The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
57°F
Current Conditions
Light rain
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Sara Leaming

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

All Stories

News >  Voices

Freshman lessons

Ask East Valley High School freshman Nikki Bernard what she needs to do to be successful in high school, and she will tell you things like "trying my best, doing my homework, and getting good grades." But she also is well aware of the fact that as a member of the graduating class of 2008 she must pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning in order to receive a high school diploma.
News >  Spokane

WV principal named assistant superintendent

Gene Sementi was named assistant superintendent of the West Valley School District by its board of directors Wednesday night. Sementi, 46, replaces Polly Crowley, who was hired as the superintendent last month.
News >  Spokane

Budget proposal cuts funds for voc-ed

Welding isn't about just metal and fire to David O'Connor. For the 17-year-old West Valley High School student it's about taking what he learns every day in the classroom and applying it in the real world.
News >  Spokane

Millwood voters to decide fire service

Voters in Millwood will finally have the opportunity to decide the fate of the town's fire service. The Millwood town council approved a resolution March 7 to put the annexation with Spokane Valley Fire Department on the May 17 ballot.
News >  Voices

Centennial principal going to Wellpinit

The principal at Centennial Middle School will step down at the end of this school year to take a position as the superintendent of a small school district in Stevens County. Tim Ames signed a three-year contract with the Wellpinit School District, located about 50 miles north of Spokane.
News >  Voices

District purchases land to be used for new school

The Central Valley School District purchased 17 acres of property last month that could become the site of a new elementary school. The district paid about $50,000 per acre for the site at Mission Avenue and Long Road, just west of Barker Road and north of Interstate 90, said Superintendent Mike Pearson.
News >  Spokane

Group wants own school district

A small group of parents and other Liberty Lake residents is working on a plan to break away from the Central Valley School District. The group wants the small municipality to push for the creation of its own school district, separating Liberty Lake children from the district that has more than 11,000 students.
News >  Spokane

Freeman measure seeks $11.7 million

A measure to remodel two schools will be put before voters in the Freeman School District May 17. The district is proposing a 15-year $11.7 million construction bond to pay for the renovation of the elementary school and the high school.
News >  Voices

Students find pottery class enjoyable, rewarding

It's not uncommon to find students sitting behind the pottery wheels at University High School long after the bell rings. The students in the advanced pottery classes at the school find that throwing clay on the wheel, and getting their hands dirty is an enjoyable and relaxing way to the end of a hectic day.
News >  Spokane

Funding for free after-school programs evaporates

If it weren't for the free after-school program offered at Ness Elementary School, Jade and Levi Shell would likely go home at the end of the day to an empty house. Instead, Jade, a fourth-grader, and Levi, a second-grader, go four days a week to the school library, where they get a healthy snack, do homework and arts and crafts, read, and make new friends.
News >  Spokane

Teens too big for band britches

Take a peek inside the closet in the band room at University High School, and you may find a few uniforms with missing buttons. The 13-year-old crimson and gold suits used for marching band performances are a little worn and maybe outdated, but mostly they need to be replaced because they don't fit a student population getting bigger each year.
News >  Voices

CVSD seeking committee members

The Central Valley School District is looking for community members interested in applying for a position on a new boundary review committee that will meet March through May. The committee would be charged by the school board with examining the attendance boundaries in the eastern part of the district in anticipation of two new schools that could be built in that area.
News >  Voices

Nick News at Horizon

The voices of several Horizon Middle School will be heard on national television in April. The Central Valley school was one of eight selected nationwide to be part of a news show on Nickelodeon, a children's cable network.
News >  Spokane

A spellbinding moment

Fourteen-year-old Miles Martin left the Spokane Valley Spelling Bee Tuesday night with an "insatiable" need that may never be filled. Insatiable was the word that left Cindy Wu, 14, holding the title at the 32nd annual event at Bowdish Middle School.
News >  Spokane

Cindy Wu’s best speller in the Valley

Fourteen-year-old Miles Martin left the Spokane Valley Spelling Bee Tuesday night with an "insatiable" need that may never be filled. Insatiable was the word that left Cindy Wu, 14, holding the title at the 32nd annual event at Bowdish Middle School.
News >  Spokane

East Valley teen who pulled gun at school released

The East Valley School District hired a uniformed police officer to stand guard at the high school this week, after a student who brought a gun to school Feb. 4 and threatened a teacher was released from jail Friday. The 15-year-old boy was released from the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center under electronic home monitoring, said East Valley Principal Jeff Miller.
News >  Spokane

Holiday in four-part harmony

They made a teacher at Lewis and Clark High School blush bright red. They hid inside another man's office, and sprang out in song when he opened the door.
News >  Idaho

Goin’ down fightin’

The beer ran cold and the drinks were stiff Saturday at the Fightin' Creek Bar and Restaurant along U.S. Highway 95. Thankfully the patrons were thirsty, because no one was allowed to leave the tavern 15 miles south of Coeur d'Alene until all the libations had been consumed. That includes the coffee, not that anybody was drinking it.
News >  Voices

Student club works to support diversity

Middle school can be brutal. "People have pushed me around, they have called me names and threatened to beat me up," said 12-year-old Lexi Sharrai, a sixth-grader at East Valley Middle School.
News >  Spokane

WV picks Crowley as new leader

The West Valley School District Board of Directors has selected someone familiar to lead the district. The board Wednesday unanimously chose Assistant Superintendent Polly Crowley as superintendent.
News >  Spokane

Student brings gun to school

East Valley High School was locked down Friday afternoon after a 15-year-old student brought a loaded pistol into the school and threatened a teacher with it. The boy went into the school store about 1 p.m. and told the Distributive Education Clubs of America teacher that he wanted into her adjoining classroom to talk to his former girlfriend, said Principal Jeff Miller.
News >  Voices

Facilities concept meeting tonight

The Central Valley School District will meet with community members and parents from the Bowdish Middle School neighborhood tonight to present the district's proposed facilities concept. The community meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the school, 2109 S. Skipworth Road.
News >  Spokane

Public invited to meet candidates for fire chief

Commissioners for the Spokane Valley Fire Department on Wednesday announced the names of five finalists who will compete to be the city's next fire chief. The job candidates, who come from all over the country, will be in Spokane Valley next week to interview for the position left vacant by Chief Mark Grover, who will retire at the end of this month. Grover, 54, has been with the department for 31 years, serving the last four as chief.
News >  Voices

CV school board seeks member

The Central Valley School District Board of Directors is seeking applicants to fill the seat left vacant by longtime board member Craig Holmes. Holmes, 49, resigned Jan. 10 after serving nine years.