By Craig Howard Current Contributing Editor
Mariah Hanley was in her third year of law school at the University of Washington when her cystic fibrosis presented another steep challenge.
Hanley was accustomed to the physical hurdles that accompany the rare genetic condition – the persistent coughing, the lung and digestive setbacks, hospitalizations and fluid buildup in an array of ducts, tubes and passageways. This time, however, a severe bacterial infection called M. Abscessus – a cousin of the organisms that cause tuberculosis and leprosy – had shown up, causing those close to Hanley, like her mother Addy Hatch, to express elevated concern.
“We were in the hospital room and it was really the only time, I remember saying, ‘How are you going to do this?’” Hatch recalls. “Mariah just looked at me and said, ‘We’ll see.’”
For the next six months, Hanley lugged around two I.V. pumps with saline delivered through a port in her chest. She tackled the rigors of law school with the same resilience that carried her through a slew of achievements at Central Valley High School and Seattle University, approaching each uphill battle with uncommon determination and focus.
“She’s never looked for scapegoats or excuses,” Hatch said. “Mariah is really someone to be admired.”
For Hanley, who went on to earn her law degree while forging the start of her career at Northwest Justice Project, the journey has been more matter-of-fact than unmanageable.
“I’ve never really thought it was that impressive,” she said. “It’s more like, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do and if it’s hard, I’ll figure it out.’ It didn’t define me but I also didn’t hide it. I just never used it as a crutch.”
These days, Hanley is working to help others navigate paths to stability as a manager in the Office of Military and Veteran Legal Assistance through the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in Seattle. It’s a role that has been an ideal fit for someone who knows a thing or two about accessing support
and advocacy. Hanley became an assistant attorney general after working as a staff attorney with the Northwest Justice Project where she completed an internship while at UW.
“I love my work,” Hanley said. “I’m working with a group of people who have a lot of different issues and I can work on how those issues fit together.”
Hanley’s road to becoming an attorney began at Summit School in Spokane Valley and continued at CV where she was a selfdescribed “debate kid” and highachieving Running Start student.
Her trademark resolve was often apparent whether she was plowing through debate tournaments with nebulizer nearby or the time at Summit when she and a group of students went to a local swimming pool and Hanley fell short diving for an object on her first try.
“The teacher told her it was OK, that she didn’t need to go again,” Hatch said. “But Hanley kept trying until she got it.”
Hanley began following cystic fibrosis research advancements as an undergrad in college but always remained cautiously and pragmatically optimistic. At one point, she mapped out a multiyear career break in anticipation of a potential lung transplant. When she was first diagnosed, the life expectancy for those with CF was around 31 years, although Hatch recalls the information being “outdated.”
Only about 30,000 people in the U.S. have CF with a total of 70,000 diagnoses worldwide according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“I remember reading articles that said in five years there will be a cure for CF,” Hanley said. “Early in college, they came up with modular treatments for CF at a cellular level, which meant they were figuring it out.”
Hanley points to her mom and late father, Tim, who passed in February 2022, as pillars throughout her life. A younger brother, Patrick, who does not have CF, has also been a reliable source of support.
“My parents did everything they could during law school and after law school to help me do what I needed to do,” Hanley said. “The circle of support with family, classmates, teachers and colleagues has helped me see things as solvable. I never had to feel self-conscious about it. I’m just incredibly grateful for everyone.”
When reports emerged several
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years ago about a new medication called Trikafta that may have lifealtering effects for CF patients, Hanley vigorously pursued the chance to be part of the trial project.
“They don’t tell you if you’re on the drug or the placebo,” Hanley said. “Within five or six hours, I noticed a difference, coughing up mucus. Within 10 hours, I felt I was definitely on the med.”
By October 2019, the FDA had approved Trikafta. Hanley said the difference has been nothing short of dramatic. Her lung function increased substantially on the medication and continued to improve.
“I’ve had way more energy and I’m not coughing like I used to,” she said. “It’s been a huge life adjustment.”
The transition has meant increased independence for Hanley in the form of international travel and experiences not imagined before like climbing each step of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and scaling a glacier in Iceland. Trips to Brussels and London have also been highlights.
While Hanley still deals with challenges related to her condition, the sky that once had a tenuous limit now appears wide open.
“It’s been overwhelming,” she said.
Q: When do you first remember wanting to be a lawyer and why?
A: I first remember wanting to be a lawyer in middle school. I was involved in the Summit School court, an alternative dispute resolution program for the middle school students and enjoyed advocating for other students and working with the other members of the court to make decisions when we served as judges. I had always been very logical and I liked to read. It seemed like being a lawyer put those two things together while also allowing me to help people- something else I enjoyed.
Q: How have you found a balance between not letting cystic fibrosis get in our way but also being mindful to take precautions
that would make sure you stayed as healthy as possible?
A: This is still a balance I work on and I’m not always successful. I’m pretty in tune with how I’m feeling on a day to day basis, which helps with this a lot, but I’ve also been known to ignore how I’m feeling when I don’t want to take a break, which does not help. Working from home has been a huge help; it makes every part of my daily routine easier and I get more sleep. I’m back at the office now two days a week, but the three days a week I’m at home are great for getting just that little bit of extra sleep in the mornings. Figuring this out is probably something I’ll continue to do my entire life.
Q: What are some of your earliest memories of how your condition was impacting your daily life?
A: I nebulize every morning and every night. That gave my parents and I, and my grandparents and I, a lot of time to sit and read together, and that’s one of my earliest memories. I think that’s really where my love of reading started. As I got older, I would read to myself. So many of the books we have in our basement have stains on the pages from where my nebulizer medication dripped onto them. I still read while I nebulize today, morning and evening, I have uninterrupted time to read a book (and get nebulizer medication on the page!) or my Kindle.
Q: In what ways were your parents a source of support and encouragement as you were growing up?
A: I don’t know what I would have done without the support of my parents, my grandparents and my entire extended family. After I moved to Seattle for college, there were so many times when my dad would drop everything and drive over to pick me up from the ER or stay at my apartment and make food while I was in the hospital. My mom would come over and trade off with him when I was very sick. My parents were active in the CF community in Spokane from the time I was very young and I saw what advocacy looked like. They taught me how to advocate for myself, while always
respecting my wishes about how I wanted to present myself in the CF community.
Q: Do you have some favorite memories of your time at Central Valley High School?
A: I was part of the debate team my entire four years at CV and those are my favorite memories. I took debate fall semester of my freshman year of high school. The friends I made in that class were my friends throughout high school. I still keep in touch with several of them today.
Q: Where did you find the resilience to get through college and law school while battling the effects of your condition?
A: I just took it week by week or, sometimes, day by day. I looked at each thing that came up as a problem to solve and worked with all of the supportive people I had in place to figure out how to solve it. My family, the doctors and nurses at Seattle Children’s Hospital and University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle University professors and administration, University of Washington School of Law officials and professors and so many internship supervisors – every one of them played a role in helping me face each problem, figure it out and move forward.
Q: How did working at Northwest Justice Project as an intern and later a staff attorney influence your formative years in the field of law?
