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Gov. Gregoire, Gubernatorial candidate in Spokane

Governor Christine Gregoire is scheduled to be in Spokane this week to address teachers at the Washington Education Association's annual conference.

Gregoire will kick off the event Thursday at 7 p.m at the Spokane Convention Center.  She'll be addressing more than 1,200 teachers and education professionals.

Gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee is also set to speak before the conference. Inslee will be speaking Friday at 1 p.m. For more information, visit Washington Education Associaton's website.

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Breakfast Fundraiser with Kelly Graves

Breakfast Fundraiser with Kelly Graves

The Spokane Youth Sports Association (SYSA) is pleased to announce their upcoming "Breakfast with a Side of Sportsmanship" fundraising event on Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 am.  The breakfast will be held at the SYSA Bingo Hall on 2230 E. Sprague.

A minimum contribution of $100 is requested, but all gifts are welcome.  This year’s breakfast host is 700 ESPN's Rick Lukens and the featured speaker is Gonzaga Women's Basketball Coach, Kelly Graves.

Graves has turned the GU women’s basketball team into one of the elite programs in the nation in his 11 years at the helm.  He led GU to their unprecedented seventh-straight West Coast Conference Championship and fourth WCC Tournament Title in the last five yeaers.  He has also taken the Lady Zags to the Sweet Sixteen for the past three years and to the Elite Eight once.

SYSA has over 8000 youths participating in sports and camps throughout the year.  Over 600 youths were able to participate because of the generous support from the community totaling more than $40,000 to the SYSA Scholarship fund in 2011!

Building neighborhood libraries of all shapes and sizes

Building neighborhood libraries of all shapes and sizes

Driving by Mary Maxfield’s home, you’d think you’re passing a giant bird house. Technically it’s a home, but it’s filled with books. Last month she installed a library in her front lawn at 46th and Crestline.

If you think that’s unusual, Maxfield isn’t alone. She’s one of thousands of residents across the United States bringing literature to their neighborhoods.

Magazines, children’s books and nonfiction novels are available for your perusal by opening the glass door. Maxfield says she saw a neighbor girl read a Bernenstain Bears book, front to cover, while waiting for her mother.

“We love books so much. For the kids that come by during the summer time when they don’t have their school libraries, it’s good to know have something they can come get. The challenge for me is keeping new books in there,” Maxfield said.

It’s based on the honor system. You take a book and bring it back. If you like, you can trade out a book of your own with one already in there. 

The concept comes from Little Free Library, an non-profit that supplies the kits and plans to build these libraries all over the world. They incorporate volunteer stewards to help keep the little libraries going with kits ranging in prices from $100-600.

Stay safe, avoid fines this camp fire season

Stay safe, avoid fines this camp fire season

If this warm weather has you thinking about getting outside and lighting up the campfire, there are rules you need to follow to avoid a fine or something worse. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency is outlining the rules and regulations for the season.

"As the weather improves the number of reports we receive about illegal outdoor fires increases. We want people to know and follow the rules related to recreational fires," said Lisa Woodard, Spokane Clean Air. "The rules are in place to ensure safety and to keep smoke to a minimum."

Recreational fires include cooking and camp fires, barbecues and other backyard warmers that burn charcoal, propane, natural gas or firewood. Those fires are allowed only on private property and in designated areas in parks and other public lands.

Here's what Spokane Clean Air recommends if you plan to light up a fire in our region:

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Planning the future of Riverfront Park

Planning the future of Riverfront Park

The history of Spokane seems to revolve around its central landmark, Riverfront Park. The acreage started as a rail yard, trains shuffling in and out with the clock tower always marking the time.

The landscape transformed into the foundation for Expo ‘74, building amenities that residents still use today. Now it’s time to talk about the next set of changes. It won’t happen today, but down the road, the conversations we have now are what will shape the park’s future.

It’s the same rigorous planning that brought the residents of Spokane the Rotary Fountain entrance and the rebuilt gondola swinging over the waterfalls of the Spokane River.

From an extension of the Sky Ride spanning over the park, to an art walk that could extend to Kendall Yards, the City of Spokane’s park and recreation planning department is returning to their on-going master plan to figure out what to do next.

The last time the city took a look at their Master Plan was in 2000. On the plate during that conversation was a project-based plan to explore building a science center and a new IMAX theatre.

Kitty Sitting Adventures: Our First Roadblock

Kitty Sitting Adventures: Our First Roadblock

My family's adventure in kitty-sitting took a turn, just a week into fostering kittens for SpokAnimal.  We have a little of 5 kitties. They were teeny, tiny when we got them, weighing less than a pound a piece. Our job is to fatten them up and love on them; socialize them so they are ready for their new homes.

But, with kitties found and brought in, there's no way to know what they've been exposed to. When we got them they seemed healthy.. but, about a week in, we noticed one, the runt started getting sick. She had nasty diarrhea, wouldn't eat and was lethargic. We called SpokAnimal who had us bring her in right away.

It turns out, she had a parasite called coccidia (among the most common infections in cats and dogs).  She was very sick.  A tech at SpokAnimal, Trina, has been nursing her back to health. Trina's had to give her special feedings every 2 hours and medicines. It's been a week and she's ready to come back home with us and her kitty siblings.

Trina was wonderful, sending us picture and text updates.

Here comes election filing week!

Here comes election filing week!

It's a big election year with many seats, local and national, up for grabs. Election announcements are spilling out like Seattle rain, never ending - we're looking at you 3rd Legislative District!

The official candidate filing begins next week on Monday at 9 a.m. Candidates who are serious about running will lay down the cash ranging from $421-1,740 for a chance on November's ballot.

Potential candidates have until Friday at 4 p.m. to lay their claim to this year's political spectrum.

Seats available for re-election this year range from the President of the United States to State Rep. in District 3,4,6,7 and 9 and even congressional.

When a candidate files, they can either do it in-person or online. Going in-person has a sense of fanfare to it so after filing time closes, we'll get a list of who went down there in person.