Public Periscope
Behave or get sent to timeout
Sporting Cat-in-the-Hat-style headgear emblazoned with a Confederate flag, perennial candidate Phil Kiver attended a recent Spokane City Council meeting and generally misbehaved. Kiver and a female companion talked loudly during council discussions, and he heckled at least two people as they approached the podium to speak. … Kiver, an Eastern Washington University student, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Cheney in 1997 and for Spokane County commissioner this year. Some folks are speculating he’s thinking of running for City Council in 1999. … If so, we want to warn him of the Chris Anderson scenario. Anderson had to withdraw from the council race in 1991 after learning he hadn’t lived in Spokane the required two years before making a run for a council seat.
Whether he has political aspirations or not, Kiver might want to consider using his “quiet voice” when sitting in on public meetings.
Does Harris think the city has no trees?
When Sheriff-elect Mark Sterk met with county commissioners last week to discuss his upcoming term, one idea - combining resources with the Spokane Police Department - raised the eyebrows of Kate McCaslin and Phil Harris. … City and suburban crime are two different things, Harris cautioned. “There’s a big difference in hiding behind trash cans and Dumpsters and hiding behind trees.”
Go tannenbaum
Speaking of trees, it soon will be time to put away the ornaments and lights and do something with those evergreens that are starting to drop needles all over the carpet. The Spokane Solid Waste Management Department is offering city residents the same deal it has for the last several years: Put your tree out with the trash, and it will be picked up on your regular garbage collection day. … There’s no charge, but if it’s more than 6 feet tall, cut it in half.
Distance learning
Gov. Gary Locke’s state budget proposal unveiled last week earmarks $3.84 million “for Spokane Community College to purchase the Federal Way (Wash.) Center which it currently leases.” Nice offer, except that SCC doesn’t lease any buildings south of Seattle, let alone plan to buy one. … John Fricke of the governor’s Office of Financial Management cleared up the confusion, saying budget writers had made “a typing error - a really big typing error.”
What child is this?
Businesses interested in contributing to last week’s United Airlines fantasy flight to the “North Pole” for homeless and needy children were asked in a memo to consider donating $500 for Christmas story books to give to each child. … “Not the ‘Christmas Story,”’ sensitive United employees were quick to add, but rather, “a Christmas story.” … Like the one about the homeless kid who was born in a manger but went on to be loved and followed by nearly 2 billion folks worldwide. Merry Christ-less from United.
Getting involved
The city has more than a dozen vacancies on various boards and commissions - and very few applicants. City staff is hoping that people just have been too busy with the holidays to apply, so the city has extended all the deadlines until Jan. 11 as it tries to fill the following slots: Bicycle Advisory Board, three spots; Cable Advisory Board, one spot; Construction Review Board, one spot; Fire Code Advisory and Appeals Board, two spots; Human Services Advisory Board, two spots; Park Board, three spots; Plan Commission, one spot; Public Facilities District, one spot; and Sports, Entertainment, Arts and Conventions Advisory Board, one spot. … Applications are available at the mayor’s office on the fifth floor of City Hall.