mining up north, and everyone in town knew he was leaving. The two men found Rusk's campsite and shot him to death on April 22, 1886. The two suspects later died in prison.