Public Periscope
A reminder to count our blessings
A gracious Junzo Baba, mayor of Nishinomiya, Japan, Spokane’s Sister City, expressed his regrets about the recent ice storm. “We are praying for speedy improvement in the weather, and for the earliest possible recovery of your city,” said Baba in a note to Mayor Jack Geraghty. “We believe that power cuts and other difficulties are forcing you to lead very disrupted lives” … Baba offered assistance to Spokane and thanked residents for the kindness shown during the earthquake two years ago that killed more than 1,000 Nishinomiya residents. Residents of that city “will never forget the generous support received from Spokane City and its citizens at the time of the great earthquake,” he wrote.
They don’t know what they’re missing.
Sometimes it seems everybody is packed onto the Centennial Trail. Not so, suggests a new scientific survey. Many Spokane residents rarely, if ever, use the trail … A survey commissioned by The Spokesman-Review and KHQ-TV says one in five city and county residents uses the trail at least several times a year. But 32 percent of 408 people contacted use it no more than once a year and a whopping 45 percent said they’ve never set foot on the thing … Trail supporters prefer a previous county survey, in which some two-thirds of the 225 people reported using the trail in the last two years.
Focusing on the real thing
Terrie Beaudreau of the Spokane District 81 School board grew a little frustrated last week with the amount of time her colleagues spent trying to decide which soft drink company should get the district’s business … After nearly 90 minutes, Beaudreau prompted some surprised looks by asking colleagues to get on with it and vote. “I sure wish we’d spend this much time on something academic,” she said. “This is so frustrating” … After dumping Pepsi for Coke, the board delayed a decision on when students would make up days missed during the recent ice storm.
When it pays to be small
Small towns in Washington will get $5,000 each for traffic safety projects. The money is part of $112 million that oil companies agreed to pay in a 1994 settlement over alleged price-fixing in the 1970s … Washington got $13.5 million, and already spent about $5 million. This time around, any town with 5,000 folks or fewer gets a share. That’s every burg in some Eastern Washington counties like Pend Oreille, Lincoln and Stevens and all in Spokane County, save Spokane and Cheney.
They only play like amateurs
Back in 1992, the Legislature decided to let counties levy a 1 percent tax on rental cars to promote athletics, and Spokane County now brings in about $250,000 a year. The money was earmarked for kids and weekend athletes, and was not be used to subsidize professional sports teams … Last week, commissioners voted $120,000, a 50 percent increase, for the Greater Spokane Sports Association to help organize the B-basketball tournament, the women’s state bowling tournament and similar amateur events … But if you guessed the rest of the money helps repair crumbling pools, teach kids to kick a ball or ease overcrowding at softball diamonds, well, you guessed wrong. It’s used to maintain Seafirst Stadium … Well, yes the Spokane Indians play there, and yes, they’re a pro team. But the county says it’s OK because youth teams occasionally use the diamond, too.
Call an attorney or an English prof
From a statement sent last week to The Spokesman-Review by the Spokane Police Department: “Police say they beat and kicked a 55-year-old man in the tavern parking lot and took a semi-automatic weapon from him and fled” … A closer reading leads us to believe the “they” in question were two suspects mentioned in an earlier paragraph.
“Public Periscope,” published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports