Washington Voices

A Spokane man was still in critical condition in Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center Thursday after crashing his motorcycle in the early hours of Feb. 14 at the corner of Trent and Park. Ricky D. Dobson, 41, was accelerating out of the parking lot of the Corner Club Bar and Grill at 1:27 a.m. when he lost control and crashed, according to a Washington State Patrol press release. The WSP is also reporting that alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash.

Opportunity Presbyterian Church is altering its worship schedule to offer only one service each week at 10:30 a.m. beginning Sunday. There will be a separate adult/youth education hour from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. During that time there will be activities for children in grades K-5. Sunday school will continue to be offered during the worship service.

I wonder how those hot Hollywood stars do it. You know, Demi’s smooth tummy after four kids and Jen’s fabulous 40 figure? Being female puts me in that wondering category. Besides, what else is there to do while standing in a grocery line except thumb through People magazine? Truth is, most of us wonder how they do it. The stars claim their fountain-of-youth secrets are easy: “drink gallons of water,” they gush; “exercise four hours daily,” they pant; and eat nothing but organic fruits and vegetables. “It’s not hard,” they say with flashy smiles stretched across wrinkle-free faces. “You just have to be committed.”

The Spokane Valley City Council took a look at the newest version of a regional transportation interlocal agreement during its packed agenda at Tuesday’s council meeting. All the cities and towns in Spokane County are members of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, an entity mandated by state and federal law that has been in existence since the 1960s. The SRTC receives federal money every year for transportation projects. It asks local governments to submit proposed construction projects, which the SRTC board then evaluates and ranks before deciding which projects to fund. A city must sign the interlocal agreement in order to have access to the federal funding.

All Saints Catholic School is offering information nights for parents of children in preschool through fourth grade. Parents will be able to meet with teachers, ask questions and tour the facilities during two sessions. Parents of children ages 3 through 5 are invited to attend Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the preschool, 1505 E. 34th Ave. The classes for 3-year-olds are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays. The classes for 4- and 5-year-olds will be offered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or Mondays through Fridays.

If you’re a kid and you want to play baseball in north Spokane, you just got the choice of yet another league: there’s now a Babe Ruth League on the North Side. Dan Peck said the board that used to be in charge of Spokane North and Mead Little League – which he was part of – decided to re-affiliate with Babe Ruth.

It wasn’t the usual rowdy crowd that gathered in the gym at West Valley High School on Feb. 10, though the squeaking of sneakers and the crinkle of training pants sounded just like the warm-up before a basketball game. A circle of tables was off to the side, and around that sat about 25 people trying to decide the future structure of club soccer in Spokane. They were facing countless problems, one being that there’s no process by which to make a decision like that.

In their enthusiasm to spare residents from anything that smacks of a tax increase, no amount is too small to come up for debate for the newest members of the Spokane Valley City Council. Tuesday it was a 35 cent monthly charge from Comcast that drew their attention. The discussion began with city staff asking the council to reach a consensus on which option to explore for televising City Council meetings – whether to continue with Community Minded TV doing the work or use the money from Comcast to buy equipment and do it themselves.

SPOKANE VALLEY – The Steinway Piano Gallery, 13418 E. Nora Ave., will feature Jody Graves in “A Celebration of the Piano” on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Graves is the director of keyboard studies at Eastern Washington University. She served as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department and performed concerts in the Middle East, Europe, Scandinavia and Japan in 2006. Graves also is the pianist for Sapphire Trio.

WANDERMERE – Firefighters of Spokane County Fire District 9 will hold a fundraiser at Albertsons at Wandermere on Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., to benefit the “Scott Firefighter Stairclimb,” to be held on March 7 in Seattle. Ten District 9 firefighters will participate in the event at Seattle’s largest skyscraper, the Columbia Center. All participants will wear full firefighting gear, including self-contained breathing apparatus, and race up the 69-flight course, including 1,311 steps, 19 steps per flight, at an elevation of 788 feet. The race will also be timed.

SPOKANE – The Spokane Arts Commission and the city of Spokane Wastewater Management has announced a manhole cover student design contest, to enhance the visual appearance of the city’s manhole covers. Designs should be reflective of the city and communicate a sense of place, including the environment, nature, water, water qualities or landscape of the Pacific Northwest.