Megan Cooley

Diana Wilhite worked her way to the back of the room during a break in this week's City Council meeting. Like a gracious hostess – or a seasoned politician – Spokane Valley's new mayor said hello to citizens, thanked them for coming and listened to some of their concerns. One citizen politely took her hand and then asked, "And what do you do here?" An honest question for a meeting newcomer, but it didn't go without some ribbing from other attendees around him.

A grief-stricken school principal pauses amid the rubble where her primary school had stood a few weeks before. (click) The red metal wall of a locomotive is dented like a broken toy, an imprint made by the force of an ocean's wave. (click)

Spokane Valley residents sometimes complain that they don't have a community living room, a public place where they might read a book, take in a pretty view and gather families and friends for events. Well, in a matter of months Spokane Valley will get a living room – plus a kitchen, a dance hall, a theater, a greenhouse and a slew of other amenities.

The city of Spokane Valley is trying to break free from what one councilman called a "hostage" situation on Tuesday night. It deals with a messy set of intersections on Pines Road near the Interstate 90 interchange. Some landowners in the area have wanted for years to develop their property but have had to wait until traffic congestion is improved. They agreed to pitch in to cover the cost of fixing the problem, but just when it looked like all the money was in place, two developers backed out.

When Councilman Mike DeVleming first gathered the group of 10 teens together, he ran the show. The Spokane Valley Student Advisory Council was, after all, brand new. But after a few meetings – and just minutes after the group elected its officers – Michael Green, the council's new chairman, turned to DeVleming and asked: "Is this my meeting now?" DeVleming was happy to pass the baton.

Richard "Dick" Anderson spent his career dealing with death, but his family remembers most his knack for celebrating life. Anderson worked as a funeral director for Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home since the mid-1960s in both its Spokane Valley and Spokane locations. Before entering the field, Anderson had to cope with his own losses: his mother died when he was 11 and his first child died at 4. Instead of becoming bitter, he learned to empathize with people and shared his tender heart with those who needed his support, his family and a close friend said.

When Helen Perry moved to the Spokane Valley in 1973, she was raising five children alone. She came for a job as a librarian at the Spokane County Library District's Valley branch and ended up gaining a family. Perry and fellow librarians from the branch would gather for potluck dinners on Friday nights. They played volleyball at her house on Sundays. And during the week, they helped patrons find materials at the public library, an institution Perry calls "a cornerstone of democracy."

When Helen Perry moved to the Spokane Valley in 1973, she was raising five children alone. She came for a job as a librarian at the Spokane County Library District's Valley branch and ended up gaining a family. Perry and fellow librarians from the branch would gather for potluck dinners on Friday nights. They played volleyball at her house on Sundays. And during the week, they helped patrons find materials at the public library, an institution Perry calls "a cornerstone of democracy."

If a tree falls on the Centennial Trail when no one's around, does it make a sound? Probably, but the more important question might be: Who's going to pick it up? The 6.8-mile stretch of the trail that runs through the city of Spokane Valley currently doesn't have an official caretaker. Spokane County's contract to maintain Spokane Valley parks, including the trail, expired Dec. 31, and the city's current park-maintenance contract with a private company doesn't include trail maintenance.

Members of 24-Hour Fitness clubs normally don't need to be told to get moving. But exercisers at the chain's Spokane Valley gym had to do just that last weekend.

John Baldwin looks at you sideways. He speaks in a gravelly, throaty tone, revealing a New York accent that hasn't faded during the 30 years he's lived away from his home state. On Monday, Baldwin cruised through Spokane Valley in a Ford Crown Victoria marked with SCOPE logos on the doors. As a volunteer for that community organization, he regularly scans neighborhoods for cluttered yards and other unsafe conditions and watches businesses for possible break-ins that the Spokane Valley Police Department or the city's code enforcement officers might need to know about. From the cruiser Monday, he pointed to houses once littered with trash and junk cars. Baldwin has easily submitted 100 or more complaints to the city for residents nervous about turning in their neighbors.

Jamal Dawud can see it out the windows of Wheelon Mobile Home Parts, a business where he works on Pines Road in Spokane Valley. "If there's a train, oh boy, it'll back up a half-mile that way," he said, pointing north.