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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Pia Hallenberg

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News >  Washington Voices

Hillyard VFW volunteers acquire cemetery

The hilly lot covered with big pines is not a quiet place. It’s just south of an interchange of the North Spokane Corridor, and it sits beneath buzzing power lines. Still, it is a place of final rest for area residents, including Civil War veterans.
News >  Washington Voices

Inspired by cats, sisters saw garden expo take root

They are three sisters and they’ve always lived in the Spokane Valley house where they grew up. They agree that their love of gardening and all things growing and green began about 18 years ago when they took in Oliver, a stray cat. Oliver had a fenced run in the backyard but not much to look at in terms of plants or wildlife. And so the planting began.
News >  Washington Voices

Mother’s Day tour includes 1915 Welty House

When Jeff and Regina Thomas bought their 1915 colonial on Rockwood Boulevard in 1990, they hadn’t set foot inside it. The Thomases were in the middle of a work-related move from California to New York, but they knew they wanted to come back to Spokane. He’s from Pullman and she’s from Spokane, so buying a home here kind of made sense. And now their home is featured on this year’s Mother’s Day Home Tour.
News >  Washington Voices

West Central to host workshops

To say there’s a lot going on in West Central next week is an understatement. The city of Spokane has declared the week of May 13-19 Neighborhood Resiliency Week, and there’s a long list of events in West Central focusing on bringing positive, sustainable change to the neighborhood. “The whole idea originally was to take one neighborhood and focus energy on that and its residents, provide them with information and tips on how to make better decisions,” said lead organizer Patrick Malone. “How do you control energy consumption when you rent your home and can’t replace the old furnace? How do you make better choices? How do you plant a garden when you can’t tear out the lawn to do it?”
News >  Washington Voices

Bloomie figures easy will do it again

When Steve Ellis puts on his running shoes Sunday morning, he’s headed out for his 20th Bloomsday race. For the past couple of weeks, the South Hill hairstylist has displayed his collection of Bloomsday shirts on the wall of Alicia and Associates on West 25th Avenue, where he’s worked for three years. He did Bloomsday for the first time in 1988.
News >  Washington Voices

EWU cyber team places at regionals

A team of students from Eastern Washington University placed second out of 11 teams at the fifth annual Pacific Rim Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, in Des Moines, Wash. It’s the third time EWU was represented at the contest, in which teams of students defend computer networks against outside attacks from hackers and virus.
News >  Washington Voices

Northeast Community Center pioneer retires

When Joyce Jones got involved with the Northeast Community Center, it hadn’t even been built yet. And on April 5, after 30 years of service to her neighborhood, she retired from the board of the Northeast Community Center and received the John Kohls Excellence in Leadership Award. “When I got started there was nothing but a dream to build a community center,” said Jones. At that time the Hillyard senior programs were at a small church, the youth program was at an old school and SNAP was, well, homeless. “We knew we had to pay our own way if we wanted a center, and we knew we had to make sure we had people lined up to rent space here.”
News >  Washington Voices

Rockin’ Art fundraiser for public schools this Friday

The Spokane Public Schools Foundation will hold its annual Rockin’ Art fundraiser Friday. Works of art created by students, teachers and local artists are on display and up for purchase. A silent auction features art created by select elementary, middle and high school students, and a live auction will feature five pieces.
News >  Washington Voices

Central Lions Club celebrates service ideal

There’s a black and white photo hanging upstairs at the Davenport Hotel. It was taken on April 20, 1922, at the charter dinner for Spokane Central Lions Club. Last weekend, 90 years later almost to the day, Spokane Central Lions celebrated its anniversary at the Davenport. “Spokane Central Lions Club is the oldest and the largest in our district,” said Sanford E. Gerber, who’s been a member of Central Lions for 12 years and is also a past president.
News >  Washington Voices

Childless couple have kids from around the globe

Dan and Helen Anderson have lived a life surrounded by and caring for children, none of whom are their own. The couple run Babyland Diaper Service – a subscription cloth diaper service – and they’ve opened their home to 65 foreign exchange students since 1990. The main reason the Andersons never had children is that Dan Anderson has a rare degenerative liver disease. He had a liver transplant in 1987 and was doing well until a few years ago.
News >  Washington Voices

Franklin students are helping shelter dogs and cats

What began as a project aimed at mixing students who attend the APPLE program at Franklin Elementary School with other Franklin students turned into a community service project that will keep some shelter cats and dogs cozy. The Alternative Parent Participation Learning Experience requires parents to participate in classroom activities, and that means APPLE classrooms do more enrichment activities, such as excursions and interactive learning projects. Students who aren’t in APPLE can get a little envious of that.
News >  Washington Voices

Japanese students need places to stay

This summer a group of 140 Japanese students will be visiting Spokane for three weeks. They will tell you they are in “first grade” which means their first year of high school, and that they are here to learn better English and to learn about American culture. The exchange program is put together by Compass USA and for this summer, Compass is looking for around 150 host families in Spokane. Compass USA arranges homestays for foreign students.
News >  Spokane

