Public Periscope
Weighty task
How does one move an 8,000-pound safe? Very carefully, or so the Spokane County Treasurer’s Office is discovering as it replaces a titanium safe that is about the size of a washing machine but weighs more than two grand pianos … County officials planning its replacement are afraid the joists under the second floor of the 103-year-old Courthouse might not support so much rolling weight concentrated on so small a carriage … Workers likely will move the safe in three pieces: the base, the door (which alone weighs 3,000 pounds) and the body, special projects director Gary Fuher said … Why replace it at all? Because repairmen have warned in recent years that if the door ever must be cut open, the contents inside likely would be destroyed. Some of the 84-year-old parts are failing. The door sometimes sticks.
A $6,000 replacement will weigh a mere ton, but likely will lack the style of the old safe. It was built by York Safe & Lock Co., which according to the safe’s label, won “Highest honors at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition.”
They’ve become too dam common
Periscope hereby requests a moratorium on all dam/damn puns, at least until Congress decides whether to breach four Snake River dams to save salmon. Speakers and picket signs at a Tri-Cities rally last week referred to “dam fish,” the “dam issue,” “dam meetings” and the “whole dam economy.” Enough already … Of course, we’re not sure which homonym the master of ceremonies was using to cover up an introductory faux pas. Ralph “Porky” Thompson introduced Rep. Lynn Kessler, R-Hoquiam, as “he” during the dam rally (no pun intended). As Kessler told the crowd: “I’ve always been a woman” … “And a damn fine one,” said an apologetic Thompson. Or did he say dam?
Guarding against cheats
The American Association of Retired Persons is sponsoring a rally and conference Wednesday on how to protect against people who try to cheat Medicare. The Fraud Fighters Rally starts at 10 a.m. at the Lyons Theater, with a teleconference featuring U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala … Local experts will explain how to read a Medicare statement and report fraud, and participants will get a fraud fighters kit.
Stamp of approval
One of the things U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt did last week during his sojourn in Eastern Washington was to help unveil a new stamp for the hospice movement. The vertical stamp with a colorful design debuted at ceremonies around the country, including one in the Crescent Court that also featured Mayor John Talbott, postal officials and representatives of Hospice of Spokane … The Postal Service hopes the hospice stamp will raise the awareness of that movement the way stamps for breast cancer and AIDS awareness helped those causes. It has printed 100 million of the stamps, so expect to see them in the mail any day now.
This sidebar appeared with the story: HOT TOPICS COURTESY FORUM March 3: Author and civility expert Don McCullough will discuss “Common courtesy, the foundation of civic life” at the Spokane City Forum, 11:45 a.m., First Presbyterian Church, Fourth and Cedar. Lunch is $7.50; call 747-1058, Ext. 610, by Friday for reservations.