Voices

Congratulations to East Valley School District students, for whom school lets out today. You now have 81 days of freedom (including weekends) before the bell calls you back to classes on Sept. 3. Gonzaga Prep students are on their sixth day of freedom, and get 76 more.

POST FALLS – Post Falls police are making the best of low staffing levels by utilizing volunteer officers as extra eyes in the community, patrolling the Centennial Trail and soon conducting speed enforcement operations. This is the second year Post Falls police have deployed volunteers to watch over the Centennial Trail. Eight volunteers are trained to do the patrols, said police Capt. Scot Haug.

The Spokane Valley City Council learned this week it will have to bridge more than the Spokane River at Barker Road. The lowest of three bids to replace the Barker Road Bridge came in $1.05 million higher than city officials had estimated. However, allowing for various nonconstruction costs, the project shortfall was nearly $1.27 million.

For 06-07-2008

Attendant Care Registry – Free service matching disabled adults and children with personal-care providers; sponsored by Coalition of Responsible Disabled; 326-6355. Change Point! program – Ideal for women who are separated, divorced, or widowed, have a disability, or who have been incarcerated; provides free training in computers, resume preparation, job interviewing, communication skills, and conflict resolution techniques; sponsored by the Washington State Displaced Homemaker Program; contact Denise McKinnon at 279-6065.

A new way for businesses to apply for licenses in Liberty Lake may be coming down the road, but the City Council was unable to come to a decision on a new procedure Tuesday night. Currently, businesses have to pay for a business license in Liberty Lake, plus get a master license from the state. The city charges $35 per year for most businesses operating in Liberty Lake or $20 per year for businesses that do under $10,000 in annual sales. The new process, if approved, would allow businesses to get their Liberty Lake license online when they renew their license through the state, saving time for both the business owners and the city.

After some Central Valley School District board members complained in early May that raising hot lunch prices for the 2008-09 school year by 25 cents seemed too much of a burden for parents, the board voted last week to raise lunch prices by 40 cents. Breakfast will be going up 50 cents. The change in part lies with an error in computing how much the price increases would save the district. When supervisor of nutrition services Duane Smilden did his first estimate, he calculated that increasing the breakfast prices by 5 cents would save the district $26,700. The newest estimate drops that to $1,500 in savings. Smilden said he accidentally multiplied the cost savings by the full number of meals served, which doesn't take in account the fixed reimbursement from the state for free- and reduced-price meals.

It was an Evergreen and Greenacres show during this year's Vern Fox Spokane Valley Middle School All-League track meet. The Grizzlies won three of four meets – the girls Class A and boys and girls Class B – and finished second to the Bruins in boys Class A. Greenacres finished second in the other three meets.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department is investigating what might be called "The Case of the Missing Chimney." Among the 202 calls in the seven days that ended Wednesday, firefighters responded to an attic fire caused by a fireplace without a chimney.