Voices

Mary McCormick-Hughes used to sled down Spokane Street as a child. She didn't have to worry about cars.

The Nine Mile Falls and Lake Spokane community will hold the fourth annual Relay for Life June 6 and 7 at the Lakeside High School track field. Events start at 5 p.m. with a survivors dinner on June 6. Anyone who is a cancer survivor is invited to the Mexican dinner donated by Taco Del Mar of Indian Trail, followed by desserts donated by Stephanie's Isn't it Sweet bakery. Free T-shirts are provided to all cancer survivors before they take their first symbolic laps around the track to officially kick off the relay. A variety of entertainment and festivities are planned for the event. A silent auction under the main tent opens to bidding at 5 p.m. June 6. Auction items include a day of sailing on Lake Pend Orielle and one hour of live harp entertainment. The Singing Nuns will perform from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by Brass Quintessence Jazz Band from 8 to 10.

This week Rewired Women's Ministry – Saturday, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at RLM1 auditorium at Real Life Ministries, 1866 Cecil Road. 777-7325.

Several major road projects in Spokane Valley are about to join those already challenging motorists in Spokane. Getting across the Spokane River will be one of the bigger difficulties in both cities.

Post Falls and Lakeland School Districts lunch menus for the week of June 2-6. Post Falls School District

For 05-29-2008

For the week of June 2-6 Monday – Rosemary chicken over garden rice pilaf, vegetables, whole wheat bread, cinnamon- raisin applesauce.

MEDICAL LAKE – The skate park at the corner of Barker and Hallett has been a headache for city employees and neighbors. City employees have been out cleaning up cans, cigarette butts and other garbage every morning. Vandals once set fire to one of the ramps. The police have been out on numerous times to chase away skaters who have hopped the fence after hours. There have also been problems with graffiti.

Spirit Lake is a long way from the Red Planet. The space vehicles students from Spirit Lake Elementary designed for the University of Idaho's Mars Rover Competition will never set wheel on Mars, but their creations won awards for accomplishing tasks a real Mars Rover would need to handle.

4A Ferris

St. George's School has dedicated a new school bell that replaces a bell stolen in 2005. The original bell was given to the school by Louis M. Davenport, who owned a summer vacation home, "Flowerfield," on the Little Spokane River that now serves as the school campus.

Spokane County 1 Harvard Road from Trent Avenue to a point one mile north: Pave existing gravel road. Begin May 2008, end July 2008.

Thunderstorm activity in our region has been relatively quiet, thanks to La Niña, the cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event in the waters of the south-central Pacific. However, severe weather conditions can occur often in the Inland Empire in June, July and August. A typical strong thunderstorm in our region will usually produce very strong winds, hail, lightning and torrential downpours, and sometimes tornadoes. Tornadoes, especially strong ones, are rare in the Northwest. Idaho averages three twisters a year while Washington and Oregon normally see two per year. By contrast, there are an average of 139 twisters per year in Texas, 57 in Oklahoma and 55 in Kansas and Florida.

For 05-29-2008

The following students have been named to the third-quarter honor roll at West Valley High School: Seniors

The fallout from the explosion of gas prices is about to put a big crimp in all our excesses, yea even our necessities. But the one hit that's apt to cause the most bleeding among many of us Americans is the one we'll take in our major status symbols – our cars. With this in mind, I couldn't help but stare at the big, black, shiny Hummer parked five feet away from me, just outside the window of the fitness center where I was huffing and puffing on the stair-stepper. Wow! What a monster. Which one of my fellow exercisers could be the driver of that intimidating beast, I wondered? Who looks well-heeled enough to afford such an indulgence and still have enough money left over to keep that gas-guzzler, a'guzzling?