Hello to our other alien visitors

… The newsroom of WMBB of Panama City, Florida was watching the webcast this morning. Here’s the rundown of thin slices and kudos.

FROM APPEALS COURT : ‘Don’t ask’ challenge reinstated: Court calls for scrutiny of military policy on gays . This story was packaged with the nurses button ban story (below), which could have been confusing because it appeared under the same headline.

FROM APPEALS COURT : Sacred Heart nurses win court fight over button ban

FROM A MEATY PROPOSAL : The Doug strikes again - this time announcing the winners to this I Love Meat contest, for which he got tons of emails and phone calls. The winner is a man who wrote The Doug a song. Read more here.

SALARIES : One of the most-read stories today: 67 percent pay raise urged for City Council: Salary increase would be first in 17 years

POOLS : Plywood is covering fences at city pools: Chain-link doesn’t meet state regulations

SENIORS : Corbin senior center celebrates 40 years

SCHOOL BONDS : Freeman school bond winning: East Valley bond appears headed for defeat

LAWSUIT : Dream house disturbs neighbors : Liberty Lake home’s height prompts lawsuit

PIZZA : In brief (Spo Valley): New Chuck E. Cheese to open this fall

80s CINEMA : A return to the Indy role: a profile on Harrison Ford. “All we did was promote the movie,” said managing editor Gary Graham - he would have liked to see more of a review, so people can decide whether this Indy is worth seeing. There is more Indiana Jones coverage coming in this week’s 7.

In other news, American Idol only made an inside page.

CHIEFS : They’re going strong. A bit of history from sports editor Joe Palmquist- Spokane hosted the 1998 Memorial Cup and won the 1991 Memorial Cup. We’ve always had good coverage of the Chiefs, he said. With a reporter over there, and the resources committed to this year’s games in Kitchener, we’ll be fine this year.

Visual elements

After fighting cancer for the last year, Nick McConahy is on the track every day at his home north of Spokane, Wash. training to get back what he lost during his time battling the disease. Family dog Mattie keeps a watchful eye. Rajah Bose photo. Read the story here .

A water main broke this morning. The story is here , and mobile journalist Thomas Clouse (a MoJo, or as he prefers, a MoFo) ran out there to shoot some video:

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Closures for Memorial Day, from staff reports

In observance of the Memorial Day holiday Monday, City Hall will be closed along with other city facilities, including the garbage transfer stations and the Waste-to-Energy Plant. Parking meters don’t have to be plugged on Monday, and garbage pickup and curbside recycling will be a day late all week.

All Spokane Public Library branches will be closed on Monday, and the Downtown, East Side, Hillyard, and Indian Trail branches also will be closed on Tuesday, since those branch libraries are normally closed on Mondays.