Next step for the City of Liberty Lake’s controversial annexation plan is the Boundary Review Board of Spokane County.

The Spokane County Board of Commissioners and the city of Spokane Valley both have raised objections to Liberty Lake’s plans to add 643 acres west of town.

The Boundary Review Board will hold a hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. Monday at the Liberty Lake Sewer-Water District Office, 22510 E. Mission St. in Liberty Lake. People or agencies who would be affected by the annexation may testify at the hearing.

The question of whether the area involved will join Liberty Lake or the city of Spokane Valley or will remain an unincorporated part of Spokane County is significant because of the tax-base advantages associated with development of the land.

Bus ride out of poverty? In the wake of federal welfare reform, government officials realized that transportation was a major factor in determining whether needy people could escape the public assistance rolls.

They needed to go to jobs, or training sites, or child-care facilities. And many of them had no reliable car to get them there. Public transit thus became an essential ingredient of welfare reform, but that raised another concern. In too many communities, bus routes didn’t line up well with where people were and where the jobs, training and child care were.

The result is a federal initiative with a mouthful name: Job Access and Reverse Commute Program.

Under that program, the Spokane Transit Authority has a $452,000 federal grant, plus state and local matching money, for a total of nearly $1 million with which to develop a system that addresses the needs of low-income commuters.

Possible elements include free and reduced-fare passes and on-demand van service from certain locations.

A tentative date for a public hearing has been set for later this month, but it will be held only if at least 10 citizens request one, in writing, before Oct. 17. People who want such a hearing to take place should send their request to the Chairman of the STA Board of Directors, Spokane Transit Authority, 1230 W. Boone Ave., Spokane, WA 99201.