Washington Voices

The Spokane Valley City Council took a look at everything from the city’s adult entertainment regulations to the 2010 Transportation Improvement Plan during this week’s meeting. City staff is recommending the council revise the adult entertainment regulations to remove any ambiguity over what is and is not allowed in adult businesses. “This is an area that is very, very frequently litigated,” said deputy city attorney Cary Driskell. “There’s really a need to update the regulations from time to time.”

WEST HILLS – The Indian Canyon Ladies 18-Hole golf group will meet Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Indian Canyon Golf Course. The women will play a round at 10 a.m. Golfers interested in joining the group are invited to attend. Brunch will be in the clubhouse following the game.

RIVERSIDE – Community Frameworks will hold its third annual Homeownership Resource Fair on Saturday at the Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave., in the Champions Room, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fair will feature more than 20 vendors who will provide information to help local home buyers to make informed homeownership decisions.

SPOKANE VALLEY – Paul Mitchell the School-Spokane, 15303 E. Sprague Ave. Suite C, will take part in Paul Mitchell School’s seventh annual nationwide charitable fundraising campaign, “Cut for a Cause” on Monday. From 2 to 4 p.m., local Paul Mitchell instructors and salon professionals will give haircuts and “future professionals” will shampoo and style, for $5 per person.

WEST HILLS – The Indian Canyon Ladies 18-Hole golf group will meet Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Indian Canyon Golf Course. The women will play a round at 10 a.m. Golfers interested in joining the group are invited to attend. Brunch will be in the clubhouse following the game.

City needs to rethink planning , zoning rules The residents of the Manito Park neighborhood have been experiencing a polarizing upheaval in the last few months.

Thunderstorm season in the Inland Northwest is right around the corner. Although we do get our share of thunder, lightning, hail and even a rare tornado, the severity of these storms does not compare to the ones seen east of the Rockies, especially in the Great Plains “Tornado Alley.” The North Cascades to the west and the Rockies to the east often protect our region from the elements that produce thunderstorm and tornado activity. The warmer and more humid waters from the Gulf of Mexico are necessary to help produce the severe weather conditions across much of the central U.S., the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic states and occasionally the Northeast. Thanks to the Rocky Mountains, the Gulf of Mexico’s influence is limited across the Northwest.

We are all eagerly waiting for the last vestiges of winter, such as it was, to disappear and spring growth to really pick up. In the garden, rhubarb will be one of the earliest crops to poke its head out and by early May, it will be a mass of huge green leaves held up by thick green, pink, or red stalks. Early pioneers welcomed its arrival as one of the first fresh foods available after the long winter of stored food. Long before that though, as far back as 2700 B.C., early Chinese revered it for its medicinal properties and used extracts of its root as a purgative. Early traders along the Silk Road brought Chinese rhubarb west to Europe. Marco Polo spoke of it in his writings of his travels to China in the 1200s A.D. Rhubarb is first mentioned as a food plant in Europe about 1778, and by 1800 it was showing up in the produce markets in the new United States.

The drama class at St. Michael’s Academy will perform “The Passion of the Christ,” today and Friday at 7 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium, 8500 N. St. Michael’s Road. For more information or to reserve a seat, call (509) 315-6385.

For 03-25-2010

Monday – Option 1: Chicken and dumplings, broccoli, fresh fruit, dinner roll, gingerbread with topping. Option 2: Tuna salad sandwich, broccoli, fresh fruit, dinner roll, gingerbread with topping. Tuesday – 1: Pot roast, roasted vegetables, green beans amandine, dinner roll, cake. 2: Chicken salad wrap, green beans amandine, dinner roll, cake.