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

Public Periscope

Compiled By Jim Camden From Staf

Mistakes could get really expensive

While we are glad that the city of Spokane has settled with the Gypsies - thus ending 11 years of haranguing - we are puzzled by city officials’ insistence that they were not apologizing or admitting a mistake had been made. In fact, they continued to maintain the police had not done anything wrong. Some bemoaned the fact that the police wouldn’t get to tell their side in court. … Just made us wonder: If the city pays $1.4 million when it hasn’t done anything wrong, what’s the price tag going to be when the city really messes up? … Word is that negotiations to settle the suit included a request from the Gypsies for an apology from the city and a request from the city for the lifting of the infamous curse. Neither side got its wish. Gypsy leader Jimmy Marks said the curse remained at City Hall when he threw a rock over his shoulder, leaving his bad luck behind him.

It’s the thought that counts

To commemorate its 20th anniversary in Spokane, Safeco Corp. donated $20,000 to the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department last week to help replace some of the 5,000 trees lost to November’s ice storm. … The money will be used to buy trees for Audubon, Cannon, Hays and Liberty parks. … An announcement of the Friday afternoon celebration explained that Safeco branch manager Bill Norman would present a check to Spokane Mayor Jack Geraghty. Then the two men would plant trees to “symbolize the beginning of the grant project and kick off the Reforest Spokane Campaign.” … Funny thing is: The tree planting was scheduled to take place at the Safeco building on East Sprague, which is in the Valley.

Speaking of donations

AT&T Wireless is giving the YWCA Alternatives to Domestic Violence program 25 cellular phones this week. The phones, which will be available for battered spouses and victims of stalking, were secured by state Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, and the program is patterned after one in King County.

One way to get your potholes fixed

Desperate to fix the roads, the Seattle City Council last week placed a $90 million street bond issue on November’s ballot - pretty risky for a city about to get two new stadiums. … Like Spokane’s leaders, the West Side city’s top guns say they can’t repave the streets with the money they’ve got in their transportation budget. Also like Spokane, they blame the problem on shrinking state and federal revenues aimed at streets. … But unlike Spokane, their voters - at least for now - seem to be a bit friendlier toward new taxes. They voted “yes” on the Seahawks stadium, after all.

Trial run

Rick Mendoza recently felt like a real millionaire - for at least 30 minutes. He discovered what he thought was a winning quick-pick Lotto ticket that was stuck in a pocket and had been forgotten. … Mendoza, who handles tax appeals in the Spokane County assessor’s office, checked the numbers against the previous Sunday’s newspaper listing. Miracle of miracles, they matched. … He showed the ticket around to his co-workers, who convinced him he wasn’t crazy, that he’d just won nearly $12 million. So the celebration began. A shaken Mendoza had a friend drive him to a nearby convenience store to check the numbers against the lottery’s computer base. … But the computer sounded its rejection alarm. Turned out it wasn’t really a ticket but only a listing of the winning numbers that Mendoza had picked up a couple of days earlier. Turns out you can ask for the previous game’s numbers, and they are printed out on a stub that looks almost exactly like a ticket. … The appraiser took the news with good cheer, convinced he’ll get another chance to feel like a million bucks. “I’m going to win someday.” , DataTimes MEMO: “Public Periscope,” published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Tuesday: Spokane County commissioners will discuss Superior Court budget problems at 8:30 a.m. in the commissioners’ briefing room, 1116 W. Broadway.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports

“Public Periscope,” published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Tuesday: Spokane County commissioners will discuss Superior Court budget problems at 8:30 a.m. in the commissioners’ briefing room, 1116 W. Broadway.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports