Voices

St. David’s Episcopal Church, 7315 N. Wall St., will celebrate the Celtic Creation service Wednesday at 7 p.m. The theme of the service is “Creation Praise and Thanksgiving,” and will include music, movement and meditation. It also will feature traditional Native American readings.

Police departments in Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Liberty Lake will begin paying next year for dispatching service that previously has been free. Undersheriff Jeff Tower said the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said the change, effective Jan. 1, eliminates an unfair subsidy by taxpayers in unincorporated parts of the county.

Getting rid of graffiti may soon become a duty in Spokane Valley. And the cost of various city-issued permits is likely to go up.

A few years ago my husband purchased an old Coats tire-changing machine – the kind no self-respecting tire store would be caught dead with these days. Little did we know the purchase of that old dinosaur would lure friends up the hill to our house like a Banjo Minnow lures big mouth bass. It has also provided hours of man vs. machine entertainment right outside my kitchen window. The last few weeks have been especially entertaining.

Police departments in Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Liberty Lake will begin paying next year for dispatching service that previously has been free. Undersheriff Jeff Tower said the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said the change, effective Jan. 1, eliminates an unfair subsidy by taxpayers in unincorporated parts of the county.

West Plains homeowners are invited to attend the Warm Hearts, Warm Homes Weatherization Training event Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Lake City Assembly of God Church. Cheney United Methodist Church, Avista Utilities, Inland Power and Light and the Lake City Assembly of God Church will present trainers from Spokane Neighborhood Action Program.

Spokane Valley firefighters want to know more about a nighttime UFO that dropped fireballs onto the Costco parking lot. Witnesses reported seeing two fireballs fall from the sky about 6:40 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Costco store at 5601 E. Sprague Ave., but investigators theorize that both came from the same airborne device.

The classic rock radio being piped in overhead clashed not unpleasantly with the modern rock radio emanating from the kitchen. From where I sat, both were approximately equal in volume. The Cars’ “Candy O” cruised in the backseat with Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” which marched shoulder-to-shoulder with the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” which surfed nicely in top of Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and so on.

For 11-15-2008

CDA4Kids, an academic enrichment program, currently serving three elementary and two middle schools in Coeur d’Alene, is seeking your help. Approximately 40 to 60 kids from Borah, Atlas and Bryan elementaries and Lakes and Woodland middle schools take part in CDA4Kids, weekdays during the school year and in a six-week camp during the summer. The weekdays program is from 7:45 to 9 a.m., with “Wake Up and Read.” The literacy program provides students with books on tape, along with para-professionals, available to help kids with their reading and writing skills if needed. The after school program is a quiet place for students to get their homework done, and also includes CDA4Kids volunteer “Hometown Heroes.”

Handle Extra restaurant reviewer Patrick Jacobs launched a Huckleberries Online thread by dissing the restroom shared by Connie’s Restaurant and an attached Sandpoint bar. Quoth Patrick: The restroom “was so scary, so unclean, and so utterly unappetizing that I nearly told Q. we were out of there.” (On the other hand, Patrick applauded Connie’s food and atmosphere.) All of which prompted my Berry Pickers to compare public restrooms in the Inland Northwest. Charlie said the CDA K-Mart restrooms “need attention.” But Costco restrooms are “always clean.” Ya Betcha chimed in that the Safeway/Neider restrooms “always stink.” MamaJD said that one of the worst restrooms in the county is near Black Rock at Shooter’s Grill. Said she: “I have sometimes chosen not to go there just because I knew I wasn’t in the mood to endure the ladies room.” Sam Taylor, now reporting for the Bellingham (Wash.) News, recalled his days as a 16-year-old courtesy clerk at Safeway/Neider. Part of his duty was to clean the restroom. One day the manager apologized before sending him to clean the men’s restroom after someone had smeared poo on the walls. “I had to clean it all up,” said Sam. “And I’ve got the worst gag reflex on the planet.” Bottom line? If nature calls when you’re out and about? Get out your Costco card. An effective bribe

The Spokane Valley City Council has made a difficult decision about the direction of traffic on Appleway and Sprague avenues. Councilman Bill Gothmann and I want to share with you a couple of perspectives about why we did what we did, plus I will take a look at the future of this vital corridor. Gothmann’s article will appear in an upcoming Valley Voice.