Pat Sciuchetti

Passersby pulled two boys out of a burning house early Tuesday morning after smoke and asthma prevented their mother from rescuing them herself.

Thieves hit more than a dozen University High School basketball players where it hurts most: in the feet. Burglars pried open 23 lockers in the high school's gymnasium on Friday night, stealing at least 14 pairs of expensive basketball shoes, U-Hi officials said. Girls' basketball coach Bob Finn discovered the damaged lockers and missing shoes when his team arrived for practice Saturday morning.

Rep. Larry Crouse, left, and Rep. Mark Sterk, by window, at Chamber luncheon. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Someone stole her family's jewelry, VCRs, camcorder and stereo. They took antique knives, binoculars, power tools and CDs. But what 15-year-old Erin Rice misses most is her family's trust.

Jerry Bliss makes a living building birdhouses. They're handmade of alder logs and cedar roofing Bliss and his family gather during walks in the woods. They're decorated with moss, miniature mailboxes and tiny wheels. And now, 36 of them have disappeared. Earlier this month, someone broke into Bliss' storage unit at Dishman-Mica Self-Storage, 209 S. Dishman-Mica Road, and stole one-third of the birdhouses he'd been storing there, sheriff's deputies said.

They've tinkered a bit with the tinsel, but sponsors promise this year's Festival of Trees will be as grand as its predecessors. The Spokane Valley Rotary Club, the new primary sponsor of the holiday event, has scaled it back and worked to make it more affordable this year. It has replaced the traditional $65-per-person gala dinner and dance with a $30 cocktail and hors d'oeuvres party. That will take place Thursday night, said Dan Frickle, a Rotary board member. Valley Rotary also has planned a low-cost family tree viewing next Sunday with balloon artists, cookie decorating, face painting and other activities for kids. A dozen local carvers will be on hand to display their works and demonstrate their skills. Frickle, a cardboard artist, will display his handmade 5-foot-wide Gothic cardboard cathedral. Valley Rotary has kept the festival's traditional tree auction and raffle intact. Businesses sponsor and decorate the Christmas trees, which have been auctioned off for up to $6,000 in past years. There won't be as many trees this year, Frickle said, but he promised they would be just as magnificent. Raffle tickets cost $1 and are available at festival events. Other events include an evening holiday fashion show and a mid-day holiday fashion show, both on Dec. 8. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the Valley Center of Sharing, the Hugs to Health day care for sick kids at Valley Hospital and Medical Center and the new Valley Senior Center and universally accessible park at Mirabeau Point. This is Valley Rotary's first year as primary sponsor of the Festival of Trees. The former sponsor, Deaconess and Valley Healthcare Foundation, decided last summer to discontinue it, and replace it with a new fund-raising event. The festival has raised nearly $500,000 for local charities during its 10-year history, but profits and interest had declined in recent years. The investment of time and money, foundation officials said, finally became too large for the return. In September, the Valley Rotary board of directors decided to rescue the holiday event. "A group of us felt it was such a neat tradition, we just weren't willing to give it up," Frickle said.

The Valley Fire District Board of Commissioners on Friday reluctantly voted to remain neutral on a proposal to charge non-city residents - including Valley residents - roughly the same price for ambulance rides, whether they're hurt inside or outside city limits. If accepted by the Spokane City Council, the proposal by Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams would add $100 to $220 to the bill of a non-city resident who needs an ambulance transport within city limits. Valley residents would no longer get a break - paying the lower price charged to city residents. Commissioners agreed not to oppose the proposal - as long as the city works with them over the next year to make ambulance costs more equitable county-wide. Currently, ambulance transports in the city cost about $60 to $220 less than county transports, for a variety of reasons. Factors include a higher number of transports, smaller service area and the EMS levy that city property owners must pay. Currently, everyone pays more for county transports and less for city transports, regardless of where they live. The proposal would roughly equalize costs inside and outside the city for non-city residents. City residents would still pay less inside the city, a point that bothered Valley fire commissioners.

