Peter Barnes

In the six-way race for Spokane Valley City Council Position 6, unofficial results indicate longtime incorporation supporter Ed Mertens and planning commissioner Bill Gothmann will move on to the general election. "I think it's really a vote of confidence in the city and the City Council," said Gothmann, 67.

Preliminary results from Tuesday's primary show Guy Gifford and incumbent June Sine as the leading candidates for the District 3 seat on the East Valley School Board. Sine received about 55 percent of the votes and Gifford received about 26 percent as of Tuesday night, not including the last of the absentee ballots.

As they try to squeeze in as many meetings with potential constituents as possible before the approaching primary, candidates for Position 6 of the Spokane Valley City Council list transportation and growth among the top issues in the campaign. Some voters also have expressed concern regarding instructions they found confusing on their mail-in ballots.

For most homeowners, storm water isn't something they think about until their basements are filled with it. But to engineers, developers and environmental agencies it's a big deal. Big enough, in fact, that the federal government ratcheted down requirements for handling excess runoff in 1999, and those changes have finally made their way into regulations proposed for Spokane County.

After threatening a lawsuit over 419 acres that were recently opened to development just outside the city limits, the Spokane Valley City Council decided Tuesday not to take Spokane County to court. Four of the seven council members voted against appealing the county's recent expansion of the urban growth boundary, citing conversations with county commissioners and talks between planners at both governments.

Two men wielding a garden hose held back a fire in a camping trailer Monday until firefighters arrived, possibly saving a neighbor's mobile home next to it, a fire official said. "That thing was blazing pretty good," said Mike Jury, visiting from the Seattle area.

Citing an incomplete list of tasks the city thought would be finished by now, the Spokane Valley City Council extended temporary one-acre zoning in the Ponderosa and Rotchford neighborhoods at its study session Tuesday. "What the ordinance does is preserve the status quo," Marina Sukup, the city's community development director, said at the meeting.

Spokane Valley City Council members have intensified their demand for a say in how land adjacent to the city is developed, threatening to appeal a county decision to expand its legally developable land if the county does not reach a joint planning agreement with the city in the next two weeks. The county's move to allow upward of 976 homes on the southeast edge of Spokane Valley without consulting the city on traffic and other issues "flies in the face of growth management," said Councilman Steve Taylor.

Organizations that provide social services and push for economic growth in Spokane Valley made their cases for funding from the city's 2006 budget Tuesday night. At its regular meeting, the council reached a consensus that the amount set aside for nongovernmental agencies should increase by $20,000 to $120,000. But that still leaves the agencies requesting $66,430 more than what would be available.

A road project in a fast-growing part of the Spokane Valley has become the latest example of what some describe as a frustrating lack of intergovernmental coordination in the region's development. Spokane County recently asked Spokane Valley to dedicate nearly $80,000 to widen three city-owned blocks of pavement that are part of proposed improvements to Barker Road south of town. But the project isn't included in the city's road budget, and the deadline for a grant application for its funding is due Wednesday.

With classes 26 days away and CenterPlace construction all but complete, the Spokane Valley City Council approved a lease Tuesday granting the Community Colleges of Spokane classrooms in the new community center for the next five years. "I'm sure the professors and the teachers want to get in there," Mayor Diana Wilhite said.

Book lovers who frequent the Argonne Library will have a little more elbow room for browsing after a recently finished remodeling project. "People are saying how open it feels now," branch supervisor Judy Luck said.

Neighborhoods will be able to offer more guidance to Spokane Valley planners as they map out roads, housing and other land use under a chapter added to the latest draft of Spokane Valley's Comprehensive Plan. The current draft of the city's 20-year planning goals includes a chapter on neighborhood and sub-area planning.

Sometimes Joe Peak and his neighbors wonder if it's possible to love a river to death. On Friday he counted 120 cars parked near a one-lane bridge over the Coeur d'Alene River north of Kingston – a low number for a river-floating hotspot where 600 floaters can come through in a hot afternoon.

Projected Spokane Valley revenues for 2006 are looking a lot like revenues in 2005 – not too bad, according to the city's finance director. At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Spokane Valley City Council took its first look at budget projections for 2006.

A candidate for Millwood mayor was convicted of a sex crime the early 1980s, court documents show. Robert Paul Mankin, now 64, pleaded guilty to attempted indecent liberties in 1982 and served three years of probation, according to Superior Court documents and the Department of Corrections.

The town of Millwood has elected seven mayors in its 77 years, and this November it will chose as its eighth either a six-term councilman or a fervent critic of the town government. Mayor Jeanne Batson, 83, decided against seeking re-election after 16 years in office. Councilman Daniel Mork and Robert Mankin will run for the position

The seat left open by Spokane Valley Councilman Mike Flanigan drew six candidates before campaign filing in Spokane County ended Friday, but only two incumbents in other Valley seats will face challengers this November. Bill Gothmann, John Kallas, Ron Lippincott, Ed Mertens, Charles Parker and Dale Strom will vie for the open Position 6 seat in the primary.

The Spokane Coeur d'Alene Opera will hold a free outdoor concert at Mirabeau Point Park Thursday, its second performance in Spokane Valley since moving to the Valley Performing Arts Center in May. "Bring a picnic dinner," said Bill Graham, the organization's director.