Washington Voices

The dust had barely settled over the new equestrian arena in Riverside State Park before horses and riders began using it. “Actually, people were using it as we were building it,” said Ken Carmichael, who’s the treasurer of The Inland Empire Backcountry Horsemen, a group that helped build the arena.

Big Table, a Spokane nonprofit focused on helping restaurant and hotel employees, recently launched a new program that director Kevin Finch acknowledged probably raises a few eyebrows for its name, BS in a Bar, short for Bible Study in a Bar. However, the name often opens up conversations among people who want to talk about faith, Finch said.

There’s an old joke that was first told to me by an old coach: “You know what they say,” he laughed. “Those who can’t do, teach. And those who can’t teach, coach.” The fact that he was beloved as both a teacher and coach contradicted the joke.

Spokane women are representing Washington on the national stage. Kailee Dunn, 22, was crowned Miss Washington on July 5 and will compete in the Miss America pageant Sept. 14. This comes less than a year after Allyson Rowe, 25, was awarded Miss Washington USA. Rowe competed in the Miss USA pageant in June.

This year at elementary summer school in the Central Valley School District, students went to camp. Sort of.

In the mid-1970s, the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce was the de-facto governing body of a growing suburbia in the midst of an economic boom. As Chamber manager, Kay Moland, played an integral role. Moland, 84, died July 8 in Lynden, Washington, where she had spent the last six years living in a retirement home near her daughter and son-in-law, Marcia and Dave Van Kirk.

Summer has arrived in the Inland Northwest with a vengeance. While the tomatoes, eggplant, squash and peppers love the heat, they don’t like the dryness. Neither does the rest of the garden. The biggest challenge right now is adjusting your sprinkler systems and other water devices to meet the needs of the plants in 90-degree heat. First, check your heads, especially on drip irrigation systems. Look for plugged heads and leaking lines and fix them. Otherwise the only way you will know there is a problem is when the plants start dying, and by then it’s too late.

Right behind Millwood Community Presbyterian Church, construction workers have been busy building the church’s new multipurpose building. “We really envision it as a community resource,” said the Rev. Craig Goodwin.