Mike Prager

Two more days of summer conditions will keep the Inland Northwest toasty, but then a low pressure system off the Pacific Ocean is expected to bring a chance of showers and thunderstorms by Wednesday evening.

A 10-year-old girl spent the night alone in a barn with about 10 donkeys in southeast Spokane while a team of officers and volunteers combed her neighborhood late Sunday and early Monday. The girl disappeared from her home in the 2300 block of South Myrtle Street on Sunday evening and was found just before 8 a.m. Monday more than a mile away, in the 2500 block of South Cherry Lane. The search involving Spokane police and 12 volunteers started about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

The last week of summer should live up to its name with highs today reaching the lower 80s and then climbing to as warm as 92 degrees in downtown Spokane on Wednesday.

Merchants and motorists on Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley will be happy to know that construction along the heavily traveled corridor is going to be finished in less than two weeks. The last stages of work will start Tuesday evening, when old pavement will be ground down in preparation for resurfacing. The grinding work will start at Evergreen Road at 6 p.m. and move west in segments to University Road. The work each day will run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Air quality in the Spokane region entered the unhealthy range during the noon hour Thursday after wind gusts up to 35 mph kicked up a dust storm. Devices atop the Spokane Regional Health District building measured 258 micrograms of dust per cubic meter of air.

Gusty winds today were raising a light haze of dust this morning from a Pacific frontal system that was crossing the region.

The number of people hitting the road during the Labor Day weekend is expected to drop by 13.3 percent from 2008. In the Inland Northwest, those who do venture out can expect cooler weather and a chance of rain.

The nice run of summer heat appears to be coming to an end today with the first signs of autumn arriving over the holiday weekend, forecasters said this morning.

Two more days of warm weather with highs near 90 degrees should keep the Inland Northwest feeling like summer.

An Iraq war veteran and his wife were found shot to death in Republic on Saturday in what appeared to be a murder and suicide. Ferry County Prosecutor Mike Sandona, who also serves as county coroner, said Monday the cause of death seemed to be from gunshot wounds, but the crime scene was “such a mess … it was hard to determine.”

A fire that destroyed a 250,000-square-foot hay-feed plant east of Moses Lake on Sunday was expected to continue burning for several days, authorities reported Monday. The fire was so hot it prevented firefighters from going inside to put it out. An estimated 70,000 tons of hay being processed for livestock feed was in the Courtright Enterprises plant, 3385 Road M.2 NE, fueling the fire, said Kyle Foreman, public information officer for Grant County’s Department of Emergency Management.

Enjoy the warm weather while you can. The first three days of this week should see highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s, but after Wednesday, summer-like weather is going to slowly slip away.

The north Spokane freeway may be a nice quiet stretch of concrete to drive, but it isn’t saving anyone much time. Traffic has been sparse on the 3.7-mile section since it opened on Aug. 22 between Hillyard and Mead. It is the first leg of the long-awaited freeway.

A Newman Lake man was killed today when he tried to pass two other vehicles at a high rate of speed on East Wellesley Avenue at Murray Road.

Another warming trend is underway across the Inland Northwest with highs expected to reach the 90s in Spokane as early as Monday.

Another hot summer day is baking the Inland Northwest and bringing an increased danger of fire today before a low pressure system starts to cool and dampen the weekend.

Two Spokane-area residents were injured Thursday night in a one-vehicle collision on Interstate 90 just east of the Geiger Boulevard interchange.

Another August heat wave today should bring highs approaching record temperatures, along with heightened fire danger. But a low-pressure area developing along the Pacific coast is expected to bring increased chances of thunderstorms and rain showers tonight through Sunday.

The eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 are now reopened just east of Stateline, although heavy traffic remained backed up into Washington as of 3:30 p.m. Authorities said the freeway was partially blocked from a two-vehicle accident that occurred near Stateline around 1:30 p.m.

Spokane’s new swimming pools are so popular that they are attracting a crowd – after the pools have closed, city parks officials said today.

Highs today are expected to climb into the lower 90s across the Spokane region, and then soar to near record temperatures on Friday before a low pressure system moves into the hot air and drops temperatures by more than 20 degrees on Saturday, forecasters said.