Week in Review
Student gymnasts, golfers and musicians were relieved when Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Brian Benzel said he has found ways of paring about $6 million from the 2004-05 budget without cutting their activities. But the plan Benzel outlined at Wednesday’s school board meeting won’t be painless. Among other things, he proposes reducing the number of school social workers, support staff and custodians; eliminating instructional assistants from high school Learning Opportunity Centers; and ending a middle school program that provides before- and after-school activities. School board members warned that tough times aren’t yet over, and the programs they save this year could be back on the chopping block next year.
MONDAY
Theft is a growing problem at the pumps, as the price of gasoline continues to climb. So, more Eastern Washington and North Idaho minimarts are now requiring pre-payment.
• Ninety-seven students registered to vote during a Rock the Vote event at Spokane Community College. The school provided 100 free pizzas, while California bands provided the music. Students could talk to local politicians, party leaders and representatives for national campaigns.
• James V. Adams made his first court appearance on charges of homicide by abuse. Adams’ 3-month-old son died last week, after several days on life support. Police say Adams told them he “head-butted” the infant.
TUESDAY
Washington officials propose spending $50 million to overhaul the state’s child welfare system. They would demand quicker responses to calls about endangered children, among other steps.
• State regulators are fining a Liberty Lake homeowner $30,000 for unapproved construction of a platform, stairway and covered deck, which required fill along the lakeshore. Lloyd Herman has a month to submit plans for fixing the violations.
• A pit bull will be euthanized for attacking a Spokane girl in her own yard. The girl, age 8, required numerous stitches in her left arm.
WEDNESDAY
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. violated its state discharge permit in 2002 by releasing nearly 11 pounds of dangerous PCBs into the Spokane River – already the most PCB-polluted river in the state. The releases are summarized in a March 2004 inspection report, and were never before made public.
• The city of Spokane Valley will invite private companies to compete for the city’s 2005 library and parks maintenance contracts. That means library patrons soon could be checking out books from a business rather than the Spokane County Library District, which has served residents for years.
THURSDAY
Attorneys for a University of Idaho student charged with providing material support to terrorism rested their case after calling just one witness. Prosecutors, who spent six weeks laying out their case against Sami Al-Hussayen, were startled by the move.
• The newest appointee to the Spokane Human Rights Commission once was found responsible for violating the civil rights of two women who accused him of rape. A $250,000 civil judgment was returned in 1989 against Vang Xiong X. Toyed, who did not face criminal charges. Mayor Jim West said he did not know about Vang Xiong’s background or “I wouldn’t have made the appointment.”
FRIDAY
The American Automobile Association expects nearly 31 million Americans to hit the road this holiday weekend. That’s a record, despite the high cost of gasoline ($2.18 a gallon, up from $1.57 last year).
• Mayor Jim West isn’t abandoning plans to spruce up the entryways to Spokane, even though the City Council has said it won’t provide money for the project. Some downtown business leaders say unsightly entrance points give visitors a bad first impression.
• Kevin T. Culp, 20, faces first-degree manslaughter charges in the April 14 shooting of a “friend of a friend.” The gun was a prop for a photo session, and a remorseful Culp says he didn’t know it was loaded. “Seeing the fact it was an accident, I don’t think anybody should go to jail for it,” he said in a jailhouse interview.
COMING UP
A local Christian group is fighting the sometimes-fatal tradition of forced female circumcision in Kenya. Read about the effort in Wednesday’s Spokesman-Review.