Valley woman goes missing

A Valley, Wash., woman walked away from her sister’s home Tuesday night and hasn’t been seen since. Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer is asking the public to be on the lookout for 39-year-old Shina Lockheart Davis.

Davis recently moved to Valley, in southern Stevens County, and doesn’t know anyone but relatives there.

She left her sister’s home at about 6:15 p.m. to walk two miles to a Valley store but never returned.

Davis, who also goes by the last name Dempsey, was last seen wearing a pink Nike ball cap, white cargo pants, white tennis shoes and a gray “Whitman College” sweatshirt. She is 5-foot-6 and about 125 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information about Davis’s whereabouts is asked to call the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office at (509) 684-5296 or (509) 684-2555.

Spokane

Job fair invites veterans

Eastern Washington military veterans may connect with potential employers at a job fair Friday in Spokane.

Hosted by WorkSource, the event runs 1:30 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. at 130 S. Arthur St.

The Employment Security Department and WorkSource placed almost 19,000 veterans in jobs, with an average wage of $13.26 per hour, from July 2006 through June, according to the department. Of those, 84 percent remained employed after six months.

More than 29,000 veterans received some WorkSource assistance during that period, including help with resumes, interviewing skills and job referrals.

There are 610,000 veterans living statewide, according to the department.

Christmas Bureau helpers needed

Volunteers are needed for the 2007 Christmas Bureau, a joint effort of Catholic Charities of Spokane, Volunteers of America and The Spokesman-Review.

The bureau provides toys, books and candy to low-income people in the community. Last year, donations to the Christmas Fund, which is operated by The Spokesman-Review to raise money for the bureau, totaled more than $518,000. More than 31,000 people were served in the bureau’s two-week run.

This year’s bureau will open on Saturday, Dec. 8, and close on Friday, Dec. 21. It will be open every day except Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Volunteers must be 16 or older and will be required to attend an orientation lunch on Dec. 7 at noon. To volunteer, fill out an application at www. catholiccharitiesspokane.org.

Region

Scouts to gather food donations

Boy Scouts will fan out across Eastern Washington and North Idaho on Saturday collecting nonperishable food items on behalf of the Second Harvest food bank and other area food banks.

About 300,000 bags were delivered to homes in the region last weekend. Scouts will pick up those bags beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.

This year marks the 25th annual Scouting for Food drive; last year’s event collected more than 150,000 pounds of food.

Scouting for Food is co-sponsored by the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts of America and Rosauers Supermarkets. Donations also can be dropped off at any Rosauers store in the area.