Pia Hallenberg

The free downtown holiday carriage rides that were started by Spokane Teachers Credit Union and the Downtown Spokane Partnership in 2000 are beginning again Friday. Bruce Spencer is bringing his team of dark and tall Manley Stanley and fancy gray Chickerdoodle downtown from Post Falls. High Falutin, another big guy, will be rotated in as needed. The horses are seasoned downtown visitors, used to all kinds of traffic and people coming and going. “They are just doing their job,” Spencer said when asked if his horses enjoy the downtown holiday bustle. “They like that first day and then they really enjoy the very last day, when they are done.”

The Spokane Children’s Theatre is staging its 68th Christmas show, “The Christmas Toy Shop.” Jerry B. Uppinghouse, the theater’s facilities manager, is directing the show, which he said is full of traditional Christmas characters like dancing elves and the jolly old fellow.

East Central residents sent a strong message to City Hall on Tuesday evening: They want the Ben Burr Trail, south of Liberty Park, left as it is.  The city recently proposed using a $1.7 million federal transportation grant to pave, widen and place guardrails along a section of the Ben Burr Trail, beginning at East Hills Court and ending at Liberty Park, a plan that met with much criticism Tuesday. 

As the city begins construction of combined sewage overflow tanks to keep untreated wastewater out of the Spokane River, some residents oppose how the project is being carried out and its effect on neighborhoods. The construction of the 1 million-gallon concrete tank near Ray Street and 21st Avenue has caught the attention of Carrie Anderson, an activist who refers to herself as the Tree Lady. Construction required the removal of about 100 trees, including several ponderosa pines.

The Spokane Children’s Theatre’s 68th Christmas show, “The Christmas Toy Shop,” opens Friday. Jerry B. Uppinghouse, the theater’s facilities manager, is directing the show, which he said is full of traditional Christmas characters like dancing elves and the jolly old fellow.

The Lewis and Clark High School Drama Department is presenting a silent film night – complete with organ accompaniment – on Nov. 22. The evening features three silent films: Charlie Chaplin’s “The Cure,” Buster Keaton in “Neighbors,” and Laurel and Hardy in “Big Business.”

The East Central Neighborhood Council had a lot of questions for city senior design engineer Dan Buller when he presented the city’s plan for a $1.7 million renovation of the Ben Burr Trail stretching from East Hills Court to Liberty Park, and connecting it to the Centennial Trail near the Riverpoint Campus. East Central neighbors did not like the city’s proposal to have the Ben Burr Trail paved and widened south of Liberty Park – they want to preserve that part of the trail as a gravel path.

The Emerson/Garfield Neighborhood Council is planning for its future. At an Oct. 10 meeting, residents helped define some of the neighborhood’s main issues. At the next meeting, Nov. 14, residents will prioritize projects and vote on a neighborhood mission statement.

About 30 East Central neighbors showed up for a presentation about the Ben Burr Trail project Tuesday evening at East Central Community Center. When city senior design engineer Dan Buller asked who among them had concerns about the outlined project, 28 hands shot into the air.