Voices

The Community Development Department in Cheney will hold a public meeting to discuss an application from the Cheney Church of the Nazarene, 338 Betz Road, to build an addition to house a day care facility. The property is zoned as single-family residential and the addition is expected to accommodate about 40 children in the child-care/preschool with before and after-school programs between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Spokane Valley residents who don’t like the city’s proposed Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan have talked about a referendum. But talk is all they can do.

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 group of neighbors, environmentally minded children and a woman memorializing her daughter will join together Saturday morning to plant trees and shrubs, beautifying a South Hill median and building community. The project on 35th Avenue between Freya and Rebecca streets is the brainchild of Marilyn Lloyd, who has lived along the street for more than 40 years.

Cooper Elementary’s 100th birthday will be celebrated tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Festivities include an “over the years” pictorial, along with a display of the contents from the school’s unearthed time capsule from the 1980-1981 academic year. Students have also created a historical events timeline that includes 1895 to 1908, when the school was Minnehaha School, and from 1908 to present, as Cooper Elementary.

Cooper Elementary’s 100th birthday will be celebrated tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Festivities include an “over the years” pictorial, along with a display of the contents from the school’s unearthed time capsule from the 1980-1981 academic year. Students have also created a historical events timeline that includes 1895 to 1908, when the school was Minnehaha School, and from 1908 to present, as Cooper Elementary.

The Spokane Valley City Council has approved a scaled-down version of a police study it scrapped in July. Councilwoman Diana Wilhite, who opposed a $126,500 version of the study in September, came out in support Tuesday of a $52,500 study.

Designer jeans will be available for discount prices during a fundraiser Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eastern Washington University Pence Union Building, rooms 204 and 205. The nonprofit Charity Denim is joining together with the EWU Office of Student Activities and EWU Panhellenic, the council that oversees the sororities on the EWU campus. All designer jeans will be available for under $100. Call 475-7698 for more information.

Designer jeans will be available for discount prices during a fundraiser Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eastern Washington University Pence Union Building, rooms 204 and 205. The nonprofit Charity Denim is joining together with the EWU Office of Student Activities and EWU Panhellenic, the council that oversees the sororities on the EWU campus. All designer jeans will be available for less than $100. Call 475-7698 for more information.

For 10-23-2008

The Whitworth Auxiliary will present its annual fall luncheon and bazaar Tuesday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Spokane, 318 S. Cedar St. The theme this year, “A Journey Through Time with Music and Vintage Costumes,” will feature Anne Fennesy and Bonnie Robinson.

Today Hola: Spanish/English Storytime - For children age 3 and older. Stories, stretches and songs will be presented in English and Spanish. 7 p.m., North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Road. Free. 893-8350.

Athol Post 149 American Legion had its annual chili cook-off last week with some new winners as well as old. Heading the group was Taryn Hecker. A novice at making chili, she wasn’t an amateur at research. Taryn Googled prize-winning recipes looking for one that looked good, and she won hands-down with a chili that was outstanding and even contained peppered chocolate.

If you were wondering what happened to ex-Coeur d’Alene High football/baseball star Mark Scates, he’s a federal law enforcement officer living in Boise – and one of Cosmopolitan’s hottest Idaho bachelors. His sister, Brandi Meade, nominated the 30-year-old for the honor, stating: “Mark has a rep as a great boyfriend. He showers a girl with gifts and likes to cook.” A link provided at Huckleberries Online shows Mark stripped to the waist, hugging a tree, in an outdoors scene. The Women of Huckleberries Online confirm Mark’s as hot as Cosmopolitan advertises. Sez JeanieSpokane: “Oh boy. And he likes to cook. I’m having a hot flash.” If you’re wondering whether a guy and a girl can be just friends? Mark’s answer for Cosmopolitan was – “yes.” An anonymous woman responding to the article commented: “You have a great smile. I would like to put it in my pocket and keep it. Would like to e-mail you but the site will not let me do that at the moment.” Now, there’s something that you wouldn’t have read in the football programs in the mid-1990s when Mark was packing the pigskin for the Vikings. Stand by your man

It’s finally fall, and in Spokane, that means it’s time for the ponderosa pine’s annual molt of long, brown needles. Now that our yards are buried, what can you do with them? Pine needles make an excellent winter mulch for plants that need protection from the cold. They are weed free and allow water to drain through them quickly. A foot-deep layer around tea roses and other tender perennials can protect against the inevitable freeze-thaw cycles that can destroy roots and kill the plants. The gardeners at the Rose Gardens at Manito Park use them to mulch the hundreds of roses they care for.

OLYMPIA – Washington State University fans are not the type to take a perceived slight lightly. After all, these are the folks who buy cars in the school’s shade of crimson. They arm themselves with a vast array of Cougar paraphernalia and, Cougars at the ready, trundle to game after game to shout themselves hoarse. A few diehards have had the cougar logo tattooed on themselves.

Fresh pumpkin donuts. Steaming hot cider. Homemade apple dumplings. There’s only one place where you’re guaranteed to find all three – the harvest festival in Green Bluff. Ever since our sons were tiny, we’ve taken them to the Green Bluff festival to pick their Halloween pumpkins. It’s our annual autumn tradition. So, on a recent sparkling Sunday afternoon, the kids scrambled out of the car at our first stop, Siemers Farm. While the boys scoured the patch for the perfect pumpkin, I loaded our green handcart with Honey Crisp apples, yellow onions and gallons of cider.

On Oct. 31, the Elk Music Association will again bring the haunted house to Elk Community Park, but with a little twist. This one is more adult-oriented and not for the faint of heart. Additional actors and extras are still welcome.