Voices

Last winter, during a time when we had a lot of snowfall, I was driving downtown one afternoon and was stopped at the red light in front of a local tavern. As I waited for the light to change, an intoxicated man waddled out of the tavern, stood atop a large snowbank waiting to cross the street, slipped and fell face first onto the pavement, into the street. The light turned green, and the people in front of me proceeded to drive around him.

May you remember, as I do, a long ago Christmas time – people were kind and it was a happy time. It’s the time of the year stories are told and read and reread with cherished memories.

Ongoing After-School Camp – Hosted by the Northeast Youth Center. For ages 5-12. Children will be transported from school to the Northeast Youth Center II for a snack, games, computer play, arts and weekly field trips. Schools served include: Arlington, Bemiss, Cooper, Lidgerwood, Linwood, Logan, Longfellow, Ridgeview, Regal, Stevens, Whitman and Willard. Held Mondays-Fridays. Runs through June 20. 3-6 p.m., Northeast Youth Center II, 2121 E. Wabash Ave. $53/week. State pay accepted. Scholarships available. 482-0708.

The snow that buried us last week ruined Christmas plans for many families and made life difficult for nearly everyone. But for most kids under 12, the fact they found themselves living in a winter wonderland just helped make it a little easier to believe this time of year – easier to believe in the magic of Christmas.

OLYMPIA – The Building Industry Association of Washington spent more than $7 million on politics this year, most of it trying to replace Gov. Chris Gregoire with Republican challenger Dino Rossi. The group’s latest newsletter looks like the kind of thing that would have haunted the nightmares of BIAW officials during the campaign: “Rossi loses gov bid,” is one headline. “What happened on Election Day?” is another. Then there’s “Ecology set to hike fees” and “Costs of a clean Puget Sound dumped on builders.”

The War on Want exhibit at Spokane Falls Community College Fine Art Gallery was a success. More than 250 works of art created by local artists hung on the walls through November. The pieces were donated and bid upon by visitors.

Avenue West Gallery, 122 S. Monroe St., will feature its January artists of the month at First Night on Wednesday. The “Scenes on Which to Build Dreams” exhibit will feature Linda Lowry’s European travel photos of old world architecture, pastoral scenes and vignettes of European life, and Cheryl Halverson’s paintings and collages of mountains in Alaska, Idaho, northern British Columbiathe Yukon and Arizona.

Once again snowy weather proved to be the downfall of a pair of unthinking lawbreakers as tracks in the snow led police directly to their suspect last Thursday. A silent alarm sounded at Ponderosa Elementary at 10105 E. Cimmaron Drive around midnight. Officers who responded found a smashed-out window. Two sets of tracks in the snow led away from the school, and one person apparently tried to gain entry into several parked cars, said Spokane Valley Police Department spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan. One officer followed the tracks and found a backpack containing a GPS unit and other suspected stolen property while another officer stopped a man coming out of the woods, who was identified as 20-year-old Wayne R. McDonald of Spokane Valley. The tracks led directly to him and his boots matched prints lefts at the school, Reagan said.

About a year ago, I wrote an article on Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, the Jericho, Vt., man who proved more than 120 years ago that “no two snowflakes are alike.” By request, I’m repeating this particular column for several science students (and teachers) in the area. Bentley, born on Feb. 9, 1865, toward the end of the Civil War, lived his entire life on a small farm in tiny Jericho. For eight years, my wife, Sally, and I lived about 15 miles away from Jericho.

Revitalization plan benefits a select few The Spokane Valley Business Association and the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce have endorsed the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan, but how many members will be damaged as a result? Numerous business owners are feeling sold out as they read the fine print in the grand scheme of revitalization.

It started with numbness, tingling, and pain from the elbow down the arm to the hand. The patient was a potter who could not throw vessels because the pain had grown so intense. Twenty-one-year veteran licensed massage therapist and certified personal trainer, Gino Agostinelli, worked on the patient and in time restored full use of the arm.

Thursday – Merry Christmas No events scheduled

Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus will no longer have to worry about hauling stray animals in his patrol car, which lacks any sort of equipment for the task. Fluffy and friends never seemed to understand the need to stay put in the back. “I’d have dogs and cats climbing in the front seat,” he said.

For 12-25-2008

For the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 2

Churches are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ with special services today. •St. John’s Lutheran Church, 5810 S. Meadowlane Road, will offer its Christmas Day worship service at 10 a.m. today. For more information, call the church office at 747-0984.