Public Periscope

Bravo. But don’t try this award-winning behavior at home

The Sheriff’s Office seemed to be giving mixed signals last week when it passed out its Concerned Citizens Awards, which it says “encourage greater respect for life and law in Spokane County.” One such award went to Kathy Asher, who interrupted a burglary last February, called 911, then followed the bad guys in her car … Asher “bumped” the suspects’ vehicle and forced it into the ditch, allowing deputies to capture them. Brave? Yes. Respectful of life and law? That’s a toss-up … Department spokesman Dave Reagan seemed to acknowledge as much when he said “We don’t recommend you run into fleeing suspects’ vehicles. In this case, it was fortunate it worked.”

Memo: OK, let’s play the numbers game

Eastern Washington University President Marshall Drummond publicly asked the media last week to double-check the source of the statement that university enrollment is down 1,000 students. Drummond said the real number is “only 400 to 600 students” … So we checked the source, which was - ta da - Drummond’s office. University records showed that enrollment peaked at 7,635 full-time students in 1994. Last year, EWU administrators told state lawmakers and the media the fall ‘97 enrollment would be about 6,600, which basic math says is a three-year drop of 1,000 students … But 300 more students than expected showed up last fall, changing the shortfall to 700. Total enrollment is 6,945, a 9 percent drop since 1994.

Boxing Day bucks

Loathe as we are to clash with loyal readers who write letters to the editor, it seems important to correct a recent writer who complained about the legions of county employees earning double-time-and-a-half for working the day after Christmas. It didn’t quite happen that way … Only 39 of the county’s 1,837 employees earned holiday pay, said Ben Duncan, director of human resources. Others who worked either took a day off later or received normal wages because their contracts didn’t entitle them to higher pay … Dec. 26 isn’t normally a day off, but when it falls on a Friday U.S. presidents traditionally name it a federal holiday. Some contracts for county workers give a holiday whenever the feds get one, but others don’t … The courthouse remained open because Gov. Gary Locke didn’t follow Clinton’s lead by declaring a state holiday.

Being a saint might not have made a difference

Former state Sen. John Moyer won a laugh Friday morning at the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast when he introduced Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers as “Mother Teresa.” Moyer was counting on Chamber members’ recollection of her recent comment after Mayor John Talbott lost his bid to elect her mayor pro tem … The council thwarted the new mayor’s choice for second in command by a 4-3 vote, then chose Councilman Orville Barnes … “I totally believe that if Mother Teresa herself had been selected to be mayor pro tem by John, it would have been 4-3 against it,” Rodgers said after her nomination failed.

It’s more civil across the river

Spokane County commissioners played their annual game of musical chairs last week, selecting Commissioner Phil Harris to replace Commissioner John Roskelley as leader of the trio … Despite the fact that these are partisan offices and the two men are of different political persuasions, this selection had none of the drama of the mayor pro tem fight the previous night in City Hall … Roskelley predicted Harris will be a terrific chairman and Harris gushed that Roskelley is a tough act to follow. , DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope is published weekly and is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. You can contact us by mail c/o The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane, Wash., 99210; by fax at (509) 459-5482; or by e-mail at jimc@spokesman.com.

This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS Thursday: Spokane legislators will answer questions from Olympia as the 1998 session gets under way on @Issue, a KSPS-TV special. 7 p.m. on Channel 7.

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