Washington Voices

For 01-30-2010

A strange odor launched another hazardous materials response from the Spokane Valley Fire Department the week of Jan. 21-27, but it had nothing to do with broccoli this time. A man called a few minutes after midnight on Jan. 26 to report an unknown odor near his home. While firefighters were on their way, the man said it might be a skunk and that his dog “came running into the house with its mouth foaming,” said Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford.

Monday Millwood City Council – 7 p.m. at City Hall, 9103 E. Frederick Ave.

SPOKANE VALLEY – The community is invited to an open house at Spokane Valley City Hall on Thursday, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to receive an update on the Spokane Valley Shoreline Master Program. Residents will have the opportunity to view maps, ask questions, and share input with staff members. A presentation on the program will begin at 5:45 p.m.

Munson is wrong, a ‘poor loser’ Rich Munson believes the new Spokane Valley City Council is off to a bad start (Valley Voice Jan. 23). I disagree. The old City Council was the bad one.

For the week of Jan. 18-24 $10,000

Don’t let the recent run of warmer weather fool you. We aren’t done with winter yet. We have had winters like this before and had the bottom fall out of the thermometer in early February. The daffodils may be poking the tips of their leaves out of the ground but they are just testing the weather. Just settle for raking leaves and doing some cleanup for now. For you die-hard gardeners out there, I know that’s asking a lot. So here are a couple of options to channel that energy for now.

For the week of Feb. 1-5: Monday – Option 1: Salmon loaf with dill sauce, mashed potatoes, orange-glazed carrots, biscuit, fruit. Option 2: Beef stew, mashed potatoes, orange-glazed carrots, biscuit, fruit.

I am standing on the shore of the river, downstream from the State Line Bridge, near the two wide supports of the old bridge that once spanned the river. The gray concrete obelisks remind me of Easter Island statuary or the ruins of a medieval castle. Various bushes and small pines have grown up around them and they are marked with the indecipherable graffiti of a younger generation. One message, however, conveys a perennial theme: “I ? U Tom.” The bridge that once stood here connected the north bank to a post office and gas station on the south side, a wide spot in the road known as Spokane Bridge, Wash. It is the place of birth listed on my mother’s birth certificate. My grandfather ran a gas station there in the 1930s.

I have 10 minutes. What can I do in that time? Clean the floor? Make that necessary phone call? Dust? Nah. I’m probably staring, along with our cat, through a window, my mind wandering, eyes glazed, as I enjoy the sun.

A North Spokane congregation has discovered it’s easier to build a megachurch than a megasign. The Turning Point Open Bible Church completed its new 53,388-square-foot church about 1 ½ years ago but is still waiting for permission to put up a readerboard sign on busy North Division Street.

The Hillyard Kiwanis Club, the Hillyard Lions Club and the Hillyard Rotary Club will have the second annual Hobo Dinner on Feb. 12 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St. The dinner will feature traditional mulligan stew and pie plant dessert.