A: Northwest Justice Project (NJP) is filled with courageous, creative advocates who care deeply about ensuring that every individual in Washington can access justice, regardless of their financial circumstances. Being surrounded by these advocates, many of whom have practiced for decades, taught me the importance of practicing with compassion for yourself, your colleagues, and, most of all, your community and your clients. I learned thousands of things, but two stand out: I learned how to lead others from the supervisors that led me with empathy and respect, and I learned how to center the community I am serving with every decision I make. Washington has an exceptional civil legal aid network, and NJP is
just one agency. I was honored to be part of it.
Q: What advice would you give to young people dealing with the effects of cystic fibrosis or other chronic conditions?
A: I got this from John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” – “This is just a thing, Hazel. It’s a thing we can live with.” With disabilities, there are a lot of “things.” New diagnoses, new medications, new doctors, new surprises. And some of them are going to be lifechanging. But for me, it’s easier when I can think of each piece of new information as “just a thing.” I’ve dealt with lots of “things” before and I’m living with a lot of them still. I know you have too. You can do it.
Q: What have been some of the most rewarding aspects of working on behalf of veterans in your current role?
A: I have an incredible team at the Office of Military and Veteran Legal Assistance and the most rewarding aspect of my work is when we come together to solve a problem or do something that will make a difference in the lives of Washington’s military and veteran community. We recently relaunched our online intake form to make it easier to use. We had been working on it together for several months, so to see it finally go live was rewarding for all of us. We could finally see what we’d been working on come to life, available for anyone who needs it.
Q: Finally, how have the breakthroughs in treating cystic fibrosis impacted your life?
A: I’m on the new cystic fibrosis medication, Trikafta. My life has changed so much on this medication. I’ve gone from having pain when I breathe every day to only having pain when I’m sick. My lung function has gone up almost 30 percent. I can walk for 5 or 6 miles. I climbed a glacier in Iceland in January 2020. I took all 300-plus steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe in August 2019. My world is so much more open now than it was before Trikafta. I wish it was available to everyone with CF, but it doesn’t work for everyone yet.
The maps provided depict where citizens have reported Vehicle Thefts, Burglaries, Malicious Mischief and Thefts. The Spokane Valley Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s office analyze this data to determine high crime areas and where to allocate resources. Citizens who have been a victim of crime are encouraged to call 911, if the crime is in progress, or Crime Check at 4562233, if not in progress, to report a crime.
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The weather in the Northwest has finally warmed up and outdoor grilling has begun in many homes throughout Washington State. Barbeque-related fires may cause significant property damage and burn injuries. According to the National Fire Protection Association, on average 10,600 home fires are started each year and 19,700 patients are sent to hospital emergency rooms because of injuries involving grills.
Last year in Washington State, cooking fires that include open grills totaled 2,121 with a total loss of over 10 million dollars. The State Fire Marshal’s Office advises residents to take steps to make this a safe barbeque season.
With the fire extinguisher at proximity, you can take quick actions if anything goes wrong. You can use the grill in the backyard or while you are camping far away without anything to worry about.
Always set the gas grill away from the house, tent, and anything flammable so that accidents can’t do much damage to your property. It is common to have problems or little accidents while using a gas grill. Many users and experts with experience highly recommend people to maintain a distance for the safest grilling.
One thing most people don’t do is the regular cleaning of the gas grill, which results in rusty parts. As a result, you can have accidents anytime, which won’t be the fault of the gas line or the cylinder. So, clean every time after cooking a meal
using your gas grill so that you can know which part has become bad and change immediately.
Always keep checking the gas lines so that you can notice potential leaks and take action accordingly. Gas leaks can easily be detected by smell or hearing hissing sound around the cylinder or gas pipe. If you smell gas, turn off the line immediately and take necessary actions to repair the leak and prevent significant accidents.
We know that parties without decoration are something that rarely happens, and you should not make any decorations near the gas grill. The temperature of the gas grills can rise very high, which can fire up certain decorative pieces causing significant accidents and hurt the members.
As we cook food with different methods and recipes, it is often to fire up the food, or the flames can sometimes rise higher. So, you can keep a spray bottle full of water beside the cooking area and make sure that you can calm it down if the flame tries to go out of control.
While cooking on a gas grill, you must not leave the thing unattended for a long time to participate in the fun activities though it is very tempting. Either the chef or someone else must keep an eye on the cooking platform to notice anything unusual and take actions before it becomes too late to control.
This is an obvious point and should be considered as common sense rather than a tip. A gas grill or charcoal grill, no matter what kind of grill it is, you should not use it indoors without proper ventilation. Even if you make sure of proper ventilation, you should not cook inside your house due to several reasons. Always grill food outside and maintain the points mentioned above for having a fun time without worries.
For more information, contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at (360) 596-3929.
Spokane Valley’s City Council vote unanimously at its June 27 meeting to continue participating in the urban Spokane consortium receiving Community Development Block Grant funds from the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department.
The vote wasn’t without some apprehension of whether those funds would be available to the city and other jurisdictions, or appropriated for one single purpose — funding for a regional entity trying to address homelessness issues.
City staff presented four options, two of which were presented as viable and only one — Option 4 — that was recommended. Option 1 would require the city to accept entitlement status and receive CDBG funds directly from HUD while Option 4 would defer status and continue as part of the urban consortium with the county.
Option 1 would give the city control of its allocated funding, but require a large overhead to set up its own department to administer the funding, with only a portion reimbursable by HUD. It could also lead to the loss of federal Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) funds for the city and the region if a HOME consortium is not formed.
Option 4 would leave control of the funding in the hands of the county commissioners, but would keep the status quo funding formulas and could be handled by existing city staff.
The CDBG funding could be utilized by the Regional Homeless Entity, but under Option 1 the Spokane Valley Council would have to approve its allocation while under Option 4 that would fall to the commissioners unless an interlocal agreement is amended.
While there was concern from council members Laura Padden and Brandi Peetz about the potential loss of CDBG funding to the Regional Homeless Entity, members Ben Wick and Arne Woodard reminded the group that historically, CDBG funding hasn’t been used for homeless issues but by small cities and towns to pay for infrastructure needs they could not otherwise afford on their own.
In the end the council approved Option 4, hoping discussions will produce more specifics around the regional approach to homelessness.
Streets and arterials work
Spokane Valley road work projects continued to receive the go-ahead from council, with almost $8.146 million in preservation and maintenance being approved between May 30 – June 27. Nearly $5.42 million of that came in three projects at the May 30 meeting:
• Broadway and Park Intersection, $2,727,853
• Summerfield East Neighborhood Preservation, $1,407,000
• Broadway Preservation Phase 1, $1,282,828
Projects include street surface replacement along with sidewalk repairs and installation according to ADA (Americans with Disabilities
Act) requirements. Spokane County Water District 3 is using the Broadway and Park project to upgrade its water main in that area, agreeing to pay for the water main upgrade along with a portion of the project management material testing costs associated with the work.
At the June 6 meeting, council awarded a $2,727,828 contract to Corridor Contractors, LLC for Phase 2 of the Barker Road corridor reconstruction project. The project is the last of four phases to improve Barker Road from the Spokane River north to the Barker Road / Burlington Northern Santa Fe grade separation project.
