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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sara Leaming

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

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News >  Spokane

W. Valley wants own report card

West Valley School District is fighting its reputation for having the worst graduation rates in Washington. The district is asking state school Superintendent Terry Bergeson to separate West Valley High School's academic results from its two alternative high schools. The latter two schools, Contract Based Education and Spokane Valley High School, cater to students who opt out of the traditional school systems in the area to earn a diploma. The vast majority of those students live outside the West Valley School District.
News >  Spokane

Students pushing for safer crossing

West Valley City School student Ben Wikle steps off a Spokane Transit Authority bus near his school each morning and prepares for a fight. The 13-year-old has to battle his way across six lanes of traffic where busy one-way Mullan and Argonne roads intersect with Valleyway Avenue.
News >  Spokane

Coaches meet for special training

The most important boundary in high school sports is no longer the goal line. Instead, the most important boundary is the one being drawn between high school coaches and their athletes.
News >  Spokane

Tradition adds a cut for charity

West Valley High School senior Ryan Staley was at the mercy of his peers armed with scissors and an electric razor Thursday. The Associated Student Body vice president sold raffle tickets to students for a chance to cut his hair. He orchestrated the stunt to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and hopefully win back the Golden Throne from East Valley High School at tonight's spirit competition and basketball game.
News >  Spokane

CV district picks site for school

The Central Valley School District Board decided Monday to build a new elementary school on land closer to the bulging student population in Liberty Lake. Pending voter approval of a $55.2 million construction bond on March 14, board members voted unanimously to select the Mission Avenue and Holl Road site for the next elementary school.
News >  Voices

WVHS renovation on track

The gaping hole in the side of the West Valley High School building along Buckeye Avenue is a good thing. It means the school's $29 million renovation is moving along as planned.
News >  Spokane

Schools face ESL gap

Nine-year-old Luba Motora doesn't ask her parents for help with her homework. "I just do it myself," the Trentwood Elementary School student said.
News >  Spokane

Ambulance surcharge criticized

Spokane's policy of charging nonresidents an extra $100 for an ambulance ride is drawing fire from some high school sports officials. Under a 1997 resolution passed by the Spokane City Council, nonresidents injured in the city and transported by ambulance are assessed a surcharge on top of fees charged by the ambulance provider.
News >  Voices

Feature creature

When set free from her cage at the Spokane Regional Animal Protection Services facility, Holly sniffed just about everything she could get to. The sweet, curious Australian cattle dog mix was dropped off at the shelter with four puppies which are almost as big as she is. Holly's face is a mix of colors, and the fur on her body is black peppered with gray. She can walk on a lead, and is just fine with other dogs. Holly is a little skittish around people, but once she gets to know you she's happy to curl up in your lap.
News >  Idaho

Man accused in wife’s death claims blackout

A 24-year-old Spokane Valley man accused of killing his wife over an alleged affair told police he "blacked out" during the argument that may have ended Jamie Braffith's life. According to court records, Anselmo Ricardo Braffith III, who had been drinking and only remembered hitting his wife "in the back," woke up Saturday morning to find her dead, covered with a bloody blanket at the foot of the basement stairs at the couple's home in the 4400 block of North Adams Road. The court records contradict earlier reports, which gave a different last name for Jamie Braffith and said the Braffiths were not married.
News >  Spokane

New teacher learning

First-year teacher Bruce Market made his way through the halls of University High School in September like a fish swimming upstream through a sea of bodies. Like many teachers at the crowded Central Valley school, he doesn't have his own classroom. All his papers are loaded onto a Wal-Mart kitchen cart-turned-desk.
News >  Voices

Search firm hired to find new Freeman super

The Freeman School District board of directors voted last week to hire a search firm to find a new leader for the 900-student district. Superintendent Bill Thurston announced this month that he plans to retire at the end of the school year.
News >  Voices