1. Hugs to Health nurse Debbie Corey leads 4-year-old Caitlin Perry to the play room. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Below, Jeremy Howe has his temperature checked by Pamela Tweedy. 3. Top, Hugs to Health nurse Debbie Corey checks the throat of Benjamin McEnderfer. Photography by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review 4. Left, Zane Morris gets a hello kiss from Alyssa, who was dropped off in the morning at the Valley Medical Center day care.

Bob Allen was among the 164 donors to give blood for Crystal Heden, who suffers from leukemia. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane Valley Fire District commissioners will vote next week on an $11.7 million budget that includes funding for a new fire truck, two paramedic vehicles and a handful of new firefighters. Commissioners are expected to approve the 1998 budget following a 4 p.m. public hearing on Wednesday.

The Opportunity Township Hall was built in 1912. File photo

Sheriff's deputies are investigating several unsolved Valley business burglaries. Burglars last week escaped with more than $10,000 worth of valuables from State Farm Insurance, Johnson Trailer Repair, Seco Construction Equipment Inc. and Precision Audio, Sheriff's Department officials said. Deputies haven't determined if the cases are related. The cluster of burglaries began Wednesday, when thieves used a rock to break out a window at State Farm Insurance, 1014 N. Pines. They stole two computers, a red and white State Farm pedal car and 22 collectors' edition car banks.

Melanie Sauer Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

1-3. Sara Serbell, left, Elizabeth Keeler, bottom left, and Cynthia McMullen (at Liberty Lake Elementary School construction site) are all active in making the community a better place. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Valleyford Postmaster Rick Straub will be leaving his 190-square-foot post office for a new 2,500-square-foot facility. Construction is scheduled to start as soon as next month. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

A Valley woman lost $1,500 in foreign currency and her passport when her home was burglarized last week. The thief apparently used an old key to gain entry into the home on South Farr Road, sheriff's deputies said. The door was locked with a deadbolt and no windows were opened or broken, said the occupant of the home, who was away when the burglary occurred Wednesday morning.

Employees at a Valley jewelry store are holding their trinkets and treasures just a little bit tighter these days. Last week, staff at Crescent Jewelers watched a customer bolt out of their Spokane Valley Mall store with a $10,000 diamond ring. The young man - who looked about 20, but turned out to be 15 - ran through the mall, out the door, across the northeast parking lot and toward the Spokane River, said Tim Allen, Crescent's manager-in-training. The teen had no car, no apparent escape plan and no desire to swim, said Allen, one of about half a dozen men who eventually cornered the suspect at the river. When a mall security officer took the teen into custody, the $10,000 ring was still tucked in his right front pocket.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a flurry of counterfeit bills being passed in the Spokane area. Counterfeiters are passing $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills, just in time for the holiday shopping season, said Michael Coleman, agent in charge of the Secret Service's Spokane office. Between 30 and 40 incidents have been reported in just the last week, Coleman said. "We're getting hit here, right now, as we speak," he said. "This is a new operation and it started last week."

Tim Re lost a dog to a speeding driver along 16th Avenue and he doesn't want to lose another. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Vandals spray-painted the Bowdish Junior High School gymnasium with red paint and stole $8,000 worth of power tools during two recent break-ins. Sheriff's deputies arrested two teenagers for burglary on Tuesday. The boys, age 14 and 15, are suspects in both break-ins. A third suspect, also a teenage boy, will probably be arrested within the next few days, deputies said. Deputies did not know if the teens were Bowdish students.

Bill Mael has been teaching dancing for six years. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Walking through the Dishman Hills Natural Area, Guy Gifford sees the ghosts of Ice Storm. Here and there, ponderosa pines are turning yellow. About 60 have shown up so far.

A Spokane Valley man was arrested early Friday after his car slammed into a concrete barrier on Dishman-Mica Road. David M. Douglas, of 4410 E. 14th, was arrested just before 2 a.m. Friday and charged with attempting to elude police, sheriff's deputies reported. A Sheriff's Department spokesman said a deputy in a patrol car began pursuit of a vehicle on Eighth Avenue, activating his emergency lights and siren.

Visibility can hurt a business. Just ask Spalding Auto Parts Inc. Seven years ago, when state workers mistakenly chopped down a buffer of trees that hid the wrecking yard from Interstate 90, many citizens blamed the Valley business.