Mike Prager

Residents living along 57th Avenue east of Glenrose Road aren't happy with their assessments for paving in the neighborhood. They are asking Spokane County commissioners to take a closer look at the way their road improvement district was managed by county staff. Verril Smale, engineer administrator for the county, said the property owners are paying less than half the total costs of paving, sidewalks and curbs.

The Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association has filed an appeal to the Spokane City Council seeking to stop the development of a shopping center at 44th and Regal. The association has argued that the eight-acre development could aggravate urban flooding in the area and compromise local government's ability to build an areawide storm sewer system.

Cheney city leaders are still suffering a budget hangover. The mayor and council are wrestling with ways to come up with $150,000 in cuts for the city's 1998 spending plan because of a drop in revenue from the utility tax on electrical bills. Mayor Amy Jo Sooy and City Administrator Jim Reinbold were said to be in a meeting Wednesday hashing out options.

1. Laura Parsons watches as her 7-year-old son Joey amuses himself at her home in Medical Lake. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review 2. Laura Parsons, a new member of the Medical Lake City Council, spends an evening at home with daughter Raena, 10, left, and son Joey, 7. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

The same technology that makes weather radar work is also helping Cheney firefighters get to calls more safely. The state Department of Transportation recently installed an emergency signal-control device at the intersection of state Highway 904 and the Cheney-Spokane Road. It is the first device of its kind installed on a state-owned highway in a trial program, said Al Gilson, spokesman for the Transportation Department in Spokane.

The developers of a proposed shopping center at 44th and Regal said Moran Prairie neighbors are wrong in accusing them of overlooking environmental questions. In a brief filed by their lawyer, the developers contend their research has resolved a host of concerns, including traffic flow, stormwater runoff and the sensitive geology of the site. The Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association is opposing plans to put up a 70,000-square-foot supermarket and two smaller freestanding retail shops just north of Shopko.

Airway Heights police didn't need to consult the spirit world to find out who ran up a $1,300 bill on a psychic hotline. Plain, old-fashioned police work led them to a suspect who 'fessed up when he was confronted last week, said City Administrator Mike Patterson. The charges from a long-distance 900 number appeared on city phone bills in August and September. The calls were made from a telephone in the volunteer fire department.

The holiday season turned out to be pretty merry for Global Folk Art at First and Cedar. The not-for-profit business has been in danger of closing because of a drop in sales in 1997. Patrons of the store turned out in big numbers the two weeks before Christmas after the manager of the shop said slow sales were threatening the store's existence.

Jane Baker surveyed the needs of South Side seniors for her master's thesis at Eastern Washington University. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

The couple who lived down the block from Roy and Laura Barron took them under their wings when the Barrons moved to East 16th Avenue. The Barrons were understandably sad when the surviving spouse died two years ago.

Bert Wolfrum lives on 150 acres on the South Kentuck Trail near Spangle. His back pasture has a small basalt quarry that was last mined during the 1930s, he said. Old rusted cables were left on the property as evidence of the past activity. There's a small lake in the old pit.

A preliminary study warning of the danger of urban flooding cannot be applied to a proposed shopping center at 44th and Regal, city officials said this week. The developers want to put up a 70,000-square-foot supermarket and two free-standing retail buildings on eight acres of a former wetland. The city hearing examiner approved the project last month.

Driving through thick fog can be nerve-wracking. Getting a flight out of the airport on days like Wednesday can be downright frustrating.

Medical Lake Mayor Jim Hill officially assumes office today in a city that now has extra cash to spend. "I can't complain about that," Hill said earlier this week. He was sworn in Wednesday.

Cheney Mayor-elect Amy Jo Sooy takes office next week amid a financial crisis she didn't create. She's in charge of solving it now. Her first official job starting Jan. 2 will be to figure out how to trim more money from an already pared-back city budget.

1. Unable to wait until they get home, Timothy Grinevitch, left, and Dina Zaremba have a peek at gifts from their family sponsor at First Presbyterian Church. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review 2. Luke Evans, 2, shares the cookie he decorated during a Christmas party at First Presbyterian Church. Members of the church adopted 135 families for the holidays. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

The Gaiser Conservatory at Manito Park has been turned into a holiday wonderland with Christmas lights, special plants and other decorations. This is the third year the greenhouse has been decorated for the holidays. A live Norfolk Island pine under the central dome was hung with paper decorations, which were made by members of Junior Girl Scout Troop 580 of the Shiloh Hills neighborhood on the North Side.

The Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association isn't giving up in its fight against a large new supermarket proposed for 44th and Regal. The association last week asked for reconsideration of a decision approving the development. On Dec. 5, city Hearing Examiner Greg Smith approved a zone change and plans for the Regal Park project on eight acres just north of the existing Shopko store.

This week's cold snap will continue through Christmas, virtually guaranteeing a frosty scene for the holiday, according to weather forecasters. What's on the ground now should be the extent of any white Christmas. Aside from a few possible flurries today, forecasts are calling for dry weather until Friday evening. That's good news for motorists negotiating the region's highways and mountain passes.

The city of Airway Heights is stepping up its effort to collect building permit fees from the Airway Heights Corrections Center. City Administrator Mike Patterson said the prison in past years did not always pay for building permits when it scheduled work projects. This year, the city has collected $6,000 on more than 20 separate building permits for projects such as a new storage shed and fencing.

Mosquito control could bite the dust in budget cuts facing the city of Cheney. Every spring, crews drive the streets spraying a chemical that supposedly kills mosquitoes. It costs about $5,000. For years, residents have debated the effectiveness and safety of the spraying.

The Moran Prairie opponents of a new shopping center at 44th and Regal aren't revealing their next strategy. Spokane's hearing examiner earlier this month approved a zone change and new design plan for a 70,000-square-foot supermarket and two smaller retail buildings. Members of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association have until Friday to file an appeal of the decision to the Spokane City Council, association leaders said.

The old South Hill Senior Center is now the new South Side Senior Activity Center. Members of the 12-year-old organization voted unanimously Tuesday to change its name. The decision came during a general membership meeting and luncheon attended by about 100 people.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center has more people needing help this Christmas than sponsors to fill the need. More than 300 families have signed up for the center's Adopt A Family program this season.