The work widens Barker at Euclid Avenue, completes a multi-use path on the east side of Barker and widens a 700-foot section of Euclid east of Barker. Spokane County Public Works and Consolidated Irrigation 19 are also using the project to upgrade their sewer and water mains respectively in the area.
Council approved eight new change orders for the recently completed Barker Road / Burlington Northern Santa Fe grade separation project at its June 20 meeting. The project opened completely to traffic this past April with a new bridge on Barker over BNSF tracks and a roundabout at Trent.
The change orders, totaling $192,930.39, range from paying for additional “work to construct and remove an 18-foot-wide asphalt shoulder to shift westbound traffic onto while the final road improvements could be installed at the east end of the project,” at $90,353.24, to a correction for an earlier change order for
markup of rental equipment that was inadvertently left out, $366.48.
The change orders bring the total contract amount to just short of $13.49 million, about 15.92% more than the original bid of $11.6 million awarded to Max J. Kuney Company in 2021 but still below the engineering estimate of $13.9 million.
The council gave its unanimous approval at the June 20 meeting to the city’s six-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The plan lists 41 total projects the city hopes to address between 2024 – 2029, projects that range from major arterial and street construction to neighborhood street maintenance and sidewalk replacements and upgrades.
Eight projects are scheduled to close out in 2024, including the Mission Avenue Bridge over Evergreen Road resurfacing and Sullivan Road improvements from Sprague to 8th Avenue. Other projects include four railway crossing grade separations, 11 intersection improvement projects, the $1.5 million annual local access street work and $3 million in annual arterial preservation work.
There are seven “other” projects such as Broadway preservation from Fancher to Park and Flora Road reconstruction from Sprague to Montgomery, along with nine “safety, sidewalk, trail and stormwater” projects including along Appleway Trail, Ridgemont Estates and citywide. Homelessness and affordable housing
The City Council is continuing its review of the Spokane Valley Homeless Action Plan (SVHAP), which seeks to provide a “systemic, long-term response” to council goals of addressing prevention of homelessness and preserving funding for sustainable strategies for aiding city residents with these issues. The council hopes to adopt a final plan later this summer.
The council recently awarded $4 million from the federal American Rescue Plan funds provided to the city to five non-profit organizations dealing with homelessness and affordable housing. Those organizations are Family Promise of Spokane ($1.095 million), Volunteers of America Eastern Washington ($500,000), Reclaim ($1.46 million), Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners ($471,700) and Habitat for Humanity ($471,700).
Hazardous materials are a twoedged sword. From household uses to manufacturing processes, these powders, gases and chemicals create greater convenience and ease in our daily lives.
And yet, these materials can constitute a real danger to people and the environment if used incorrectly, or if released accidently. Most hazardous materials incidents are small and go unnoticed by the public, such as gas line breaks or chemical spills within a workplace.
But every so often, an incident happens that causes negative, sometimes deadly, impacts to the environment and the public. Ranging from the Norfolk Southern Railway derailment Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio to the recent truck fire that collapsed an Interstate 95 bridge in Philadelphia, Penn. to local incidents such as the May 3 Inland Paper Mill fire in Millwood — these incidents require a greater degree of coordination, equipment and training to successfully combat.
“There’s a lot of factors that go into
a hazardous materials type of event, which is high risk, but low frequency,” Spokane Valley Fire Department Deputy Chief of Operations Zack Bond said.
Understanding risks
There is a long list of materials considered hazardous. These materials harm the environment and individuals through their release, and can be flammable, combustible, inert material, health hazard or nonhazardous products.
Many municipalities take steps to separate businesses utilizing hazardous materials in their work processes, including zoning and permitting requirements asking those businesses to identify materials that may be stored on their property. In the city of Spokane Valley, new business construction or existing businesses undergoing remodeling are required to fill out and submit a “Critical / Hazardous Material Form.”
City Building officials say the form has two purposes. The first enables a review by the Fire Department to determine the level of hazards of an occupancy classification according to the International Fire Code (IFC).
The second is to “address secondary containment of materials and processes” that could potentially negatively impact the environment, such as the city’s water supply.
“Most often, the form is completed with ‘N/A’ to indicate the business will not store or use a significant amount of such materials,” Spokane Valley Public Information Officer Emily Estes-Cross said in an email.
The Critical and Hazardous Material forms are used by Fire Department inspectors during the construction permitting process “to determine whether or not the maximum allowable quantities of products / chemicals are being exceeded.” Exceeding these quantities could “impact the required construction features and fire protection systems required to comply with the IFC/IBC (International Building Code).
“As part of this review, SDS (Safety Data Sheets) are provided,” SVFD Media Manager Patrick Erickson said in an email.
Also known as Material Safety Data Sheets, these documents provide information about hazardous materials such as the substance or
mixture supplied, ingredients and composition, hazards, first aid, firefighting and accident release measures, toxicological and ecological information and physical and chemical properties.
Bond with Spokane Valley Fire gives credit to first responders ability to successfully handle the fire at Inland Paper to mill employees providing a MSDS for sodium dithionite, the powder involved, almost immediately upon the department’s arrival onsite.
“It helped with identifying the agent and what to do and not to do,” he said.
While hazardous materials used locally are a concern, Bond said the danger comes from what is moving through the area via rail and highways.
“That’s the biggest target out there as far as hazmat,” he said. “There’s lots of stuff moving out there, and our concern is we have the only east-west artery for transport.”
Incidents such as the East Palestine derailment and the Philadelphia I-95 truck fire and bridge collapse generated
The daily hazards of modern life
Hazardous materials make our lives easier — but pose great risks from accidentsPhoto by John McCallum While hazmat accidents on railways often draw more media attention, trucks haul more hazardous materials — and experience far more accidents — than trains.
a lot national media attention. But whereas the former elicited calls for more federal regulation, such calls for action from the latter were more localized.
And yet, according to the most recent Bureau of Transportation statistics, trucks carry more hazardous materials than trains — with significantly more accidents. In 2017, trucks carried 64.9% of the billions of dollars of material value, 61.1% of the 2.968 million total tons and 33.2% of the 382.5 billion tons per mile — one ton shipped for one mile — hauled, whereas rail accounted for 2.3%, 3.0% and 16.1% of these values respectively.
Incidents involving trucks carrying hazardous materials, including spills, evacuations and injuries, are far higher than rail. In 2017 there were 573 such rail incidents nationally, compared to 15,744 incidents on the highways.
Highway accidents involving hazmat carrying trucks has been rising, with 22,373 reported in 2021, while rail incidents have dropped each year to 378 in 2021. Much of this can likely be attributed to more trucks than trains, and a higher degree of external factors outside of the operators control existing on roads than rail.
Either way, Bond said incident response for both is the same: identify, isolate and deny entry. While all hazmat incidents are different, he said firefighters apply the same training used in all responses: protect the public, protect firefighters, extinguish the fire.
While trucks don’t come with material safety data sheets, there are ways to identify the type of cargo they are carrying. The Department of Transportation requires placards on vehicles with specific codes identifying the hazard class, a symbol for the type of hazard presented and a four-digit number identifying the product.
