Washington Voices

This year is my first child’s last year of high school, with graduation three short weeks away. Though I should have known better, no one warned me how many lasts we’d celebrate and how each one would make me misty-eyed and nostalgic. Last cross country meet. Last choir concert. Last school dance. Last standardized test. Actually, the last test doesn’t jerk any tears. I share my daughter’s happy good-riddance attitude toward those tedious tools of academic assessment.

I had my red sweatshirt on out in the garden last weekend and I got buzzed by a curious hummingbird. He checked me out as a source of nectar and disappeared as quickly as he had come. I’m guessing it was a male because they are the first to show up each spring. They arrive before the females to stake out their territory and scout out food sources. The females usually arrive about a week later. Then the fun begins. Once they discover each other, they begin a series of wild courtship flights as the males try to impress potential mates. They will swoop and dive around each other; the male often flies straight up and then straight down, almost hitting the ground. Once all the courting is done they will build a tiny nest in the nearby brushy thicket.

Rotary Club of Spokane Valley will host its annual golf tournament Tuesday at Trailhead Golf Course, 1102 N. Liberty Lake Road, Liberty Lake. Event proceeds will benefit the club’s efforts to help the youth of the Valley through programs such as Books for Kids, which provides free books to nearly 2,500 children in six Valley elementary schools, and scholarships for college-bound seniors.

Longtime Millwood resident Vikkie Naccarato delivered a petition with 30 signatures to the Millwood City Council on Tuesday requesting that the city become a “certified local government” through the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. “We want to take our love of Millwood,” Naccarato said, “and take it to the next step.”

The Liberty Lake Police Department received a call on May 5 from the owner of a stolen vehicle who said the vehicle may be parked somewhere in the Liberty Lake area. The vehicle could not be located, but the suspect in the case was identified by the owner, said Police Chief Brian Asmus. The suspect was contacted and told police that the stolen truck had been taken to Coeur d’Alene. The truck was taken from a home in Spokane County, so the case was referred back to the Sheriff’s Office for follow-up, Asmus said.

A couple of curious fires caught the attention of the Spokane Valley Fire Department. On May 2, crews responded to a reported brush fire on Dick Road. A large television that apparently had been unused for years was on fire in the yard, said Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford. Someone was there trying to put the fire out with a garden hose. “We don’t know any other circumstances,” he said.

For 05-15-2014

Two Spokane Valley City Council members say they will oppose a controversial land-use proposal that would enable multilevel apartment buildings to be constructed in a largely rural neighborhood, while several others say they’re leaning against it. Whether that’s enough to kill the proposal, which has sparked massive neighborhood opposition, remains to be seen. After months of preliminary consideration by city staff and the Planning Commission, the change sought by Whipple Consulting Engineers to a 5-acre parcel at Barker Road and the old Sprague Avenue will be formally introduced next week and could either be dumped or moved forward to a final council vote later this month.

Spokane County Library District will welcome the Digital Bookmobile National Tour on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place, and May 22 from noon to 6 p.m. at the North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Road. The Digital Bookmobile is a 74-foot vehicle equipped with Internet-connected PCs, high-definition monitors, sound systems and portable media players, everything visitors need to learn about the library’s download services.

Today Healthy Families Community Resource Fair - More than 20 local organizations and nonprofits will be here to create awareness about their free and low-cost programs that can help local families. 5:30-7:30 p.m. North Pines Middle School, 701 N. Pines Road, Spokane Valley. Free. (509) 228-5087.

I had my red sweatshirt on out in the garden last weekend and I got buzzed by a curious hummingbird. He checked me out as a source of nectar and disappeared as quickly as he had come. I’m guessing it was a male because they are the first to show up each spring. They arrive before the females to stake out their territory and scout out food sources. The females usually arrive about a week later. Then the fun begins. Once they discover each other, they begin a series of wild courtship flights as the males try to impress potential mates. They will swoop and dive around each other; the male often flies straight up and then straight down, almost hitting the ground. Once all the courting is done they will build a tiny nest in the nearby brushy thicket.