In brief: Meetings on city center planned

The final draft of a plan to give Spokane Valley a city center and a better-looking main drag will be discussed in a series of meetings early next year.

A forum for developers at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18 is to be followed by two “community education” sessions at 6 p.m. on Jan. 23 and Feb. 13 and a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Feb. 28. All the meetings will be at the Spokane Valley City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague Ave.

Copies of the proposed Sprague and Appleway Corridors Sub-area Plan are available on compact disc at City Hall or on the Web at www.spragueappleway.com.

City offices to close for holidays

Spokane Valley city offices will be closed on Monday and Tuesday in observance of the Christmas holiday. Offices will reopen on Wednesday.

City offices will also be closed on Jan. 1 in observance of the New Year’s holiday, and will reopen on Jan. 2.

There will be no City Council meetings on Tuesday or Jan. 1. Regularly scheduled Council meetings will resume on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

For more information, call 688-0232.

TRENTWOOD

Drug raid on home closes schools

Spokane County Sheriff’s drug detectives raided a Trentwood home Wednesday morning and seized seven marijuana plants and more than an ounce of harvested drug.

Arrested was 30-year-old Rockford E. Radke, one of the two residents living at 14805 E. Rich Ave., said Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

Detectives developed a search warrant for the home after patrol officers went there last week on another matter and spotted the plants growing beneath a stairwell. They turned the matter over to Investigative Support Unit detectives to follow up.

ISU Sgt. Chris Kehl said Wednesday that the stairwell was one of two growing areas inside the residence. The second was in a larger room, and those plants had been harvested some time ago, prior to the discovery by patrol officers.

In addition to the plants and harvested marijuana, detectives found packaging material and scales inside the home.

Radke was arrested and booked into the Spokane County Jail on felony counts of manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Trentwood Elementary and East Valley High School went into lockdown status during the search warrant execution. As a matter of policy, nearby schools are always notified when Sheriff’s Office search warrants are executed nearby.

The schools conduct several lockdown practices throughout the school year, and used Wednesday’s drug warrant as a convenient time to conduct one such exercise.

– From staff reports