A child’s first library card can launch the gift of lifelong reading. At this year’s Christmas Bureau, librarians plan for the first time to offer on-site issuing of library cards for both the Spokane Public Library and Spokane County Library District.
Most years, the Christmas Fund makes its goal. A few times, it hasn’t. Last year, for example, the fund hadn’t reached its goal of $525,000 by Christmas day, falling some $15,000 short. In the waning days of the year, 68 new donors stepped forward to bring the total to $531,164.12.
A community Christmas gift to the Spokane area’s neediest citizens is marking its 70th year. What started as The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund in 1945 has delivered a decades-old tradition of giving toys and holiday extras to the area’s poorest families. It’s an event made possible because of generous donors, many of whom say they want to see that every child experiences the warmth and joy of Christmas.
Another phase of construction at Newtech Skills Center is scheduled to start next week to modernize the facility’s original structure. Newtech, 4141 N. Regal, offers career and technical training for about 700 students from regional school districts. Construction will remodel about 29,000 square feet in Newtech’s single-floor building.
One memory stands out for Fred Preston, a Christmas Bureau volunteer for the past 23 years. It happened some dozen years ago. He lifted a small girl, about 4 years old, so she could see Mr. and Mrs. Claus. He’ll never forget the joy he saw in her face, he said.
Months before holiday decorations adorn shopping malls, Christmas Bureau volunteers have been at work. They’ve lined up a wide assortment of toys and books for more than 9,000 needy families and arranged for the $15-$30 vouchers that recipients can use to buy ingredients for a holiday meal.
Wolverines will enter Spokane Valley soon, under wraps of a school name change. Barker High School will become Mica Peak High School with a February move to new permanent quarters and adopt the slogan, “Home of the Wolverines.”
Kelly Shea knew by the time he was a teenager that he’d work in education. In a bit of a homecoming for the 51-year-old who grew up in Spokane Valley, Shea began his new post July 1 as East Valley School District superintendent. “I made a conscious decision when I was 16 years old that I wanted to be a teacher, because of the coaches and teachers I had,” Shea said. “They had expectations for me.”
More than 70 players queue up weekly in north Spokane for Ellie’s Bridge Club, a nod to the group’s director, Ellie Lund. The Wednesday sessions held at Country Homes Christian Church are an unlikely draw for Lund, who 12 years ago told a sibling she lacked the brain power to learn the strategy card game.
While volunteering in Ethiopia in 2013, Ted Nichols was asked to design a basic hospital bed. Now his model could spread to hospitals throughout southern Ethiopia.
Teachers at The Oaks – A Classical Christian Academy get a visual aid to tell apart identical twins Trent and Neal Gray: Trent wears a blue uniform shirt and Neal wears white. The twins have attended the private Spokane Valley school since kindergarten, so most classmates can name them correctly, even when the brothers are in street clothes.
Kyra Pauley doesn’t remember much about spring break last year, only what to call the rare autoimmune disease that stole weeks of her life: acute necrotizing encephalitis. Pauley felt so sick in early April 2014, she couldn’t go to classes and missed softball practice at University High School.
Teachers at North Idaho Christian School frequently use one word to describe Jodi Johnson: joyful. Laughter arrives rapid-fire 10 minutes into a conversation with Johnson. She jokes about herself, with people around her and despite painful rheumatoid arthritis slowing her movements.
Cameron Conner spent most of his freshman year traveling the world. Six months of trekking with his parents took him to Peru, Spain, Nepal and Morocco.
On a recent warm, sunny day, Oliven Harris belted out a song from the movie “Frozen” in rehearsal for her job performing as an ice queen. It’s a skill still in high demand for Harris, 19, working as one of 11 employees who sing at events in costume as popular movie characters for the Spokane entertainment business Once Upon A Time Productions.
Karaage, a Japanese-style fried chicken, drew a gasp of approval from Ai Fujita, but an orange-colored mochi fell short. Fujita, a student at Spokane’s Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, had joined a focus group last week to give feedback about campus meals. This spring, Mukogawa’s kitchen staff began adding more Japanese comfort foods into menus, alongside typical U.S. dishes.
Signs near the Newman Lake community warn motorists on Trent Avenue to slow as they approach Starr Road, but residents say the 45 mph zone is largely ignored by commuters. Residents also cite too many accidents and near misses as drivers cross the busy highway or turn, where Starr comes in from the north at a skewed angle compared to its route south. To call attention to traffic concerns, members of Tri-Community Grange organized a public meeting at the Grange hall in Newman Lake.
Tom of Warwick is a young boy destined to be a knight. For three Spokane-area boys portraying him in “Camelot,” the role means entering mythical King Arthur’s world on a stage. Selected by video audition, the young actors – Jameson Elton, 12; Brax Ziegler, 13; and Jordan Santiago, 13 – landed walk-on roles as Tom of Warwick in “Camelot,” a Best of Broadway national tour production opening today in Spokane.
Seven months ago, Natasha Zubritskaya was worried about leaving Trentwood Elementary School for East Valley Middle School. Now the 12-year-old has a 4.0 grade-point average, in part thanks to an after-school study club.
The East Valley School District board has narrowed its superintendent search to six semifinalists. Following preliminary interviews scheduled Monday and Wednesday, the board will select three candidates for final interviews in early March. Among the six semifinalists is Interim Superintendent Tom Gresch, who was assistant superintendent of general services before he took the interim position. His contract for the interim post, which expires in June, stipulates that he may return to his previous position for the 2015-16 school year.
Cancer patient Jeff Hinz of Post Falls calls it a nuke, delivered by a new medical device that targets radiofrequency energy to heat and kill tumors in vertebrae, normally a tricky area for such precision. “My understanding is they ablate the tumor, nuke it,” said the 43-year-old Hinz, diagnosed fall 2013 with lung cancer that spread to bones. “With this procedure, you’re in and out in one day and walk out of the hospital. You’re a little sore for a day or two, but there’s no major incisions.”
By 3 p.m. Friday, Tri-Community Grange volunteers in Newman Lake had prepared close to 30 pounds of spaghetti noodles, 25 loaves of garlic bread and multiple homemade desserts. Grange members preparing the annual spaghetti feed fundraiser hoped it won’t be the last. Along with plates piled high, they handed out fliers last week with the message that the Grange hall is in danger of closing because of a lack of funds and enough people to lead activities.
A Spokane Valley business owner said a new restaurant going into the former Painted Hills Golf Course clubhouse will retain a golfing theme. Scott and Deanna Reckord, who own and operate the Sullivan Scoreboard, plan to open the Clubhouse at Painted Hills as a sports bar and pub in January. Scott Reckord said the leased property at 4403 S. Dishman-Mica will undergo a remodel and construction of a small addition, which will bring its size to about 2,500 square feet.
Hunter Graham regularly filled his backpack with food from his home before heading to classes at Lewis and Clark High School, but it wasn’t for lunch. He gave the food away to the homeless, mainly women. Just after his junior year, the 18-year-old who loved watersports died in a personal watercraft accident at Hayden Lake on Father’s Day 2009. His memorial service drew more than 1,000 people, and a fund set up by family friends in Hunter’s name grew to a substantial amount.