Sara Leaming

A West Valley High School softball coach was put on paid administrative leave Friday pending an investigation into allegations he may have had a sexual relationship with a female player. Dana Schmerer, who is also a teacher at North Pines Middle School in the Central Valley School District, is under investigation for first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, said Spokane County Sheriff's Office spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan.

Three-year-old Caroline Jacobs squealed with excitement when the last herd of mustangs stormed into a pen at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center on Sunday. Jacobs pointed her chubby finger at the gray yearling filly in the pack and clung to the leg of her father, George Jacobs. If she got the horse, she decided, she would name her Happy.

North Idaho authorities spent several hours Sunday hunting for a Spokane Valley woman who may have crashed her car near Lake Coeur d'Alene but could not tell law enforcement where she was. Christine K. Arbogast, 44, called her husband just after 4 a.m. Sunday to say she was lost, said Kootenai County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Street.

The dreary skies and pouring rain couldn't dampen the determination of Charlene Coffman and Vicki Hogan. The two women began walking around the track at the Greyhound Park Event Center in Post Falls at 6 p.m. on Friday.

A Spokane Valley private school will close its doors after 30 years in its current location amid allegations that the school's head administrator covered up alleged physical abuse by a former boys basketball coach. Elders with Valley Fourth Memorial Church confirmed Friday that they have terminated the lease agreement with Valley Christian School, 2303 S. Bowdish Road. The school building is owned by the church and is adjacent to the church building. The school, which has 380 students in grades K-12, has until Aug. 1 to vacate the premises, church elder Phil Monroe said.

East Valley School District Superintendent Michael Jones is dusting off his suitcase, and crossing his fingers. Jones, selected in April as one of two candidates for a superintendent post in Port Huron, Mich., may now be the only candidate for the job.

If University High School senior Danielle Guimond learned one thing about her future this year, it's that she doesn't want to be a nurse. "I passed out," while visiting a hospital, Guimond, 17, told a classroom full of her peers.

A group of neighbors in the Greenacres area is taking action against a woman they say abandoned her home, leaving a health and fire hazard, a magnet for crime and an eyesore. The residents of the Mission Villa manufactured home park claim that Linda Bradley, the owner of the residence at 19705 E. Maxwell Ave., hasn't lived there since 1998.

East Valley School District Superintendent Michael Jones is seeking the superintendent post in a Port Huron, Mich., school district. Jones, who has been with East Valley since 2001, is one of two finalists for the job in the Port Huron Area School District, located 50 miles northeast of downtown Detroit.

Several Central Valley schools will get additional space next year. The district's board of directors voted Monday to place portable classrooms at University High School and at two elementary schools, instead of busing some elementary students away out of their neighborhoods and placing some U-Hi students in empty space at another elementary.