Voices

The Lakeland High girls basketball team should have a wide-open path to the State 4A tournament this year. Lakeland (7-16 overall last year) returns nine of 10 from a team that qualified for state.

When the Panhandle Mad Hatters began three years ago, it started with five women knitting in their homes. Their goal at the time was to provide warm hats for newborns at Kootenai Medical Center and Deaconess Medical Center. Three years later its mission and membership have grown by leaps and bounds.

A sandstone monument to George Washington – badly vandalized in recent years – is going to be renovated and moved to a new location in Manito Park as the result of a fundraising effort by the organization that originally placed the work in the park. The Esther Reed Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution raised $1,500 and the Friends of Manito organization has agreed to donate up to $4,000 for the project to be completed by next spring.

Even though Amanda Deeds doesn’t have children, she does have little ones running around the house. As an animal lover her entire life, Deeds is like many pet owners who consider their four-legged friends more than just companions – her two dogs and cats are members of the family. That’s why Deeds and her mother, Bonnie Sportato, and sister, Marie Berger, opened Post Falls Pampurred Pet Boutique near the heart of downtown earlier this year, dedicated to providing high-quality food, apparel, boarding and a host of other animal services for residents of the River City.

There are four male puppies and two female puppies. They are around 7 weeks old. They are sweet and playful little pups. They will be bigger dogs once they are full grown. If you have been thinking you are ready for the long-term commitment of having a dog, then come in and meet these cute, playful puppies. Anyone interested in adopting a puppy can visit SCRAPS at 2521 N. Flora Road, call 477-2532 or visit the Web at www.spokanecounty.org/animal. Most available pets also can be seen posted on www.petfinder.com. Dog adoption costs $82.04, which includes license, neuter, vaccination, microchip and a trip to the vet. Free dog training classes are available.

Their jokes aren’t as good, but firefighters have power tools to make television handyman “Tim the Toolman” drool. Spokane Valley firefighters got out the big hardware for recent classes on how to remove people from mangled cars.