Mike Prager

They hang out downtown for a lot of reasons. Some are homeless. Some are thrill-seekers. Others want drugs or companionship. “I need to get out of the house,” said Meghan Gunning, 21, explaining why she was on the sidewalk visiting with friends near the Spokane Transit Authority’s downtown Plaza a few weeks ago. The mother of two said she is on state assistance but “I really need a job.”

The father of a Post Falls soldier wounded when Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood in 2009 said his son has post-traumatic stress from the shooting that ended his military career and has left him unable to support himself. On Nov. 5, 2009, George Stratton III was at Fort Hood to complete medical processing in preparation for a January deployment to Afghanistan. He was one of the 32 people wounded by Hasan’s bullets; Stratton was shot through his left shoulder, shattering his humerus bone. Among the 13 killed in the attack was Michael Grant Cahill, 62, a native of Spokane and graduate of Rogers High School and Eastern Washington University.

Residents of trailers in Fairchild Air Force Base’s crash zone said they have mixed feelings about a county-inspired effort to buy their trailer parks as a way of reducing civilian encroachment on the base. Voters will be asked Nov. 5 to approve a property tax increase to pay for the acquisitions and relocations.

A rail gang of three dozen workers moved through Spokane last week, repairing and replacing track on BNSF Railway’s main lines as part of a $125 million investment in the railroad’s facilities and equipment in Washington this year. Nationwide, BNSF this year is investing $4.3 billion in its system, including buying new locomotives, freight cars and other equipment. Last year, the railroad spent $100 million on improvements in the state.

The developer of a controversial Target big-box store on the South Hill appears to be the target of graffiti spray-painted at the entrance of the subdivision where he lives. Someone used a handmade stencil to paint the word “TARGET,” along with the store’s familiar target symbol, on an entrance wall to Blackwood, where developer Dave Black lives. The subdivision is at Hatch Road and Blackwood Lane.

Sales are down dramatically in tourist-dependent towns on the North Cascades Highway following a series of huge rock and mudslides that closed the scenic route at Rainy Pass last weekend. The Washington State Department of Transportation on Thursday said that reopening Highway 20 could come as early as Sunday, but more likely on Monday or Tuesday.

KELLER FERRY LANDING – The MV Sanpoil on Wednesday slipped away from her south shore terminal, quietly gliding across the Columbia River on her maiden voyage. “Ah, this is nice,” said Dolly Brudevold, a teacher at Keller Elementary School and a regular commuter on the 1.5-mile crossing for State Highway 21.