Pia Hallenberg

Sullivan Bridge project celebrated

Friday morning coffee

Tim Benn has a lot ground to make up if he wants to serve in the state House representing central Spokane. He emerged from the August primary with 34 percent of the vote, enough to move to the general election by beating a Libertarian candidate, but still well behind the 57 percent won by incumbent Democratic state Rep. Marcus Riccelli.

The Valley Precinct wants your drugs

Sullivan Bridge project kickoff

Valley Fest took flight

Zombie breakfast not a dead affair

Hello Spokane Valley

The Friends of the Five Mile School House has published a book about the history of Five Mile Prairie. It will be available at Prairie Day on Saturday.

The city of Spokane and Spokane County have hired Megan Duvall as the new historic preservation officer. Duvall comes to Spokane from the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation where she was the certified local government coordinator and also ran the statewide survey and inventory program.

There’s something about the Vinegar Flats neighborhood just south of downtown that makes it feel like it’s a small town, and that’s one reason Celeste Shaw fell in love with the area. Shaw, who owns the restaurant and bakery Chaps on Cheney-Spokane Road, recently purchased a 1939 service station at 1930 S. Inland Empire Way and turned it into Lucky Detour, a flea market-style shop.

One thing is for certain: High-rise window washing is not a job for everyone. Eric Katzer said he can tell by the way job candidates walk across a roof whether they are cut out for it or not. Katzer owns and operates WestCoast Window Cleaning, a window washing company that cleans windows on tall downtown buildings like the U.S. Courthouse, the downtown post office, the Spokane Arena and on this particular day, Rock Pointe Corporate Center.

There will be big hats and divots to stomp this Sunday at the Cobra Polo Classic. The fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Spokane – now in its 10th year – features gourmet food and drinks and a silent auction with items such as a trip to Hawaii, wine tasting tours, collectors’ wines and gift certificates for sports games and dining.

There aren’t many reasons to stop in the town of Latah, about an hour’s drive south of Spokane Valley, except perhaps to enjoy the view of Palouse wheatfields. One of the best such views is from a tall Victorian home that sits on a hill just above the grain elevators. Built in 1886, just a few years before the town of Latah incorporated, the Ham-McEachern House was the home of William McEachern, a banker of Scottish descent who successfully maneuvered the local bank through the Great Depression.

Tucked away on a shady, tree-covered lot on a quiet South Hill street sits a little old house with good bones. Its wood siding is painted white and tall dormers jut out from the roof. Beautifully crafted light green trim lines its boarded-up windows. The crew working in the back is there to dig, drag and haul out a truckload of rotted firewood and old furniture that’s been heaped on an old cement patio. The smell of mold hangs in the air.