If the placard can’t be read, Bond said they are able to identify the cargo via a “road trailer ID chart” which establishes possible cargos by the shape of the container. If that fails, the fallback is the “Mixed Load Unidentified Cargo” guide, what Bond called the “worst case scenario guide.”
“At least we can narrow it down if we can’t immediately identify it,” he added.
In a worst-case scenario where firefighters can’t immediately approach the truck — either from fire or chemical release — Bond said they use binoculars to identify the cargo.
As with other hazmat incidents, all of this is done in coordination with other agencies, including Department of Ecology officials onsite and Spokane Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Response team.
While accidents happen and are often spectacular in nature, hauling hazardous materials via rail does provide better conditions for public safety — and more goods are being required to be shipped via this method.
Using projections from the Federal Highway Administration (FRA), the Association of American Railroads reported in July 2019 that total freight shipments via rail would rise 35% by 2040 — up to 24.1 billion tons from 17.8 billion tons in 2017. According to a May 2021 Industrial Safety & Hygiene News story, much of this is attributed to “historically high levels” of oil and natural gas produced in the U.S. now required to be transported by rail.
The increase means there are approximately over 3.1 billion tons of hazardous materials — including chlorine, anhydrous ammonia and other chemicals — hauled each year via rail. Even with the increase, rail accidents have steadily declined.
According to the FRAs’ 2018 railsafety data, overall rates of all categories of rail accidents have fallen 26% since 2009, and over 48% for hazardous materials from 2008 – 2018, resulting in over 99.9% of hazmat shipments safely reaching their destination in 2018. Much of this comes from federal rail requirements for tech-enabled inspections, specialized equipment, upgrades to rolling stock such as tank cars, government oversight and operational modifications to jointly identify the safest and most secure rail routes for shipments — all requiring billions of dollars in upgrades.
“Burlington Northern Santa Fe has made a significant investment in infrastructure, technology deployment, rigorous employee and first responder training, improved operating practices and community safety initiatives,” BNSF Railway General Director Public Affairs Lena Kent said in an email.
Union Pacific officials also described similar measures undertaken for safety.
“Union Pacific has a 24-hour, 365-days-year emergency critical center and a robust emergency management plan in place that is activated in the event of an emergency, See HAZARDS, Page 13
Alex Wooley and “high achiever” became synonymous at University High School. The recently graduated senior maintained a 4.0 grade point average and was part of National Honor Society. She was president of the U-Hi chapter of Health Occupations Students of America, qualifying for state three times and international competition once. Wooley participated in the Junior Health Scholar program, volunteering over 200 hours at Valley Hospital. She was recently named Spokane Scholar runnerup in Social Studies. Wooley was a threeyear letter winner in tennis, qualified for state last year and was named to the All Greater Spokane League second team. She has played the piano for 10 years. Wooley earned her two-year Capstone diploma which included a report on the effects of teaching sleep education to high school students. She will attend Brigham Young University-Provo and pursue a career in nursing.
Hockey may not make the list as a Greater Spokane League sport, but that hasn’t stopped Simon Wherity from being clutch in the net. The recently graduated University High School senior is the starting goaltender for the North Idaho Knights 18U team that won 19 out of 32 games this season. He was a threetime selection for the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association’s annual select camp for goaltenders. Wherity began playing hockey 10 years ago and has also played wing and defense. Prior to the Knights, he competed for the Spokane Junior Chiefs. “I like the fact that I can be separate but still working with the team,” Wherity says of his goaltending post. At U-Hi, he was part of the Viable Vison Art Club and graduated with a 3.03 grade point average. Wherity also enjoys skiing, skateboarding and mountain biking.
In 2002, Jayne Singleton left her job in public relations to become the keeper of Spokane Valley history. She had been tasked by the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce to create an historical retrospective of the chamber’s 80th anniversary. “I found it difficult to find anything,” Singleton recalls. “That’s when I started thinking the Valley needed a museum.” Singleton’s campaign paid off in 2004 when the city of Spokane Valley donated Opportunity Town Hall, built in 1912, as the site of the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum. Singleton has served as the museum’s executive director since its inception. The site has welcomed thousands of visitors and hosted a variety of exhibits including traveling displays provided by the Smithsonian Institution. “History can be a great teacher if we save it, preserve it, make it accessible and teach it,” Singleton said.
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including Hazmat team members located around our network,” Robynn Tysver, UP Railroad Manager II Communications, said in an email.
Both rail lines operate through Spokane Valley, with BNSF officials telling city officials approximately 70 – 80 trains pass through the area daily on their line, amounting to more than 90,000 cars of hazmat material per year of which 40,000 is oil.
Both railways provide much of the same features when it comes to safety measures. Both use trackside detectors — more than 4,000 for BNSF and over 7,000 for UP — to detect problems that occur with train wheels, sensors that use sound, vibration, temperature and other factors to find and analyze faults.
BNSF and UP crews also perform frequent visual inspections of their network for problems with rails, ties and other features — including inspections of rails, bridges and tunnels after a major weather event. Teams use a variety of equipment, including specialized rail cars, and both BNSF and UP operate unmanned track geometry cars which can survey sections of track 24/7.
“The urgent items are relayed to our field teams for repairs,” Tysver with UP said. “The rest of the data is used to drive our longer team maintenance planning.”
Both BNSF and UP upload all of this data to a central traffic command center that operates 24/7/365. The real-time data is communicated to work and maintenance crews, dispatchers and train crews, also in real time.
Train crews with BNSF — UP crews have a similar system — utilize a system called “Positive Train Control.” PTC uses trackside information, an “Onboard Locomotive System” that records and analyzes train conditions, a “Back Office Server” that communicates mandatory movement directives from the operations center to individual trains and GPS to “constantly calculate a warning and braking distance based on the train’s speed, speed limits, signals, switch positions, grade and work zones” via an onboard computer.
“These efforts, coupled with the use of specialized rail cars to carry hazmat, mobile apps to equip first responders with critical safety information, and a software system to determine the safest rail routes all help ensure that
more than 99.99% of all hazmat moved by rail reaches its destination without a release caused by a train accident,” Kent with BNSF said.
And while trains also don’t come with Material Safety Data Sheets, there is a way to identify the type and amount of hazardous chemical content in the various cars through an app called AskRail.com. This app is available to and used by many first responders, including SVFD.
Even with safety features in place and working, hazmat accidents happen. Responding to these incidents not only requires specific equipment but specialized training.
Both Kent with BNSF and Tysver with UP said their companies provide thousands of hours of training to their employees and to first responders who request it. Bond with SVFD said they have utilized some of this training, along with training provided by other agencies.
More is needed, however, and the department has recently taken steps to upgrade that; breaking ground in May on a new $8.8 million, 13,000plus square foot training building
on Barker Road. The facility will provide state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities — including a two-story residential house layout inside — to meet this need, which Bond said right now amounts to about 50 firefighters per day needing some additional training.
