Voices

Liberty Lake's Pavillion Park at Country Vista and Molter Road will be bustling with activity Saturday. The day starts with a Smart Watering Workshop on irrigation techniques and water conservation from 9 a.m. to noon. A lunch will follow. Call the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District at 922-5443 to register.

Sometimes, when you call a cop it's not to report a crime. In a case most recently, it was for help. This intrepid reporter received a call for assistance from two widely respected members of the community. Bob and Suzanne Rickel, retired farmers, began receiving pesky notices in the mail from New York City.

Plan B is on the horizon in Liberty Lake, but is still shrouded in mystery. Since the failure of the $9.8 million bond to build a new library/community center on land the city owns at Mission and Signal Road, city leaders have said they would move to a yet-to-be-determined Plan B. Possibilities mentioned included running the bond again or purchasing an existing building to remodel.

Ongoing "Catch the Reading Bug at Your Library!" - Summer reading program hosted by Spokane County Library District and Spokane Public Library. Children can sign-up to receive a reading log to keep track of books they read or hear. Finishers of the program will receive a prize. Program runs through Aug. 31. 444-5307.

The 11th annual Hillyard ChalkArtWalk is set for Saturday. Registration is free and begins at 10 a.m. in the parking lot on the corner of Market Street and Queen Avenue. The themed "Earth, Wind, Rain, and Fire" event is for artists of all ages and ability. Free T-shirts featuring the 2007 "Best in Show" will be given to the first 100 artists. The "Best in Show" winner will receive $100 and a framed picture of their winning entry. The entry will be featured on next year's T-shirt.

Children in kindergarten through the eighth grade are invited to attend the 2008 Blackhawk Cheerleader Workshop July 9-10 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the main gym of Cheney High School, 460 N. Sixth. Deadline to register is July 1 and registration forms have been sent to all the schools in the Cheney School District.

Spokane Public Schools is accepting new student registration for elementary and middle school, through Aug. 21. High school registration is also being accepted. Student enrollment is not official until the school has processed the application. Students are registered based on space availability and in the order in which their completed registration forms are received.

Sam Green, the first poet laureate of the state of Washington will speak at the JFK Library at Eastern Washington University at 4:30 p.m. today. Green's talk, "Poetry in the Every Day," will be his first public speech on the east side of the state since being named state poet laureate in December 2007 by Gov. Chris Gregoire. His book, "Vertebrae: Poems 1972-1996," was published by EWU Press.

Spokane Public Schools is accepting new student registration for elementary and middle school, through Aug. 21. High school registration is also being accepted. Student enrollment is not official until the school has processed the application. Students are registered based on space availability and in the order in which their completed registration forms are received.

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig may be a pariah in many Idaho precincts as a result of his airport bathroom two-step. But his three adopted children still thinks he walks tall. As many dads enjoyed playing king for a day Sunday, Craig reflected on the support he got from Mike, Jay and Shae. On his U.S. Senate Web site, Craig wrote: "I remember Shae's first date and her first breakup, Mike's first car and Jay's first soccer game. But nothing affected me as emotionally as my children's love and loyalty during the dark days of last August." At the Washington Post, blogger Mary Ann Akers notes that Michael Craig defended his father as " … a victim of circumstance, in the wrong place at the wrong time." Hmm. Craig awards such loyalty – blind loyalty – with this praise: "They were relentless in correcting the record – in television interviews and in doggedly responding to newspaper reporters' endless questions. And when I appeared before the media to respond to unspeakable accusations, my kids stood with me, looking my accusers squarely in the eye." Craig's kids were collateral damage when he refused to own up to his crime – and quit as he initially told Idahoans he would do. Seems Craig'll always be in denial. Carrying wastewater

Like a lot of guys, I keep leftovers in the garage. Leftover parts that is, plus assorted nuts and bolts and miscellaneous scraps of wood. And, um, well, not exactly "in" the garage, but in bins, cans, night stands, desk drawers, closets and shelves throughout the house. Sometimes I store things in the boxes they originally came in and other times I keep them in official guy-type storage devices – you know, five-gallon buckets, tool boxes and roll-away cabinets.

Liberty Lake's annual community yard sale added a feverish level of activity for the Liberty Lake Police Department last week, beginning with closing half of some streets to parking on June 13. The move upset some homeowners, who had hoped to park on the street to open up their driveways and garages for their yard sale, said police Chief Brian Asmus.