New homes in CV district may have one-time impact fees

New homeowners moving into the Central Valley School District could be paying a one-time $1,410 impact fee to help offset the impact of widespread growth. That is one issue addressed in Central Valley's draft capital facilities plan, now available to view online at the district's Web site at www.cvsd.org. The district is asking the community to view the document and make comments until Wednesday.
News >  Spokane

Teacher faces felony over relationship with student

A former Stevens County schoolteacher and coach accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student is facing felony charges. Robert M. Swalstad, a former teacher at Columbia High School in Hunters, Wash., was arrested in June on suspicion of third-degree rape of a child after Natasha A. Finley came forward and said she was pregnant with Swalstad's baby.
News >  Spokane

A smoother transition

Making a gingerbread house was more than just fun for 5-year-old Holden Freeman. It was a skill-building task. Freeman, a student in Central Valley's special-education preschool program, was unaware that assembling the frosted treat actually was helping him improve fine motor skills and work on speech development, social skills and following directions.
News >  Voices

Land sold to allow road widening

The Central Valley School District board of directors voted Monday to sell about 8,600 square feet of land to the city of Spokane Valley for road improvements to Barker Road, north of Interstate 90. The property at Mission Avenue and Barker is part of the district's alternative high school site, also known as Barker Community Learning Center.
News >  Voices

Lunstroth, Trainor join EVSD board

Two new board members were sworn in at the East Valley School District Board of Directors meeting Tuesday night. Kerri Lunstroth, who ran uncontested in the November election for Director District 4, took the seat left vacant by longtime board member Sue Wentz, who did not seek another term.
News >  Spokane

District to add assistant principals

Three Central Valley School District middle schools will return to having an assistant principal in the building all day in 2006. District staff decided in July not to fill two full-time assistant principal positions at four of the district's five middle schools because of an increase in principals' pay. Instead, two vice principals were sharing the responsibility at four schools.
News >  Spokane

3 deaths called murder-suicide

PULLMAN – The shooting deaths of three people at a condominium complex here appeared to be a double murder-suicide, Pullman police said Sunday. Louissa A. Thompson, 27; Peter A. Zornes, 25, of Oakesdale, Wash.; and Trevor S. Saunders, 29, of Moscow, were found dead inside Thompson's unit at the Statesman Condominiums, 1220 NE State St., on Saturday night.
News >  Voices

Central Valley School District launches community communication tool

The Central Valley School district is launching a new information system for willing community members. The district's Key Communicator Network will begin in January and will include a "loose-knit group of opinion leaders" who will agree to receive regular e-mails from the district and pass the content along to others.
News >  Spokane

Losing pounds a weighty family affair

All day Friday, 15-year-old Bob Plumb lumbered through the halls of Central Valley High School with 47 pounds of canned goods hanging from his back. With every turn there came an apology. Barely able to fit through the lunch line, his backpack knocked into teenage girls left and right.
News >  Voices

Contract signed for possible school site near Liberty Lake

The Central Valley School District is going forward with plans for the possible purchase of a 12.6-acre piece of property from a Liberty Lake developer. Under a contract under negotiation between River Crossing LLC and the district, the district would have two years to decide whether to buy the land at Mission Avenue and Holl Road to be used as a possible elementary school site, said Dave Jackman, director of auxiliary services for the district.
News >  Voices

Thurston: ‘time to move on’

Freeman School District Superintendent Bill Thurston announced this week that he plans to retire at the end of the school year. Thurston, 55, has been an educator for 31 years, and a Freeman Scottie for seven.
News >  Spokane

Accused coach had history of complaints

A 30-year-old Stevens County schoolteacher and coach accused of having sex with several female students was allowed to keep teaching two years after concerns were raised about his behavior. Robert M. Swalstad, a teacher at Columbia High School in Hunters, Wash., was first counseled about his inappropriate behavior with students in 2003, records state.
News >  Spokane

Freshman failures worry schools

To Central Valley High School student DominickMartinez, freshman year is like climbing a mountain. "At first, it's really hard, but once I get to the top, it's going to be easy," the 14-year-old said.