Even with training, each hazmat incident is unique. In the case of the Inland Paper Mill fire, firefighters were battling a powder that ignited when it came into contact with water — producing an exothermic reaction.
Firefighters initially applied water on the powder to extinguish the fire, but when the water was removed, the exothermic reaction returned, generating intense heat. Compounding this, there was “thousands of pounds of the stuff,” Bond said, combined with outside temperatures that were unseasonably warm.
Bond said they inquired about CO2 capabilities onsite, but found this was limited to small, hand-held units. Foam was ruled out as its main component is water.
Eventually, Bond said they settled on an approach of applying “copious amounts of water, thousands of
gallons a minute” on the material to allow cooling to take place and limit the reaction. The process took two days to complete.
While some reports surfaced of a possible evacuation of nearby businesses and residences, Bond said this was not the case, and the evacuation was only for mill employees. As they would do with other hazmat accidents, Department of Ecology officials used modeling software to determine if any plume of hazardous gas or chemicals was possible, and if so, its nature and which direction it might travel.
If an incident where a general public evacuation is needed, Bond said these models are used to determine the best possible routes of escape, which would be implemented by local law enforcement agencies.
As more and more hazardous materials are transported and utilized, the more resources and training will be needed by first responders to deal with accidents. Bond said SVFD is continuing to work on these resources, including coordination with other agencies to minimize as much risk as is possible.
The Spokane Valley City Council took steps to bring more regional and national sporting events to the city — events that could add more revenue in hotel stay dollars and supporting services.
At its June 20 meeting, the council unanimously approved a $300,000 contract with Spokane Sports for sports recruitment and marketing for 2023. The contract is funded by money the city collects for its Tourism Promotion Area Fund, which according to a staff report, has “adequate anticipated revenues to cover the contract.”
City of Spokane Valley Economic Development Director Mike Basinger said that if approved, the city would develop a contract and scope of work with Spokane Sports. The scope would specifically address:
• Sending leads to Spokane Valley hotels,
• Facility development consultation, potentially on a permanent cross country competition site,
• Identify and negotiate future sports events in Spokane
Valley, including scouting and travel,
• Establishing and supporting grants programs to support youth sports in Spokane Valley,
• Develop and position branding of Spokane Valley as a host city and,
• Onsite planning and services to market events in the city.
Spokane Sports provided a similar work scope in presentations May 18 to the Spokane Valley Hotel Commission, who recommended the proposal to the council, and June 6 to the council itself, breaking down the dollar value of each effort. Spokane Sports would spend $175,000 on sports development that include potential new facilities and recruitment, $75,000 for grants and services for regional events and $50,000 for brand building through attending tradeshows and hosting site visits by key event decision makers.
At the June 6 meeting, Spokane Sports CEO Ashley Blake and Senior Director Cherie Gwinn provided an overview of the organization. Spokane Sports has four main areas of focus: major events and sports conferences, sports facility advocacy, regional events and community engagement.
Gwinn said their main clientele for events is the Olympic movement. The organization has also expanded into collegiate athletics.
USA in front of it,” Gwinn said. “We’re trying to bring those sports to Spokane to host those national events.”
Gwinn listed a number of events already held that impact Spokane Valley, one of the largest being the annual USA Volleyball Pacific Northwest Qualifier. Also held are USA Track and Field Cross Country Championships, 1B/2B, 3A classification boys and girls state golf championships, Mt. Spokane Enduro Mountain Bike Festival and the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships.
Blake told the council 75% of what the organization promotes and supports are youth or collegiate sports. The organization brings 60 – 70 events to the area per year, resulting in over 60,000 hotel room night stays.
“It’s very intentional who we’re bringing into town,” she said.
One of the aspirations for Spokane Sports is to create a permanent cross country course in the area to reduce reliance on golf courses and soccer fields as venues. The organization has been in discussions with Spokane Valley staff about a course in the city, with Plantes Ferry County Park floated as one possibility.
Plantes Ferry has already hosted these competitions, ranging from Washington high school district and regional meets to collegiate competition.
Several individuals spoke at the June 20 meeting about the proposed
contract with Spokane Sports. Visit Spokane CEO Rose Noble said she was “excited” about the possibility of a contract between Spokane Sports and Spokane Valley, noting it was “extremely important” to move forward not only for events but also for youth sports opportunities.
“They are a valued partner with Visit Spokane,” Noble said. “We do work together to bring many groups to the area.”
Spokane Valley resident Dan Allison questioned the contract, noting it was his understanding from the June 6 presentation that Spokane Sports was headquartered at The Hub, a sports facility located in Liberty Lake.
“How does this look for us going to Liberty Lake to set up a new program?” he asked.
Spokane Sports’ website lists its main office as a suite on West North River Drive in Spokane. Another answer to Allison’s question was provided by Grant Guinn, owner of Tru By Hilton in Spokane Valley.
“Whether events happen at the Hub, or Plantes Ferry or the Podium downtown (Spokane), just so the community understands, just because those physical facilities are in perhaps (other) city limits or county limits, the room nights from those facilities often times generate revenue for hotels here in Spokane Valley,” Guinn said.
The contract with Spokane Sports will require a future budget amendment to utilize the funds.
“Think of anything that has
4 weeks of stories, crafts & activities for kids ages 4–9
Starts July 2 | View through August 31
Access via our Online Summer Reading Challenge on Beanstack.
Sign up & watch at www.scld.org/beanstack.
Each Wednesday between May and October, a small section of Millwood Park springs to life and brings community members from across the region together to enjoy the Millwood Farmers Market.
Created in 2006 by the Millwood Presbyterian Church, the market quickly outgrew several locations and was then passed to the Millwood Community Association, a group that organizes other Millwood community activities, to build on the market's continued growth.
Taking a walk around the market, visitors can view and buy everything from seasonal fruit, produce, and locally raised meats to handcrafted fiber art and metalworks. If shopping isn't a favorite activity, visitors can also find a spot on the grass under a canopy of trees, listen to live music and chow down on food and treats from different vendors.
Millwood Farmers Market Manager Jessica Vigil is in her third season of managing the weekly market and said the purpose of the market has remained the same even after passing hands—to support the greater City of Millwood and encourage economic vibrancy.
"All farmers markets, but especially Millwood's, are community-based events...trying to provide activities for our locals," Vigil said. "We're...focused on family and kid’s stuff because we have the park atmosphere. Come and stay for a while...enjoy the music, eat the food, and get your veggies for the week."
In addition to the weekly markets, the Millwood Community Association puts on special market events throughout the season, including the upcoming All Things Millwood event on July 19. During 'All Things Millwood', businesses
in the city are invited to set up booths free of charge at the market to connect with visitors and share what they do.
For the third year, chefs from five Millwood restaurants will compete against one another to create the best edible creations. During this year’s competition, chefs will create an art composition using food items, and community members will serve as judges. In August, kids and their families can attend the market for two special events centered around summer fun and preparing for back to school.
"We've partnered with some haircutting places, last year it was the Paul Mitchell school, and we did free haircuts," Vigil said. "Then the West Valley School District came out, had a tent, and distributed a few backpacks, and I believe they plan to do that again."
