Plan for 73 homes receives approval

Thu., July 2, 2009

From Local Reports

Spokane County Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey has approved plans for 73 homes on 762 acres in a rural area north of the Little Spokane River.

The River Bluff rural cluster development by Riverbluff Land Co. is to be in rural traditional and rural conservation zones north of Rutter Parkway and the dead end of Dorsett Road, southwest of Hazard Road and southeast of Bernhill Road.

Plans call for 72 single-family residential cluster lots on 213 acres and a 549-acre lot for one house and “various open-space uses,” according to Dempsey’s written decision.

Thinning planned at arboretum

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources is funding a matching grant with the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department to thin Norway maples of varying sizes in the Finch Arboretum, as part of ongoing management of the urban forest there.

Improvements will be made along Garden Springs Creek. Invasive maples and willows will be removed from the creek side and replaced with noninvasive specimens and native trees. In addition, yellow flag iris, an invasive riparian plant, will be removed from the pond and creek areas.

The Department of Natural Resources and Spokane Parks will plant trees along the creek to replace the maples and willows, and also where there are currently no trees (invasive or otherwise), trees will be planted to shade the creek and keep water temperatures low.

For more information, visit www.spokaneparks.org.

Softball tourney marks ninth year

The ninth annual Krista L. Baker Memorial Softball Tournament and Home Run Batting Derby will be held July 25-26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Franklin Park Softball Complex, 302 W. Queen Ave.

The home run derby is open to all age groups, from 6-65. A $5 donation will give batters an opportunity to win new softball bats and equipment bags from Kimmel Athletic. Other prizes include family water park passes to Triple Play Family Water Park in Coeur d’Alene, T-shirts and more. Root beer floats will be sold for $1 to raise money for the Spokane Youth Softball Association girls softball scholarships for disadvantaged kids.

The tournament honors Baker, a Spokane native and former SYSA player and coach who died at the age of 20 from cystic fibrosis while awaiting a double lung transplant. More than 30 girls softball teams are expected to enter.

Donor’s $30,000 aids EWU students

An anonymous donor has contributed to the Eastern Washington University Foundation’s “Save Our Scholarships” Campaign with a $30,000 money order.

The SOS rescue plan was launched in mid-April as a response to the financial crisis, which reduced earnings from the EWU Foundation Scholarship Endowment. The total pool available for scholarships from the Foundation’s Endowment is now more than $200,000.

Approximately 60 students benefited from the scholarship drive. The gift from the anonymous donor will help up to 40 more students this school year.

To make a donation or support EWU students visit www.ewu.edu/ supportewu.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.