Megan Cooley

Jayne Singleton remembers the first time she entered the Fox Theater in downtown Spokane. It was during the 1980s and she was going to see the movie "Alien." Now, Singleton can share her memories of the art deco theater with patrons of the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, where she is director. Until Friday the museum is displaying a model showing the renovated Fox to help drum up support for the theater's $22 million renovation project. On Monday the replica will travel to the Spokane Public Library's downtown branch, where it will be displayed for at least three weeks.

For some Spokane Valley residents, annexation is a dirty word. They shudder at the memory of the city of Spokane wanting to absorb parts of the Valley into its fold. But the annexation issue on the ballots voters are receiving by mail is asking a different question. Should the city of Spokane Valley annex to the Spokane County Library District? Answering yes will streamline the way residents receive library services, returning them to the system that directly served them for more than 60 years. Answering no keeps the power to negotiate the library contract in the Valley City Council's hands, a power some council members have said they're ready to relinquish.

The trade show is over. The registrations are in. It's finally time to hunker down and run the dang race. Bloomsday 2005 starts just before 9 a.m. today.

Bloomsday weekend is in full swing. Here's some news you can use to navigate Spokane's big race. The schedule

The Spokane Regional Health District plans to make minor cuts in staffing that will have a major impact on several public health programs. The district plans to downsize by the equivalent of 2.6 full-time positions between now and July 1, saving itself $62,800 out of a $22 million operating budget, Health Officer Dr. Kim Thorburn said. Because the staff already was spread thin, the reductions will mean elimination of several programs, including a drowning-prevention coalition, an effort to improve the sanitary conditions of restaurants, and a program that helps women and children in needy families. Programs that help foster children and improve the nutrition of the elderly will be reduced, she said.

If you believe in love, this story might make you squeeze your sweetheart's hand a little tighter. If you don't, this story might change your mind.

Three Spokane Valley neighborhoods are stuck between a patch and a hard place. Spokane County is due to tear up their roads and install sewer lines to replace septic tanks this year. But when the trenches are sealed up, the roads in the Sherwood Forest, Mica Park and Johnston neighborhoods will only get a patch to cover the holes – not the curb-to-curb or full-width paving that most other Valley neighborhoods received when sewer lines were installed.

Library volunteers in Spokane Valley thought they were spending their Saturday like the characters in "Little Women," cheerfully doing good deeds. But their weekend ended up more resembling an Agatha Christie mystery.

For months, Spokane Valley officials and citizens have talked about how the city could look 20 years from now. On Tuesday, the city's staff turned words into pictures.

When the organist arrived at St. Anthony's parish an hour before Mass on Saturday morning, something was out of tune. Overnight, a burglar had stolen a television, a VCR, about seven bottles of wine and more than a dozen religious items, including a relic that is believed to contain pieces of the cross on which Jesus Christ died. Every crucifix and nearly every chalice was gone, said parishioner Jim Schwarzer.

Citizens raised some evergreen complaints and a few new ideas for change at a town-meeting style event Wednesday night. About 20 people attended the Spokane Valley City Council's Conversation with the Community at Pratt Elementary School. The meetings, held every three months at different locations, are a chance for people to share concerns and ask questions of council members. Discussion Wednesday ranged from the Sprague-Appleway couplet to motorized scooters to community festivals and sporting events.

Jan Thompson's dream swimming pool isn't one of the kidney-shaped meccas outside tropical hotels. It's more like an aquatic facility she came across far north of the equator – in Victoria, B.C. The Canadian facility has a competitive lap pool, a waterslide, and a pool that's ringed with basketball hoops.