Beyond bringing the community together, the market and its staff emphasize showcasing what families can do to stay healthy by
hosting cooking demonstrations and exercise-based activities for kids. Recently, Vigil and other volunteers worked together and cooked two recipes using an early summer produce item commonly found in backyards across the Inland Northwest.
"At our market, we added a Two Bite Club, so every week we do... cooking demos with free samples where we're trying to use the whole foods that are in season, and we make samples with that," Vigil said. "We (used) rhubarb and made sweet and savory ones with onions and cherries that you would put on grilled meat."
The Two Bite Club is a program promoted by the United States Department of Agriculture to introduce children to healthy eating and recommended portion guidelines. All the fruits and vegetables used in the cooking demonstrations come from growers partnered with the Millwood Farmers Market.
Nearly all the fresh items available can be purchased with tokens exchanged for cash, debit cards, or SNAP benefits, making the market accessible to anyone and everyone. Visitors paying with EBT, WIC, or senior nutrition benefits
are also eligible for an additional $25 in credit to purchase more fresh produce through the State of Washington's market match program.
"They swipe their debit card or EBT card just like they would at the grocery store, and then they tell me how much they want to spend," Vigil said. "We sell $1 tokens, little wooden tokens that are like poker chips essentially, and they get dollar-for-dollar whatever they pull off their EBT card. They use those tokens for whatever you normally buy with your EBT or SNAP in the grocery store."
The Millwood Farmers Market also runs a 'Market Bag' program that can be purchased using SNAP nutritional benefits and the market match dollars. For $15 to $20, community members can pick up a box of fresh market goods handpicked by a market worker who gets the best deals from market vendors.
"It's kind of like a fun surprise," Vigil said. "You're getting whatever is local, but you can still run around (the market) and shop."
Based on the practice of community-supported agriculture, the Market Bag program serves as a way to connect consumers to the people and farms that grow the food we eat. Vigil said in CSA practices, consumers write checks worth hundreds of dollars and give them directly to farmers at the beginning of the year in exchange for a portion of the harvest.
"Farmers markets in general are that first point of contact, so the idea is that the consumer gets to buy directly from whoever grows or makes their food or makes the craft," Vigil said. "Our bags are kind of the same idea, but we go to all our farmers and vendors, so you're getting a selection of markets and what's in season."
The Millwood Farmers Market runs from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday in the Summer and until 6 p.m. in the Fall. For more information on current market vendors or to apply as a vendor, you can visit www.farmersmarket. millwoodnow.org.
A state championship of any sort didn’t seem likely for Addy MacArthur after she suffered a second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear before her freshman year at University High School.
Major injuries to both knees while playing soccer put a serious damper on MacArthur’s pursuits in track and field where she was emerging as a top-flight discus and shotput thrower.
After her second setback, however, MacArthur had a mental shift.
“The first time, I was very discouraged,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to compete again. The second time, I knew what I had to do to get back. I definitely had a better attitude. I knew what resources were there for me.”
MacArthur’s dad, Phillip, was a thrower at Washington State University and had been through an ACL rehab himself. His advice, as well as additional support and encouragement from those in MacArthur’s network, were beneficial on the road to recovery.
“Everybody I was around helped boost my mood,” MacArthur said. “I knew I had to get well before I could really push myself.”
MacArthur made it back for her freshman year of track at U-Hi but fell just short of qualifying for state in her two signature events.
“I wasn’t 100 percent,” she said. “But missing state motivated
me with weight training. I told myself I was definitely going to get to state next year.”
MacArthur’s throwing career started at Horizon Middle School where she showed signs of greatness.
“I knew I was going to be decent at it, I just didn’t know I was going to be where I am now,” she said.
At Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma, site of the 2A/3A/4A State Track and Field Championships, MacArthur arrived as a humble, but confident, contender. She was seeded first in the discus and second in the shotput.
Unlike the previous year, where a still-healing ACL made mobility a challenge, MacArthur tackled both events with a flourish. She placed second in the shotput with a toss of 40 feet, 5.75 inches and captured first in the discus with a personal best of 134 feet, 3 inches.
“I was nervous,” MacArthur said of her winning effort in the discus. “It was my second to last throw and everything went well. It was my best throw of the season.”
MacArthur was only one of two underclassmen on the medal stand to receive her gold medal.
“It didn’t really sink in until I was up on the podium,” she said. “Winning state was not something that had crossed my mind. It made all that work worth it.”
MacArthur, who maintains a 3.95 grade point average, has already heard from Princeton University after her feats at state. Since her healing journey, the junior-to-be has shifted her career goals from teacher to physical therapist.
“I want to work with people
and inspire them,” she said.
After placing fourth in the long jump at the state 2A meet in 2022, Jayden Barta of West Valley knew this year’s title would likely involve a clash with the defending state champion, Troy Petz of Lynden.
Barta cruised through the GSL regular season with an undefeated showing in his signature event as well as the 400 and 200 meters.
“It did concern me that I didn’t see the competition you see in 3A and 4A,” the senior said. “I had a goal to be a state champion in the long jump.”
In the long jump finals, Barta trailed Petz before nailing a jump of 22 feet, 5 inches. Petz then responded with a leap of 22 feet, 5.75 inches, leaving Barta in second place with the competition winding down. It was then that Barta reached back for a personal best of 22 feet, 9.25 inches, a mark that Petz could not overcome. The long jump state crown would be going back to West Valley for only the second time in school history.
“I was super hyped,” Barta said. “It was definitely a great moment for me, my teammates and my coaches.”
Barta said being more settled in the atmosphere at state made a difference.
“I knew I just needed to clear my mind and control my nerves,” he said. “I was used to the environment this time.”
Barta took home another medal from Tacoma, this one after placing runner-up in the 400 meters with a personal best of 48.32 seconds. He will continue his track and academic pursuits at Eastern Washington University.
Last year, Brandon Thomas was a key to Central Valley’s combined team state title on the
boys’ side. His achievements in two ambulatory events – the shotput (first) and 100 meters (runner-up) provided 14 of CV’s 52 winning points.
This time around, Thomas was a state competitor in a quartet of events. He broke his own state record by over 7 feet in the shotput with a throw of 49 feet, 10.25 inches and captured another title in the discus with a new all-time state best of 123 feet, 9 inches.
Thomas also finished second in the javelin and third in the 100 meters.
“I like the challenge,” Thomas said of expanding his event participation this year. “The team is what really stands out about track. It’s an individual sport but you have so much support from your teammates. It’s just different.”
In the spring of his sophomore year, as track was just starting up, Thomas was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his lower right leg. An amputation just above the ankle followed. In a display of resilience that has inspired all who know him, Thomas fought his way back with a prosthesis to compete in football – where he was named the All Greater Spokane League Defensive MVP last season after logging 119 tackles – and track and field.
“Just accomplishing the goals I’ve set is the big thing for me,” Thomas said.
Thomas was recently named the Metro Boys’ Athlete of the Year and Against All Odds winner at the Spokane Youth Sports Awards. A 6-2, 225-pound linebacker – he has committed to play football at Eastern Washington University and says he may consider competing in track with the Paralympics as a long-term goal.