Komen race sees drop in participation

An estimated 7,500 runners, joggers and walkers participated in Spokane’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday. Last year, 8,500 people finished the 5-kilometer course. Organizers were anticipating a drop in participation because of the controversy surrounding Komen’s national board’s decision to pull funding for Planned Parenthood’s cancer-screening services earlier this year. That decision was quickly reversed, but race participation has been down across the nation.
News >  Washington Voices

Monday Musicale celebrates century of song, comraderie

Spokane’s flag was just recently dug out of storage and is now displayed at City Hall. And on Monday there’s a chance to get another dose of civic pride when “Song of Sunny Spokane” is performed at the Monday Musicale’s 100th anniversary program at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church. “It’s become one of our favorite songs to perform throughout the community,” said Donna McMackin, president of Monday Musicale. Several songs about Spokane were copyrighted in the early 1900s. The one presented by the Monday Musicale was copyrighted by Luther Essick, and it’s the fitting finale of a big program presented by the music club.
News >  Washington Voices

Conveyor belt speeds sorting at food bank

The more than 2,500 volunteers who sort and box food donations at Second Harvest Food Bank can look forward to a lot less back strain. Last week, Second Harvest showed off its new volunteer center, which features a conveyer belt at a comfortable height.
News >  Washington Voices

Mead art show benefits schools

On Saturday, the seventh eye4art takes place at Mead High School. The art show is a fundraiser for the Mead Education Foundation and it features more than 200 pieces of art by local artists. One of the show’s founders, Mark Barnes, said a great working relationship with noted local sculptor and artist Harold Balazs has worked wonders in lining up the area’s best artists.
News >  Washington Voices

Monday Musicale celebrates century of song, comraderie

Spokane’s flag was just recently dug out of storage and is now displayed at City Hall. And on Monday there’s a chance to get another dose of civic pride when “Song of Sunny Spokane” is performed at the Monday Musicale’s 100th anniversary program at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church. “It’s become one of our favorite songs to perform throughout the community,” said Donna McMackin, president of Monday Musicale. Several songs about Spokane were copyrighted in the early 1900s. The one presented by the Monday Musicale was copyrighted by Luther Essick, and it’s the fitting finale of a big program presented by the music club.
News >  Washington Voices

Community helps pay for 7-year-old’s special walker

When Second Merriman was born seven years ago, she was a month and half premature. At 4 pounds, 15 ounces, she was a tiny baby, but she seemed healthy. But after a few months, Second’s mom, Minute Schwantner, noticed that Second wasn’t developing at the same rate as her cousin, who was almost the same age. She didn’t think much about it until one morning when Second did something odd.
News >  Washington Voices

Picken travels world with kids after death of spouse

After spending a year and a half traveling the world, Dawn Picken is back in her Spokane house, and her two kids are back in their old school. Together, the three of them are reconnecting with old friends. The traveling trio went to France, Northern Ireland, Mallorca, Luxembourg and South Africa, just to mention a few destinations, before capping off their trip with an extended stay in New Zealand, and a return trip via Fiji and Hawaii. “The plan was to return last July,” said Picken, smiling shyly. “But I’d put the kids in school in New Zealand. And, well, then there was Pete.”
News >  Washington Voices

Top model contest puts focus on fashion

Local fashionistas are expected to descend on the Knitting Factory on Saturday for Spokane’s Top Model contest. “It’s similar to ‘America’s Top Model,’ and we are affiliated with Seattle Fashion Week. Our winners go to Seattle to walk in the fashion week there,” said Kris Kilduff, who promotes the show. “We have 40 contestants on Saturday, and they are paired up with eight local salons and eight fashion boutiques.”
News >  Washington Voices

Community gardens kick into gear

There’s snow in the forecast. It’s rained more than it’s ever rained before during the month of March. It’s still a bit chilly out there, but crocuses are blooming and so are snowdrops. Still, Saturday the Spokane Community Gardens is having a kickoff for all the gardens at the Grant Park Community Garden, just west of Grant Elementary School off Ninth Avenue.
News >  Washington Voices

Senior project collects affordable prom dresses

In the romantic comedy “27 Dresses,” a young woman has been a bridesmaid 27 times. One at a time she puts on the gowns, in a rainbow of colors and styles, and relishes the memories from all the weddings. Erin Fiorillo said she feels almost the same way when she walks into her basement. There she has close to 85 clean, gently used formal dresses neatly hung on racks, waiting for their new owners. On April 14, at Shadle Park High School, she’ll be selling them all to benefit Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.
News >  Washington Voices

Students show computer skills in national competiton

Spokane high schools had a strong showing at this year’s National CyberPatriot Championships in Washington, D.C., last week. Teams from Lewis and Clark High School and John R. Rogers High School placed second in the two main divisions. Rogers also received the prestigious top service award, and Lewis and Clark won the open division in the forensics competition.