Public Periscope

Agent of change

Sima Thorpe of the Northwest Fair Housing Alliance thanked the Spokane City Council last month for giving the agency $5,000 from the 1998 human services budget. … In explaining her devotion to the housing advocacy organization, she told the council about an unpleasant experience she’d had with a prospective landlord when she moved to Spokane eight years earlier. … The man told Thorpe over the phone he would need to meet her in person because he didn’t rent to people of color, Thorpe said. But he used far less palatable terminology.

Lighten up and fly right

We should clarify something for certain thin-skinned members of the aviation community. Neither Airport Board member Raymond Hanson nor airport CEO John Morrison was suggesting that pilots are a bunch of chain-smoking drunks in comments quoted last week in a “Periscope” item about the request for a liquor license at the Skyway Cafe. … We clearly considered it a bit of harmless joshing, as did the roomful of pilots at the Airport Board meeting. But based on some of the letters we received, some readers didn’t.

Dandelions are only obnoxious

The Spokane County Weed Control Board was busy last year. Inspectors spotted - and did something to eradicate - noxious weeds on 7,121 parcels of land. … Noxious weeds are those that aren’t native and strangle those that are. Most common last year were spotted knapweed, Canada thistle, diffuse knapweed, common bugloss, dalmatian toadflax and rush skeletonweed. Hoary cress was much less common; we’re including it here because we like the name.

Kudos

The Spokane County Democratic Party recently gave out the first ever Pat Ormsby Award, which goes to the outstanding young party member in the area. The award is named for the late aide to House Speaker Tom Foley and Sen. Patty Murray. Ormsby died last year. … The recipient is Jason Pierson, a Gonzaga University student active in the state’s Young Democrats and several political campaigns.

Getting involved

People interested in transportation around the region can apply for a spot on the citizens advisory committee to the Spokane Regional Transportation Council. The committee meets monthly and reviews projects being planned by the state. Call the council office, 625-6370, for information.

Gov. Gary Locke has been busy appointing folks to various state panels, and some local folks got the call. Christopher Marr and A. Michele Maher were named to the Transportation Commission and civil engineer Virgil Hamilton was picked for the Alternative Public Works Oversight Committee.

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

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