Pia Hallenberg

The whirring of tiny wheels and the muted sound of trains can be heard before entering the room where the River City Modelers train club is building its new layout, or landscape as the uninitiated are likely to call it. When finished, the impressive two-level display will have 19 scale miles of main line track, running through mountains, deserts and urban scenery.

The Hobo Dinner is coming right up

Perry neighbors missing dog

Gravity and a long, productive life may have pulled Maggie Haverfield’s back into the shape of the number 7, but when she puts on her tap shoes and gets out in front of the line of Hillyard Belles to do her solo dance number, nothing seems to slow her down. Haverfield is one of the founding members of Hillyard Belles, Trainmen and Showband, a nonprofit, volunteer, senior performance group that entertains at assisted living facilities and performs at community celebrations.

Residents of Spokane County are getting the hang of recycling. According to the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System and the Washington state Department of Ecology, the county recycled 331,793 tons of various materials in 2010. That’s 51 percent of the 646,149 tons of municipal waste that was generated in 2010. “Spokane County is recycling at a higher rate than the state average,” said Suzanne Tresko, recycling coordinator for the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System.

A couple of years ago, local artist Lisa Allen was trying to come up with some good Christmas presents to make her girlfriends. Someone had recently given her a stack of old record albums picked up from a garage sale. She had a lot of fabric lying around, so she decided to combine the two, and that’s how Allen came up with the idea for record album purses. “I’m not sure exactly how it happened,” she said, laughing. “My friends and I used to have what we called girls’ poker night. What we did was open a bottle of wine and watch Project Runway, so I had all those fashion ideas floating around my head.”

When the new season of CBS’ hit show “Survivor” debuts on Feb. 15, special Spokane viewing parties are already planned. Why? Because Central Valley High School class of 1979 graduate Troy Robertson – also known as “Troyzan” – made it on the show. In a brief interview from his home in Miami earlier this week, Robertson said the attention he’s received after the cast of “Survivor” was officially announced has been overwhelming.

John Rodkey was born in 1921 and lived his first years in the infamous Dust Bowl that blew away farmers’ futures at the same time the Great Depression hit. His family lived on a small farm in northeastern Colorado. His parents, Verne and Helen Rodkey, struggled through lean years until 1934, when they took their six children and moved to Post Falls in search of a better life.

South Hill connections on Facebook

Northeast PDA approved - now what?

Grant is looking for a few artists

When Della Travo and her husband, Frank, moved in to their brand new, beautiful brick house in north Spokane, it was a different world all together. The year was 1930, and an 18-year-old Della Travo had just married Frank Travo, a handsome Italian barber who had a barbershop downtown on Howard Street. The two met while she was selling tickets to a function at the Italian club.

A volunteer group is forming in support of the John A. Finch Arboretum, and it will meet again on Jan. 26. The group will function much like the Friends of Manito, which does fundraising and volunteer work for Manito Park.