Washington Voices

Spokane Valley This week Second Harvest Mobile Food Distribution – Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Millwood Community Presbyterian Church, 3223 N. Marguerite Road. Free produce and perishable items for low-income families and others in need, no documentation required. Must be present to receive food. (509) 924-2350.

Two more Spokane Valley City Council members are expressing reluctance to consider tax cuts next year. Councilmen Bill Bates and Ben Wick praised the city’s history of fiscal discipline, including the likelihood of a sixth straight year without a tax increase, but said it would be a mistake to begin reducing rates.

New listings Shadle Park High School Class of 1964 - Sept. 20. Tour of the high school, 10 a.m.-noon; buffet dinner, 5-11 p.m. at Red Lion Hotel at the Park. Visit www.reunionswithclass.com to register or call (425) 644-1044.

For the week of Sept. 15-19. Monday – Option 1: Beef stroganoff with pasta, beets, roll, steamed vegetables, fruit. Option 2: Fishwich, steamed vegetables, fruit.

Representatives from Spokane County and the East Valley School District met recently to make sure everyone was in agreement about a road project slated to go through district property. The project, which is slated for 2020, will extend Sullivan Road from Wellesley Avenue to Forker Road. It’s part of an ongoing effort to improve the Bigelow Gulch/Forker Road corridor.

St. Anne’s Children and Family Center - Kitchen and meal assistant volunteers are needed 3 to 5 times a week, from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., to serve breakfast, lunch and a snack each day at St. Anne’s. Voluteers will prepare meal carts for classrooms, and also deliver carts, clean up after meals and help prepare for the upcoming day. People interested in volunteering must be 18 or older, able to lift 20-25 pounds, have a current food worker card, pass a background check and have a TB skin test. For more information call Bridget Carstens at (509) 232-1111, ext. 111 or visit stanneskids.com/. St. Lawrence House - Volunteers age 18 and older are needed to welcome and assist visitors of St. Lawrence House. Volunteers will provide hospitality, keep records of guests using shower and laundry services, and help with daily cleanup. For more information call Kris Christensen at (509) 326-6471, email volunteer@ westcentralmission.org or visit www.westcentralmission.org/.

For 09-06-2014

Change is in the air. The scent of sunscreen, bug repellent and backyard burgers is waning, making way for the fragrance of freshly sharpened pencils, peanut butter sandwiches and hair gel. The aroma of back-to-school wafts in. For my family, this inevitable September shift sparks an array of reactions. I didn’t ask them for input, so this is my biased observation of their behavior.

LIBERTY LAKE – The Liberty Lake City Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday with the city’s planning commission for a workshop on signage in the city. The meeting will be in council chambers, 22710 E. Country Vista Drive.

Two people who made unusual reports to Liberty Lake police the week of Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 may have been the victims of medication side effects rather than any crime. A woman in the 22000 block of East Country Vista Drive called police on Aug. 25 to report that she was under surveillance. When officers arrived she told them she had been seeing flashing blue lights in her apartment, said police Chief Brian Asmus. She also said she was on a new medication. She was advised to see her doctor.

Fairchild Air Force Base 92nd Wing Veterans – Sept. 14, for former and current Air Force members of the 92nd Wing at Fairchild and their families. Food and drinks will be provided. Bring your lawn chairs and share your stories. 1-4 p.m., Waterfront Park, 1386 S. Lefevre St., Medical Lake. Call (509) 939-6539 or email wendansim@centurylink.net. USS Mount McKinley Association 26th Annual Reunion - Sept. 17-21, for those who served on the Amphibious Force Flagship, USS Mount McKinley AGC/LCC-7 (1944-1970) and other members of the Flagship Alliance group, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Contact Dwight Janzen at djanzen4@msn.com or call (509) 534-3649 on evenings or weekends.

Spokane Valley likely will dip into its reserves next year rather than increase taxes to cover anticipated spending. Financial projections show that the estimated $64.5 million in 2015 tax revenue would fall about $395,000 short of planned spending, largely because of about a half million in one-time expenditures that the council decided in June to undertake next year. Most city leaders have pledged to avoid the state-authorized 1 percent annual property tax increase, which would generate about $110,000 in extra revenue and would be the sixth year in a row that the Valley hasn’t raised taxes.