Public Periscope

(From For the Record, September 24, 1997:) U.S. Postal Service correction: Customers who need information from the U.S. Postal Service should call 1-800-275-8777. An incorrect telephone number was listed in Monday’s Public Periscope column.

New official motto: Leave us alone

Tried to call a local post office lately? It’s darn near impossible … Sure, there are numbers listed in the telephone book, but they’re no longer valid, a recording informs callers. Instead, one must call 1-800-299-3633 to reach the U.S. Postal Service’s nationwide customer service line … After calling that toll-free number, one must decide whether to hear instructions in English or Spanish, then press 1, 2, 3, or 4, depending on the desired information. To talk to a local person, press 0 to be connected to an operator, who will forward a message via e-mail … But the message is sent only if the caller knows the ZIP code for the closest post office - which may be why you were calling in the first place … An insider’s tip: One Spokane postal worker who called the system “screwy” confided that the operators will transfer calls to local folks if the caller is persistent and unpleasant.

Serious poetry

Sister Noreena Carr, a Logan resident, described for Spokane City Council members last week the challenges facing her neighborhood during a town hall meeting at the Northeast Community Center. The greatest threat to their safety, she said, is traffic congestion … To emphasize her point, the spunky nun offered up a personal prayer that brought laughter from council members and others crowded into the gymnasium … “I pray to God I can cross the street. You know, dear God, it’s quite a feat. If someday it is safe to cross, please bless the council and its boss.”

Ice storm update

Seems like the problems from ice storm ‘96 are still with some of us. The Spokane Airport Business Park, for example, still has some debris that was hauled to the Waste-to-Energy plant from local yards. The debris was to be ground up and hauled off, but the city had so much debris that some of it is still there … The pile of debris chips sometimes puts off an unpleasant odor, and on one occasion spontaneously combusted … So the city has a new plan. It will till the remaining debris into about 8 acres, then seed it with grass and wildflowers. Eventually, it should create about 11,500 cubic yards of good topsoil.

Celebrate your favorite amendment

Through Tuesday, it is Constitution Week, a period set aside by the Daughters of the American Revolution to commemorate that famous document. They pass along this bit of constitutional trivia: Whose constitution is the oldest still actively in use in the world? … The U.S. Constitution. But then, you probably guessed that, if you didn’t already know it.

Don’t mess with the elephant ears

County officials announced Thursday that the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds will henceforth be known as the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center. The name of the fair itself has not changed.

Getting involved

The Spokane Park Board, which controls the budgets and operates city parks and golf courses, has a vacancy. Applications, available at the mayor’s office in City Hall, are due by Oct. 3 … Gov. Gary Locke recently appointed Gerald Leahy, Heidi Stanley and Nancy Isserlis to the Spokane Joint Center for Higher Education. He also named U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno to the state Uniform Law Commission, and Mary Boehnke to the Jail Industries Board. , DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope, which is published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. You can write us at The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, 99210; or send e-mail to jimc@spokesman.com; or fax to (509) 459-5482.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Tonight: Gov. Gary Locke will answer questions live on a call-in television program on KSPS-TV at 7 p.m., Channel 7. Thursday: Residents and businesses in the west end of downtown - the area from the Davenport Arts District west - discuss how to establish a neighborhood council at 10 a.m., at The Met, Sprague and Lincoln. Thursday: The City Council discusses the Lincoln Street Bridge project with the Citizens Advisory Committee, 2:30 p.m., lower level conference room, City Hall.

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