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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Mike Prager

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News >  Voices

50 years of Sinto

In the late 1950s when community organizing was gaining ground around the country, a small group of seniors on Spokane’s North Side got together to create one of the first senior centers in the state of Washington. This Saturday, members of Sinto Senior Activity Center will gather for a dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the center, 1124 W. Sinto Ave.
News >  Spokane

Benefit raises $12,000 for gardens

An unexpectedly large turnout for a historic restoration fundraiser last week netted more than $12,000 for the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens in Pioneer Park on Spokane’s lower South Hill. About 850 people attended the tour of four historic homes in a neighborhood adjacent to the gardens. The entrance fee was $15 a person.
News >  Voices

Cheers for new uniforms

Rogers High School cheerleaders won’t be outclassed by anyone when they take the field this fall. The 14-member squad now has four sets of new uniforms – worth nearly $30,000 – thanks to the generosity of two 1961 Rogers alums who met as high school sweethearts and have never lost a fierce loyalty to their old school.
News >  Voices

Unpopular policy trashed

It’s not too often that the average citizen takes on City Hall and wins. Gina McKenzie, a real estate agent living at Corbin Park, and her neighbors launched an aggressive effort a year ago to combat a decision to switch garbage pickups from the alleys behind their homes to their front curbs.
News >  Voices

Vespas buzz into town

The soaring price of gasoline has made that postwar icon of hip mobility more attractive than ever. Vespa motor scooters get nearly 75 miles per gallon, making them an ideal choice for people who like having that extra dose of fresh air while saving on fuel.
News >  Voices

All for one

HILLYARD – When Marvin Peterson’s wife, Vicki, was hospitalized a few weeks ago, he nearly closed the Hillyard Variety, a small shop on North Market Street that provides space for various neighborhood vendors. But leaders in the Hillyard community quickly stepped up and started taking over shifts at the front counter while the Petersons confront a life-threatening condition – Vicki Peterson needs a lung transplant.
News >  Voices

Back-to-school made easier

Felicia Curry, a sixth-grader at Holmes Elementary School in the West Central Neighborhood, showed up at a pizza party last week with her mother, dressed in a pair of new silver and pink athletic shoes that she got just in time for school. The shoes were a gift from the Jamie and Karen Moyer Foundation, which donated $5,000 to the Our Place Community Ministries charity on the North Side to help get kids outfitted for the reopening of classes this month.
News >  Voices

Moyer foundation gift outfits kids for school

Felicia Curry, a sixth-grader at Holmes Elementary School in the West Central Neighborhood, showed up at a pizza party last week with her mother, dressed in a pair of new silver and pink athletic shoes that she got just in time for school. The shoes were a gift from the Jamie and Karen Moyer Foundation, which donated $5,000 to the Our Place Community Ministries charity on the North Side to help get kids outfitted for the reopening of classes this month.
News >  Voices

Shoreline plan goes public

A comprehensive revision of the city’s shoreline master plan – including new regulations on the height and mass of buildings near the Spokane River and Latah Creek – goes before the public in an open house today and then in a public hearing on Wednesday before the city Plan Commission. Under the proposal, developers would no longer be able to erect large high-rise towers, but rather would have to build skinnier towers to allow views around them in coming years. Buildings below 55 feet in height would be allowed to cover larger areas, however.
News >  Spokane

Ex-firefighter faces new troubles

Former Spokane firefighter Daniel Ross – dismissed from his city job in 2006 in a firehouse sex scandal involving an underage girl – has been accused of sexual abuse against a second juvenile in a separate incident, state officials confirmed Friday. The more recent allegation resulted in a finding of child sexual abuse by the state’s Child Protective Services in November 2007. As a result, Ross’ wife, Colleen Ross, had her license to operate an adult family home revoked, state records show.
News >  Voices

50 years of concrete

Some of the largest structures in the Inland Northwest were built with products from a Spokane Valley company that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Last week, the company set up a tent and hired a caterer to put on a pair of celebrations – one for clients and customers on Thursday and another for employees on Friday.
News >  Voices

Cheers for new uniforms

Rogers High School cheerleaders won’t be outclassed by anyone when they take the field this fall. The 14-member squad now has four sets of new uniforms – worth nearly $30,000 – thanks to the generosity of two 1961 Rogers alums who met as high school sweethearts and have never lost a fierce loyalty to their old school.
News >  Voices

Downtown plan taking shape

An expanded trolley system, newly landscaped entrances to the city and a series of pedestrian street improvements are part of a package of recommendations in a new downtown plan for Spokane. More than 500 people have provided input on the plan over the past year. A draft version is nearly ready for approval by the City Council. A public hearing and a vote are expected in early October.
News >  Voices

Everybody eats at One World

In just a few weeks, a holistic concept in restaurant eating could transform East Sprague Avenue at Pittsburg Street into a new destination on the path to good nutrition and a “green” lifestyle. Keith and Janice Raschko are converting their teahouse at 1804 E. Sprague Ave. into a community kitchen where diners choose their portions from a variety of organic daily offerings and then pay the house what they think the food is worth.
News >  Voices

Everybody eats at One World

In just a few weeks, a holistic concept in restaurant eating could transform East Sprague Avenue at Pittsburg Street into a new destination on the path to good nutrition and a “green” lifestyle. Keith and Janice Raschko are converting their teahouse at 1804 E. Sprague Ave. into a community kitchen where diners choose their portions from a variety of organic daily offerings and then pay the house what they think the food is worth.
News >  Voices

No drugs in Spokane water

Responding to a national report earlier this year that traces of pharmaceuticals are showing up in America’s drinking water, the Spokane Water Department has spent about $3,000 to test the city’s water supply for drug residue. The results showed no traces of pharmaceuticals from samples taken from two city wells.
News >  Voices

Our Place gets makeover, new service

Our Place Community Ministries, which has served the West Central Neighborhood for 21 years, has just completed a $270,000 remodeling and expansion that includes something different in its mission to help the poor: a free laundry facility for low-income residents. “It’s an awesome deal,” said Tom Wrenn as he waited for his clothes to dry last week. He said the free laundry saves him about $30 a month, which is a big help as he lives on part-time wages.
News >  Voices

Proposal restores damaged shore

Twenty-seven segments of Spokane River and Latah Creek shoreline could benefit from stream-side restoration under a plan being considered at City Hall. Damaged and denuded river banks should be restored with trees and native vegetation to improve habitat for fish and wildlife and to enhance the quality of stream water, the plan says.
News >  Voices

City to buy two sites for future wastewater use

Spokane’s wastewater department is purchasing two parcels of property in northwest Spokane as part of a long-range plan to improve sewer service in the vicinity of Seven Mile. Spokane City Council members earlier this month approved real estate agreements with Plese Realty for sites at Seven Mile Bridge for $300,000 and along Nine Mile Road at the northwest city limits for $170,000.
News >  Voices

Dog park has home

Spokane parks officials and animal welfare advocates have apparently reached a milestone in their long walk to find a suitable place in the city for a dog park. A section of High Bridge Park west of downtown has been chosen as the best place for the city to build its first park devoted to dogs and dog owners. Around the country, fenced dog parks have become a highly popular way for dogs and their owners to have fun and socialize.
News >  Voices

History of Grant

You might say Jim Nyborg is stuck in the past, but what a sweet past it is. For nine years, Nyborg has been compiling the history of Grant Elementary School, which opened in its original building in 1899 and has continued at its present location since 1980.
News >  Voices

Riverfront Park boasts King Cole Way

The driving force behind the creation of Expo ’74 is being recognized with the naming of a pathway in Riverfront Park, the site of Spokane’s famed world’s fair. King Cole, who led the effort to bring the world to Spokane, was the honored guest during a dedication of King Cole Way Friday at a footbridge adjacent to the floating stage where President Nixon opened the fair 34 years ago. The bridge had been dedicated as King Cole Bridge in 1994, and a sign declaring it as King Cole Way is being installed there, too.
News >  Voices

Wineries join forces

Mountain Dome Winery, a family-owned sparkling wine producer in the Foothills area of Spokane County, helped create Grande Ronde Cellars back in the late 1990s, and now Grande Ronde is widely regarded for producing elegant red wines. This year, the pattern is repeating itself with Grande Ronde and Mountain Dome giving life to three new labels, under cooperative arrangement in two cases with new winemaking families.
News >  Voices

Art through child’s eyes

More than 100 pieces of art made by children have been on display for the past three weeks on the second floor of the STA Bus Plaza in downtown Spokane. The art represents the work of children attending six day care and preschool learning centers around the city.
News >  Voices

City officials move to save land for farming

The city of Spokane is looking at the possibility of buying development rights to an unusual use of land in an urban area – farming. A handful of farmers still work the soil in Latah Valley, and city officials said the use of the land for agriculture is so valuable that the government should take steps to preserve it for the future.