Washington Voices

An author and landscape designer who helped restore the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens in Spokane will be giving a pair of workshops on garden design on Sept. 26 at the Corbin Art Center. Richard Hartlage, who was a consultant on the $1.4 million Moore-Turner restoration, will talk about the art of planting design during the workshops from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 26.

RIVERSIDE – The Kiwanis Club of Downtown Spokane will host “The Pirates of Penzance” next Thursday at the Spokane Civic Theater, 1020 N. Howard St., at 7:30 p.m. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for a reception featuring raffles, drawings, prizes, hors d’oeuvres, vintage wines provided by Vintage Hills Cellars and other beverages.

COEUR D’ALENE – It’s not too late to register for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, at North Idaho College on Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. The race is one of many Komen events to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

VALLEYFORD – Spokane County Fire District 8 is looking for a commissioner. District officials will take applications through 4 p.m. Sept. 30 for the commissioner position from which Jonathan Ferraiuolo resigned Aug. 31. The two remaining commissioners will appoint an interim replacement.

The number and size of parks in the River District was again the topic of discussion at Tuesday’s Liberty Lake City Council meeting as the council takes the final steps toward voting on the Specific Area Plan proposed by Greenstone to govern development in the 648 acres between I-90 and the Spokane River. The land being developed by Greenstone is owned by Centennial Properties, a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review.

The contract the city of Medical Lake will enter into with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is still under negotiations but should be ready in time for the Nov. 1 start date. “The contract with the county is looking to proceed on schedule,” said Councilmember John Pakuli during council’s meeting Tuesday night.

•The Administration Committee meeting will be Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Office of Neighborhood Services, Sixth Floor, City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. •The Public Safety Committee meeting will be Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Office of Neighborhood Services, Sixth Floor, City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

St. Augustine Parish, 428 W. 19th Ave., will present a recital to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the church’s Dueñas Memorial Pipe Organ on Sunday at 4 p.m. Julia Brown, a recitalist and recording artist, will play music from the generation just before J.S. Bach and through the time of Felix Mendelssohn.

The crisp, yet warm and sunny weather is just perfect for some outdoor activities. There are plenty of fun things to do in Elk this weekend to fulfill everyone’s tastes and fit into everyone’s schedule. On Saturday, the Elk Veterans of Foreign Wars Post will hold its annual auction beginning at 10 a.m. and going until everything is gone. The group has collected a lot of interesting, gently-used items for auction. The funds raised will go to the post’s remodeling fund. Proceeds from the Veterans Sunday Morning Breakfast (open to the public from 8 to 11 a.m.) also will go to maintenance and remodeling. The Elk Music Association will host the Mountain Folk Festival at Elk Community Park, 1/4 mile north of the Elk VFW on Elk-Camden Road, on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, there will be open jams from 5 to 10 p.m.

The goal of Somebody Needs You is to match donors with the specific requests of needy Spokane residents. The list of requests is coordinated by the Volunteers of America in cooperation with recognized social service agencies in Spokane.

Now that the school year is in full swing, students will be heading home with their fair share of homework. Spokane Public Schools recently announced Supplemental Educational Services for this academic year.

Implementation of the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan will be postponed two weeks, until Oct. 15, because of delays in publishing an easy-to-read copy of the plan. In other business Tuesday, the Spokane Valley City Council unanimously called for final action next week on an ordinance to reduce false burglar alarms by requiring licenses and hiring a company to handle enforcement.