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SEPTEMBER 22–24, 2023
The retirement of longtime Spokane Valley Fire Commissioner Bill Anderson has opened up a vacant seat that has attracted three candidates who are well known in the community. Those seeking the seat are former Spokane Valley Mayor Diana Wilhite, former firefighter and state representative George Orr and recently retired firefighter and arson dog handler Rick Freier.
Orr, who is also a former school board member, said he decided to run because several of the fire commissioners currently serving have had no firefighting experience. He believes that experience is important. “None of these folks have had much to do with the fire service,” he said. “They don’t go to the fire scenes.”
Orr said there are a few issues he would like to see addressed, including the fact that the nearest railroad spill containment equipment is kept in the TriCities even though trains loaded with oil and other hazardous liquids go through Spokane and Spokane Valley daily. “We need to talk about it,” he said.
Orr said he wants to have open communication between firefighters, commissioners and the public. He believes in visiting fire stations to hear about issues that are important to firefighters. “I want those commissioners to be proud of those employees,” he said.
Freier just recently retired due to health issues, but said he’s not done with being involved in his community. “I’m young,” he said. “I’ve got more to give, I think. I think it would be a nice way to give back to the community that’s given me so much.”
He is well known for visiting middle school classrooms across Spokane Valley to teach kids about fire science. For about five years he was arson dog Mako’s handler and would often visit schools and special events with Mako. “Service is a big driver for me,” he said. “I’ve got the heart of a teacher. That’s why I started the middle school program.”
Freier would like to focus on fire prevention, which he did for several years while he worked for Valley Fire and wants to continue in some form. “I think that’s my number one mission,” he said.
He would also like to see the department acquire a new arson dog if someone in the department is willing to become a dog handler. While he worked with Mako, the dog was a regional asset and the duo were on call 24/7 to respond to fires across the Northwest. It requires a significant time commitment, Freier said. “I would support it if someone wants to step up,” he said.
In addition to her time as a Spokane Valley council member and mayor, Wilhite previously served as a Valley Fire’s civil service commissioner. She said she has the policy making and budgetary experience to serve on the fire commission and doesn’t believe that experience as a firefighter is necessary to serve as a commissioner.
“That’s something I did for nine years on the city council,” she said. “I don’t think being a fireman gives you a leg up on the commission.”
Wilhite said she is also running because she believes the male dominated commission should include a woman’s viewpoint. “I’m running because I wanted to see some diversity,” she said.
Wilhite previously ran Safeguard Business Systems with her husband for many years, but is currently retired. She also serves on the board of directors for Vera Water and Power.
The city of Spokane Valley embodies both youth and age simultaneously. Although Spokane Valley did not incorporate until March 31, 2003, the first settler in the Spokane area established a business and home along the Spokane River in the heart of the Valley.
Plante's Ferry, now the region's largest sports complex, conceals its history beneath well-manicured grass and paved parking lots. However, in the early 1850s, the current location of Plante's Ferry served as the only Spokane river crossing, operated by Antoine Plante's ferry. This crucial crossing point played a significant role in the development and growth of the Spokane Valley and the surrounding area. It facilitated the transportation of people, goods, and supplies, enabling trade and commerce to thrive in the region. Antoine Plante's ferry was an essential lifeline, connecting communities and fostering economic activity during a time when reliable river crossings were scarce. The legacy of Plante's Ferry as a vital historical landmark is a testament to the enduring impact of early pioneers like Antoine Plante on the development of the Spokane Valley.
The exact dates concerning Antoine Plante's settlement in the hills on the northern edge of the valley may be subject to debate. However, historical evidence suggests that around 1851 or 1852, he had already established a cableferry crossing and a small farmstead in the area. Antoine Plante, a remarkable individual of French Canadian and Gros Ventre Indian heritage, was born in the early 1800s, although specific records regarding his birthdate have not been discovered. Despite the lack of precise details, Antoine Plante's pioneering spirit and determination to establish a foothold in the Spokane Valley during the early 1850s serve as a testament to his adventurous nature and entrepreneurial mindset.
Antoine Plante had previously worked as a fur trapper for the Hudson Bay Company in the Spokane region. It is believed that he was chosen as a guide for the 1853 surveying expedition because of his extensive knowledge of the land. This expedition, led by
Isaac Stevens, the first Washington Governor, covered over 500,000 acres of wilderness, exploring new routes for wagon trails and railroads to connect the major forts in the area. In late 1853, Governor Stevens and his team passed through the Spokane Valley area.
Following the expedition, Antoine returned to the fording spot near the boulder patch known as Coyote Rocks, which served as a safe crossing point for the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane tribes on the Spokane River. Today, a stone monument erected in 1938 stands behind the natural crossing, displaying significant events with dates. The monument, 20 feet tall and weighing 23,800 pounds, provides a glimpse into the historical events that took place at and near the site.
Antoine Plante successfully operated a cable-ferry business for many years, becoming a regular stop for travelers. Historical records show that wagons with two animals were charged $4.00 for the river crossing, with an additional $0.50 per animal. His boat was recorded as being forty feet long. According to his granddaughter Maggie McDonald, the house he lived in during those days was larger than most, featuring multiple rooms and an attic. The living room's ceiling had a painted circular design (Spokesman Review, December 17, 1933).
His homestead also played a role in the convening of the council of Inland Northwest tribes in November 1855. Governor Stevens sent messengers to leaders of the Spokanes, Coeur d'Alenes, Pend Oreilles, and Okanogans to meet at Antoine Plante's place. Although there is no record of Plante's involvement in the council's deliberations, he sometimes played a diplomatic role.
Antoine obtained a license that required him to pay an annual tax of $25 to the county for the operation of the ferry, which lasted until 1866 when a wooden bridge was constructed.
In 1866, the first Spokane bridge was built, rendering the ferry crossings obsolete. Plante remained in the area for some time, but eventually moved his family to the Jocko Valley in western Montana, where he passed away in 1890. He was buried in an unmarked grave near the St. Ignatius Mission.
Although Antoine Plante left
the Spokane Valley, many consider him to be its first settler. His legacy endures through Plante's Ferry State Park and Sports Complex, as well as Antoine Peak.
Antoine Peak, named in his honor in the 1920s, has recently been designated as a conservation area between 2007 and 2019.
Plante's Ferry State Park and Sports Complex, situated along the Spokane River, is a delightful park to explore. Within its borders stands a large metal statue depicting
Antoine Plante. Visitors can enjoy playsets, hiking trails, picnic tables, and sports fields.
Antoine Peak offers a panoramic 360-degree view from its summit, which stands at 3,373 feet. It can be accessed from three different trailheads.
As you walk alongside the trees and rushing waters of the Spokane River, remember the man who aided thousands of settlers in their journey to new homes across the Inland Northwest.
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Let your imagination run wild this summer with Page Turner Adventures!
