Sara Leaming

Pratt Elementary School opened its doors Tuesday morning, but the flood of new students never came. By Wednesday, the Spokane school had enrolled only nine new students on the second day of new student registration for city schools.

Pratt Elementary School opened its doors Tuesday morning, but the flood of new students never came. By Wednesday, the school had enrolled only nine new students on the second day of new student registration for city schools.

Escalating costs of building materials and a shortage of trades people could leave Spokane Public Schools up to $23 million short for capital projects planned over the next three years. Renovation under way at Rogers High School may cost $7 million more than the estimated $59 million set in February, school officials said. The remodel of Shadle Park High School, still two years out, may cost nearly $70 million, or $10 million more than planned.

During the summer months, vacant school buildings spell nothing but trouble. School district maintenance staff and local law enforcement said it's the norm to have a constant barrage of mischief – rocks through windows, graffiti and high profile vandalism that can cost thousands of dollars to repair.

In a classroom at Lewis and Clark High School this week, Chas Nolan pored over a math problem to figure whether a blob of ice cream would still fit in the cone after it melts. The 16-year-old decided there was one thing, beyond knowing the diameter of a cone, that would help the Washington Assessment of Student Learning math question make sense.

A school district 300 miles from Spokane is looking to enroll local students in its Internet-based public school. Steilacoom Historical School District, south of Tacoma, launched its Washington Virtual Academy for students up to eighth grade in Spokane on Tuesday, saying it "will be the largest online school available" in the state.

Amy Fitzpatrick was headed to only one place after spending Sunday in the 90-degree heat at Spokane's annual Hoopfest. "The pool," said Fitzpatrick, of Spokane.

Spokane water rescue crews were stretched thin Sunday investigating two separate incidents on the Spokane River. Rescue crews were still searching late Sunday for a 22-year-old man who may have drowned while swimming in deep water at Plantes Ferry Park north of the Upriver Dam.

Changes to Spokane Public Schools' before- and after-school child care program could leave some parents in a pinch this fall. Rates for the district's Express program increased an average of 7 percent for the 2006-07 school year, or $100 a month in some cases. And some programs for kindergarten students may not be offered at all.

The family of a Medical Lake High School student is fired up over a graduation policy that prevented their daughter from wearing a cultural sash she earned for getting good grades. Michelle Ontiveros, 18, and another Hispanic student at the school were denied the opportunity to wear a sash resembling a serape during the ceremonies June 10 because of a school policy that does not allow deviation from the standard cap, gown, tassel and honor cords for those who qualified. A Native American student was denied a similar request last year.

Sitting behind the wheel of a stock car at Stateline Speedway, Bill Welch couldn't control the giddy grin across his face. "To me, this is like getting the chance to fly an F-4," the 61-year-old Moses Lake man said.

Friday was almost like any other day for 12-year-old Brianna Smith. She awoke around 7 a.m., took her usual 15- to 20-minute shower, ate some Belgian waffles in her purple bathrobe, and began the primping process worthy of a celebrity.

In Brent Osborn's two sophomore honors science classes, it's hard to tell the professional scientists from the students. The distinction became even fuzzier with this week's release of the second volume of the North Central High School Journal of Science.

Spokane teacher Kathy Curtis had few words Thursday to describe her temporary classroom at Garfield Elementary School. "It's box city," the third-grade teacher said. "It's a little scattered."

The rain couldn't keep Bess Carlson from her front row seat in the parking lot at John R. Rogers High School. Carlson, 87, wasn't going to miss the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the planned renovation of her alma mater because of weather.

Bemiss Elementary School fourth-grader Calani Balos studied the selections on a piece of paper held tight in his hand on Monday as if it were his final exam. The "test" went something like this: