In brief: Apartment fire displaces residents
An early morning apartment complex fire at Nevada Street and St. Thomas Moore Way displaced several people Wedn0esday, but no one was hurt.
The fire began about 4 a.m. at the Cedar Creek Apartments, 8424 N. Nevada, when a smoldering cigarette ignited a planter and then a deck outside a second-story unit, said Spokane Fire Lt. Gregg McClatchey.
The smoker had been putting butts out in a planter filled with potting soil, McClatchey said. That soil is dirt, but it is also compost made of organic material that can ignite.
Onlookers reported an explosion, but McClatchey said it was a propane tank that blew its top in the fire’s heat, venting out the propane gas.
Interstate Fair to take applications for jobs
Applicants for some 200 temporary jobs during for this fall’s Spokane Interstate Fair must attend one of two “job fairs” next week.
County officials say applicants must bring two pieces of government-issued identification to the job fairs, and military identification alone will not be accepted. Jobs available during the Sept. 7-16 Interstate Fair include ticket takers, clerks, laborers, cashiers and barn cleaners.
The job fairs will be at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center office at Havana and Broadway, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 21.
For more information, call the fair office at (509) 477-1766 or the Spokane County human resources office at (509) 477-5750.
Aerospace museum plans fundraiser
The Armed Forces & Aerospace Museum is having a fundraiser for a new museum with a state-of-the-art facility.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, radio talk show personality will be the special guest at the event, which will also feature a Stearman flyover and vintage aircraft including the museum’s MiG-17.
The mission of the new museum is to be an educational center for history and technology interpretation in the region. The new facility will include classrooms and theater spaces, teacher training seminars, and an operational B-52 flight deck simulator in its original railroad car.
The event will be held at the Spokane International Airport at XN Air, 8125 W. Pilot Ave., on Thursday, July 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $100. For more information, call (509) 325-0701, Ext. 41.
Spokane Valley
Hearing examiner denies appeal on noise
An appeal in a zoning dispute between a Spokane Valley man and a noisy business behind him has been denied because the hearing examiner said he did not have jurisdiction in the case.
Since 2003, some neighbors near Trent and Evergreen have complained of excessive noise, dust and vibration from Rock Barn, where landscaping boulders are stored and sold.
Its owners maintain that they’ve followed the law during the construction and operation of the business, and city officials agreed.
Lonnie Eilmes, whose fence backs up to the business, appealed the result of the city’s investigation into his complaints.
Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey wrote in his decision that the city did not follow its procedures for notifying neighbors of certain changes to the property.
But Dempsey also wrote that the city didn’t issue a formal determination that the business was in compliance, which could be appealed to him.