Pia Hallenberg

In 1965, when James Nebel was a young man, he became the owner and protector of a huge collection of moths and butterflies. At the time it was known as the Anderson Collection and considered the second largest private collection of lepidopterans in Washington. It consisted of more than 3,000 specimens and it was the lifework of Andrew Anderson of Pateros, Wash., a man Nebel had known growing up.

In 1965, when James Nebel was a young man, he became the owner and protector of a huge collection of moths and butterflies. At the time it was known as the Anderson Collection and considered the second largest private collection of lepidopterans in Washington. It consisted of more than 3,000 specimens and it was the lifework of Andrew Anderson of Pateros, Wash., a man Nebel had known growing up.

For an intense two weeks during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, a group of airmen working at underground nuclear missile sites near Spokane literally had their fingers on the buttons that could start a nuclear war. And now their stories are finally being told in “Secret Spokane – Center of the Cold War,” which opens at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture on Wednesday.

A group of Indonesian teachers and principals visited Five Mile Prairie School last week to learn about nontraditional education. Traveling with the Friendship Force, an international exchange program, the 11 teachers and four principals were spending a week in Spokane before heading to Whidbey Island, Wash., for professional training.

Katrina Boik has never been homeless and the closest she’s ever gotten to spending a night outdoors is camping with her family. That’s going to change Friday night, when Boik sleeps in a cardboard shelter she built as part of a homelessness awareness project put on by Family Promise of Spokane. “I’m excited about it. I know I’m pretty spoiled with what I have at home,” said the 18-year-old who’s homeschooled and a dual credit student at North Idaho College. “I am going to bring a lot of stuff to help me stay warm.”

Jerry Michielli worries a lot about birth control. He doesn’t want things to get out of hand and that’s the main reason he keeps the boys and the girls separated.

The West Central Neighborhood Council wants its neighborhood out of the alcohol impact area. Though the neighborhood council previously supported being part of the voluntary AIA, where sales of single-serving fortified, high-alcohol beers would be banned, at a Sept. 12 meeting members voted to send a letter asking the City Council to remove West Central from the AIA ordinance. A mandatory AIA is in effect in the East Central neighborhood. The council will hear the West Central ordinance change for the first time on Monday and vote on Oct. 1.

For Matthew Jackson, who wrote and performs in the two-person play “The Celtic Cross,” Friday’s performance at St. George’s School is a homecoming. “I grew up in Spokane and I went to St. George’s,” said Jackson, who lives in Seattle. “The school just welcomed me with open arms.”

Saturday's highlights

The Jewish Reform Congregation Emanu-El’s new rabbi arrived just in time for the High Holy Days which begin with Rosh Hashanah on Monday. “I am really happy for the opportunity,” Tamar Malino said. She’s also the director of Jewish Family Services and jokingly refers to herself as a quarter-time rabbi because she juggles time between her two jobs.

The sewing machines at the Cozy Quilt Shop on North Division Street were working so hard they seemed to generate heat as the members of the local ConKerr Cancer chapter gathered to make pillowcases last Thursday About a dozen women were there, and they expected that day to make between 150 and 200 pillowcases, some featuring frogs, some with cartoon characters and other fun patterns.

Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute celebrated its 10,000th student and its new executive vice president at a tree planting ceremony last week. The private women’s college just west of Spokane is the United States branch campus of Japan’s Mukogawa Women’s University. It opened in 1990.