Mike Prager

A group of antiques said to have come from the Patsy Clark Mansion and dating back to the mining magnate’s day are up for sale and on display at a North Monroe Street antique shop. The showing is just in time for his birthday, St. Patrick’s Day.

A shiny, new, all-electric Chinese bus is running on Spokane routes this month under a special demonstration through a U.S. branch of BYD Co. Ltd. Spokane Transit Authority was invited to test the zero-emission bus as part of a statewide evaluation of battery power.

Leone Browning, 94, was upstairs in her Spangle home Wednesday evening when her son yelled up to her that she had to get out within five minutes. Melting snow, heavy rain and frozen ground combined to send sheets of water down the hill behind her home, where it met a raging Spangle Creek. It was the second time in three weeks that floodwater forced her out of the house, one of five adjacent homes inundated by floodwaters in Spangle on Wednesday and Thursday.

As the county takes control of the regional solid waste management from Spokane, area cities must decide how their municipalities will fit into the new system. Among the possible coming changes: Residents of towns who do not take part in the regional system could face higher charges at transfer stations.

Accumulating runoff is flooding parts of the region, including Farwell Road in North Spokane, and a rock slide temporarily blocked most of U.S. 195 near Rosalia. Temperatures rose into the 50s locally for the first time since Nov. 19.

Say goodbye to lowland snow for now. Warmer temperatures and expected rainstorms Wednesday and Thursday have shifted attention from icy conditions to potential flooding.

The head of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration visited his officers at Spokane International Airport on Wednesday and used the occasion to promote the agency’s PreCheck program for passengers wanting to get through airport screening more quickly. Administrator John S. Pistole said the TSA is moving away from what he called a “one-size-fits-all” approach to airport screening to more risk-based assessments.

The high hopes and efforts to establish a vibrant and lasting public market in downtown Spokane have failed. The Spokane Public Market, which opened in June 2011, will close next Saturday because of lackluster business.

Spokane Valley residents who carry their own garbage to the Spokane Valley transfer station on North Sullivan Road could face higher charges if their city decides to pull out of the county’s new regional solid waste system. At a meeting Thursday night, Spokane County Commissioners said the current rates for self-hauling are subsidized by fees on regular garbage collection countywide.

MALDEN, Wash. – A narrow, treeless corridor runs along scenic Pine Creek next to this tiny town in northern Whitman County. It maintains a level line as it moves off into the distance in both directions. Broken and abandoned structures stand as ruins in what was once a railroad switching area.