Greater Spokane Inc. intends to earn its full $60,000 donation from Spokane Valley next year with a strategy to market the city’s Sprague-Appleway Revitalization plan to businesses around the country. The City Council voted last week to withhold half of the grant if the regional economic-development organization doesn’t deliver a more aggressive plan to promote the city by Oct. 1.
The federal Veterans Affairs State Cemetery Grants Program recently presented the state of Washington with a check for $8,794,766 to build the Eastern Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake. The cemetery is scheduled to open on Memorial Day next year and construction has already begun. Ground was broken on Memorial Day 2009.
Now that schools are back in session, Spokane Valley churches are also launching their fall worship schedules and Sunday school classes. Several are using the occasion to host gatherings to celebrate the beginning of the new season. • Christ Lutheran Church will introduce its new Bible Learning Adventure Stations (BLAST) on Sunday. Registration and orientation will begin at 9:30 a.m. and parents can take a tour of the four stations. A combined worship service will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by a picnic lunch. The church is at 13009 E. Broadway.
An outspoken Cuban man who found himself in Spokane as a political refugee a few years ago has opened a restaurant that allows him to share cuisine from his native homeland. Rolando Diaz, who lobbied for open government and greater civil rights in Cuba, moved to Spokane in 2005 with his wife, Doralquis “Doris” Labrada, and their two children. The new chapter in their lives has meant adventures learning English and a new way of life.
Habitat for Humanity-Spokane will be holding its 14th annual “Raise the Roof” auction on Friday. This year, a new element called “Art for Habitat” has been added to the auction. Artists Joel Rabe, Ed Gilmore, Kay O’Rourke and Dara Harvey will be donating pieces made from materials found at the Habitat store, 850 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. and 11410 E. Sprague Ave.
West Valley announced in June that middle school sports budgets were being cut to save money, a move that had been discussed for some time. The district’s coaches, however, had other plans. Over the summer, when it came time for coaches and extracurricular activity directors to negotiate their contracts, they came up with a plan to all give up a day’s pay in order to keep middle school sports on Friday.
For 77-year-old Robert Hanson, the fact that he can still get down on both knees to liberate potatoes from the dirt is “kind of a miracle.” Since 1982, Hanson has been working the soil in his good-size garden just northeast of Hillyard, bringing in a hefty harvest of corn, squash, cabbage and other produce. But this year he’s had to leave much of the work to his neighbors after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer early in the season. He and his wife, Millie, have taken numerous trips to the emergency room over the past several months due to complications from the procedure.
When they were freshmen, Central Valley High School girls soccer coach Andres Monrroy marveled at the potential his young players had and looked forward to three more years of escalating success. When they were sophomores, he saw them make significant strides, only to have their season broken down by injuries that sidelined as many as six of his starters.
SPOKANE VALLEY – The Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation Department is looking for “energetic” volunteers to haunt the Valley Mission pool. City officials need spooks Oct. 23, 24 and 30 for what they hope will become an annual Halloween event at the pool. Ghouls must be high school-age or older unless the work with a parent.
Now that all the greater Spokane Valley school districts are back in session it’s time for many schools to host back to school information nights. Parents can meet teachers, tour the schools and learn about each school’s programs. The following schools are having back to school nights this week.
Amid conflicting comments from Millwood residents regarding alleged traffic problems, the Millwood City Council unanimously approved seeking additional traffic data on Fowler, Empire and Butler roads Monday night at the regular City Council meeting. “Our streets are so narrow,” Millwood resident Richard Gardner said. “If a little child or dog comes out on the street, at 25 mph you hardly have any time to stop.”
Parents at Trentwood Elementary have a new option this year to put their children in a tuition-based extended day kindergarten program. The program is not the all-day kindergarten funded by the state, but a special combination of preschool and kindergarten that requires the school to become a licensed day care. That way, low-income parents who can’t afford the $290 monthly tuition can use their DSHS day care vouchers to pay for it.
The days are getting shorter, children are back in school and fall sports are under way. We’d like to see your best seasonal photographs for Picture Perfect, our community scrapbook of photos from Spokane Valley readers. We want the type of pictures that show why this season is one of the best in Spokane Valley. Share photos of family feasts, children in their favorite outfits and teammates on the field. Think of holiday gatherings, special milestones and outdoor fun. Send us your party pictures and candid photos.
Is your perennial garden beginning to look more like a jungle than a garden? Are a few garden thugs taking over smaller plants? Do some perennials just look out of place? September is a great time to do some rearranging in the garden. The weather has cooled, the soil is still warm and you can recognize where the plants are. As a general rule of thumb, perennials that bloom in the spring can be moved before the end of September while those that are blooming now are best moved in the spring. Like many “rules” in gardening, however, they are meant to be broken, or at least liberally interpreted by the gardener.
Spokane Valley’s spiffed-up swimming pools attracted more users and generated more revenue this summer than last despite a shorter season. Snow makeup days kept schools in session longer this summer and shaved about two weeks off the pool season. Even so, pool attendance increased by more than 9,000 visits, and revenue was up more than $10,000.
After several weeks, a strange odor finally became “unbearable” for a Liberty Lake apartment dweller who called the Spokane Valley Fire Department for help. Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said Liberty Lake police joined firefighters on the Sept. 1 call to the Big Trout Lodge Apartments at 22809 Country Vista Drive. When the emergency workers arrived shortly before midnight, they too smelled something odd.
