Panel will include mayor, staff

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner and members of her staff will be involved in a panel discussion Feb. 28 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre of Weyerhaeuser Hall on the Whitworth University campus, 300 W. Hawthorne Ave.

Part of the school’s Dean’s Seminar Series, the discussion will focus on the topic, “Sustaining Our Community: Spokane Initiatives.”

For more information, call Connie Gross, assistant to the dean at 777-4585.

‘Black Rights’ will be topic

Patrick Washburn, a professor of journalism in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, will speak on the topic “The Fight for Black Rights: The Black Press, the Double-V Campaign and the U.S. Government in World War II” Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre of Weyerhaeuser Hall on the Whitworth University campus, 300 W. Hawthorne Road.

Washburn is the author of “The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom” and served as a consultant for a 1999 PBS documentary, “The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords.”

For more information, call Jim McPherson, associate professor of communication studies, at 777-4429.

Spokane Valley

Crime prevention gathering March 5

Neighborhood Watch will host its annual Crime Prevention Conference at CenterPlace at Mirabeau on March 5.

The all-day conference will include sessions on boating safety, cyber safety, home safety, gangs, sex offenders and illegal drugs. Classes will run from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Registration begins at 7 a.m.

The cost is $12, which includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Registration forms and a schedule are available at www.spokanesheriff.org. Call 477-3055 for more information. CenterPlace is at 2426 N. Discovery Place. Downtown

Figure skating event at Riverfront

The Spokane Figure Skating Club hosts the 2008 Skate at the Park Figure Skating Competition Feb. 29 and March 1 at the rink in Riverfront Park. The event will involve more than 100 skaters age 3 through adult representing 17 figure skating clubs from the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

Skate at the Park is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating and Skate Canada, which is the official track for skaters advancing to national and Olympic events. The event is 5 to 6:45 p.m. Feb. 29 and 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 1.

A silent auction will be March 1 in the Pavilion lobby, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Several items donated by area businesses will be available for bidding. All proceeds are used to support the sport of figure skating.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Medical Lake

Frameworks plans open house

Community Frameworks will hold an open house with guided tours of five new homes Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Takoda Park Development at W. Hallet Road and South Thomas Mallen Road in Medical Lake.

Families have been working since November to build their homes and their neighbors’ homes and are the first of 36 affordable homes planned for the Takoda Park Development.

Trini Mayo, the area director, will speak at 11 a.m., and guided tours of the homes will begin at noon.

The five families qualified for the Frameworks’ HomeStart program on the basis of income and provided sweat equity in the building of their homes.

For more information, call Community Frameworks at 484-6733, or visit www. communityframeworks.org.

Nevada/Lidgerwood

Brick sale benefits clinic in Kenya

Partners for Progress will be selling bricks to raise funds to build a medical clinic in Kaponga, Kenya, at an event Friday at 7 p.m. at the Service Station, 9315 N. Nevada St.

The evening will include hors d’oeuvres, desserts and entertainment by the Grant Elementary drummers and dancers.

Tickets are $10 and bricks will be available for purchase at the event. Prices include $10 for one roof tile, $25 for one brick and $50 for a beam.

Tickets are available at the door, Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., and at Hastings, 7706 N. Division St.

For more information, e-mail partnersforprogress@ yahoo.com.