Mike Prager

Gary and Tina Johnson worried that their 23 forested acres on Blackwell Hill overlooking Coeur d'Alene could someday be overrun with development. In North Spokane County, Alfred and Cathy Anderson wanted to protect their 76 acres of forest and farmland from developers as well.

A stately brick home important to Gonzaga University history is facing possible demolition by the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, although diocese and university officials both say they are looking for a way to save the house that is a prominent part of the Bishop White Seminary. The Georgian Revival home at 429 E. Sharp Ave. was built at the turn of the 20th century by construction contractor John T. Huetter, who also built the Gonzaga Administration Building, Heath Library, DeSmet Hall, the former St. Joseph's Orphanage and other large brick and stone buildings in the Spokane region, many of which have been demolished, including the orphanage.

Life just got a little darker, but sweeter in downtown Spokane. Halletts Chocolates – a longtime candy maker in the region – last week opened a new outlet in the historic Hale Building at 227 W. Riverside Ave.

When your home wine making takes over the basement, you do the next logical thing: you open a winery. Cody George and Brian Murray aren't the first winemakers to turn their hobby into a business, but they are among the newest vintners in Spokane to follow the call of the grape.

Fifty years ago this month, members of the Inland Northwest's oldest amateur astronomy organization set up telescopes to track the early orbits of Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite launched into space by the then-Soviet Union. They were part of a nationwide civilian effort to keep an eye on Sputnik during the height of the Cold War and the start of what would become the Space Race to land a man on the moon, which the U.S. won 12 years later.

Completion of a missing link in the Inland Northwest's bike and pedestrian trail system took a jump forward last week when the Spokane City Council approved a major design contract for an 11-mile trail segment between Spokane and Fish Lake near Cheney. When completed in two to four years, the trail would allow users to connect between the Centennial Trail in Spokane and Kootenai counties and the Columbia Plateau Trail, which runs on former railroad right of way from Fish Lake to Tri-Cities.

Fifty years ago this month, members of the Inland Northwest's oldest amateur astronomy organization set up telescopes to track the early orbits of Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite launched into space by the then-Soviet Union. They were part of a nationwide civilian effort to keep an eye on Sputnik during the height of the Cold War and the start of what would become the Space Race to land a man on the moon, which the U.S. won 12 years later.

Bill and Phyllis King of Spokane have a fireplace, but like a lot of homeowners, they have converted it to burn natural gas instead. They also have a wood stove. "We haven't used it since Ice Storm (in 1996)," Bill King said.

To make a point about soil conservation, Randy Emtman steered his pickup across a wheat field near Valleyford in south Spokane County, where soil loss 30 years ago had left a drainage trench deep enough to leave the field impassable. The field has long since healed, and the soil is stable because the Emtman family switched to no-till farming practices and stopped using plows in the 1980s.

To make a point about soil conservation, Randy Emtman steered his pickup across a wheat field near Valleyford in south Spokane County, where soil loss 30 years ago had left a drainage trench deep enough to leave the field impassable. The field has long since healed, and the soil is stable because the Emtman family switched to no-till farming practices and stopped using plows in the 1980s.

Six homes on East Mission, all part of the Mission Avenue National Historic District, are being placed on the local Spokane Register of Historic Places as a way to create additional protection for the neighborhood's century-old legacy. One home at 429 E. Mission Ave. has already been placed on the local register and five more are eligible for listing under nominations written by the city's Historic Preservation Office.