This streaming series for kids ages 4–9 is a mix of live action and animation that brings original stories to life during fantastical adventures. Each adventure in the Kindly Ever After series begins at Page’s mysterious Lighthouse Library, home of her Once Upon a Time Machine. With help from her new assistant Reid Moore and Junior Storyologists from around the world,
By Gwendolyn Haley, Librarian Spokane County Library District
For kids, summer reading is an important activity that helps prevent summer learning loss, also called summer slide. Summer slide happens when kids don’t read over the summer and lose ground with the reading skills gained during the prior school year.
Reading is an especially critical summer activity for children in grades K–3. This is when they are learning to read and working on their vocabulary and literacy skills.
For parents, life can be busy and overwhelming. And at the same time, we want the best for our kids. It turns out that making sure kids are reading over the summer, and that we are reading with them, is the best way to set them up for school success.
For everyone at every age, the benefits of reading include
Page brings to life original tales of cooperation, kindness, empathy, and friendship.
Page is wild about stories and loves encouraging creativity, imagination, curiosity, and reading. So, along with the animated stories, each adventure includes multiple crafts, eBooks, audiobooks, and a downloadable activity book with games, coloring sheets, fun facts, and puzzles.
This series and its activities and crafts inspire young imaginations and encourage kids to explore the library. Because when you read, every day is an adventure!
Each week in July begins a new adventure, and all four are viewable through Thursday, August 31.
Starting Sunday, July 2, experience “Moth & Sloth: Best Friends Forever,” during which they learn what it means to be a true friend. Try out three fun crafts including creating a grassy headed sloth and Moth and Sloth paper plate friends.
“The Great Pizza Contest” is a tasty tale of cooperation and unity
better sleep, reduced stress, an increase of general knowledge, better concentration, increased empathy, and improved literacy. Plus, reading is great free entertainment.
You can read books found on our shelves as well as eBooks and audiobooks with our online resources found in our Digital Library (www.scld.org/digitallibrary). For young readers, including those still growing their reading skills, TumbleBook Library is a great online resource with animated picture books with audio narration, early reader chapter books, plus kids’ classic and graphic novels.
Teens can find reading that interests them with TeenBookCloud, including young adult novels, poetry for middle and high school readers, and graphic novels. OverDrive and its Libby app include eBooks and audiobooks for kids, teens, and adults with wonderful, curated booklists to help everyone explore their interests.
Our Online Summer Reading Challenge is for all ages—
that starts Sunday, July 9. Try out four different crafting projects including making salt dough and a paper-plate pizza.
Starting Sunday, June 16, the original fairytale “Bartholemew Huggins & the Kindness Machine,” features a boy who accepts the quest to restore kindness to the kingdom and discovers something unexpected along the way. Crafts for this adventure include pop-up kindness cards and kindness catchers.
On Sunday, July 23, Arthur C. Doyle, a hardboiled Private Fly, faces a tough case involving a pilfered prized pastry in “Fly on the Wall Investigations & the Case of the Empathy Empanada.” Watch him solve the case using his powers of empathy. Plus, the crafts include an empathy mix-up book and climbing spiders.
Page Turner Adventures are available exclusively on Beanstack as part of our “Summer Reading 2023: All Together Now” challenge. Sign up today at www.scld.org/readingchallenge.
young children, tweens, teens, and adults. With the Beanstack website or app, you can track your summer reading to earn badges for a chance to win a prize! The summer prize drawings are sponsored by the Library Foundation of Spokane County (www.supportscld.org) and other community partners.
Families just need one login to create profiles for each reader and track their reading progress.
The ultimate goal for summer reading is 600 minutes per person, which can be easily achieved by reading 20 minutes a day. For every minute you read, you can help the library reach our county-wide goal of 500,000 minutes of summer reading!
Summer reading continues through August 31. To start tracking your reading and summer activities, sign up at www.scld.org/readingchallenge.
Summer is a great time for kids and adults to read what interests them. Stop by the library if you need help finding a good book, or several. Happy reading!
Beach reads, road-trip audiobooks, and the latest business books… they all count!
Track your reading to earn entries for our summer prize drawings.
Now Through August 31 Get started at www.scld.org/readingchallenge.
www.scld.org
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Open seats on the Spokane Valley City Council and West Valley School Board have attracted quite a bit of interest, drawing three candidates each for a primary ballot in August that will allow voters to select the top two candidates to advance to the general election in November.
The open seat on the council was created when Brand Peetz announced that she would not run for re-election. Political newcomers Jessica Yaeger and Rachel Briscoe filed for the seat, along with previous candidate Adam Smith.
Yaeger is a resident of Spokane Valley who graduated from Central Valley High School in 1998. She worked for several years managing assisted living and long-term care facilities and for the last two years has worked in placement at Angel Senior Care.
She said she’s seeing too many issues with crime and homelessness in the Valley. “I don’t feel safe with my children out going to the restaurant,” she said. “I’m seeing some of the downtown Spokane issues creep into our area.”
She won a precinct committee officer seat last year and before that, in August of 2021, she was part of an anti-mask protest that shut down a Central Valley School Board meeting. At the time masks had been mandated by Governor Jay Inslee and the more than 100 people who flooded the meeting refused to wear them, forcing the meeting to end.
Yaeger said she considers herself a conservative. “I’m a Christian,” she said. “As long as it makes you happy, I don’t care what you do. My beliefs are for me.”
Rachel Briscoe, who grew up in Poulsbo, Washington, first began working in residence halls when she was a student at Eastern Washington University. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 2008, she continued working in residence halls while attending grad school at Northern Arizona University.
After a decade of this work, she and her husband moved to Spokane Valley. She homeschools the couple's
three children and the couple have owned Briscoe Construction for the last 11 years. Five years ago she cofounded Spokane Ladies Business Community, a networking group that includes coaching.
A mentor encouraged her to consider running for city council and she began attending meetings last fall. “I was hooked,” she said. “I’ve always been intrigued by city leadership. I do believe deeply in limited government.”
Briscoe said her values are conservative and she believes in fiscal responsibility, but she’s not interested in taking political sides. She said she believes in collaboration and open and respectful communication to determine what is best for the community. “My absolute top choice is to be on no side,” she said. “My job is to be on the side of the people.”
She said she was encouraged by the council’s recent allocation of money to address the issue of homelessness because it appeared to be targeted toward the causes of homelessness, not just housing the currently homeless. Briscoe also said she would like the council to more directly address the concerns that people bring up during public comment periods during council meetings.
“I don’t think there is enough conversation,” she said.
Smith operates locations of SMASH Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Airway Heights, Spokane Valley and Deer Park and previously worked as a firefighter with Spokane County Fire District 4. He previously ran unsuccessfully for a city council seat in 2019.
Smith said he believes he can provide a connection between the council and the community and said his decision to run was last minute. “I just look at the people I knew were running and I still felt like we needed a change,” he said.
During his life he’s worked with a diverse group of people and, as a firefighter, he often helped people on their worst days. “I worked as a firefighter for 12 years,” he said. “I walked into thousands of people’s homes.”
No one currently on the council has the background he does, Smith said. “I want to create bridges,” he said.
In the West Valley School District, school board member Christy White did not run for re-election. School district residents Tricia Phillips, Amy Anselmo and S. John Dubois all signed up for the chance to replace White.
Phillips, who is originally from the San Francisco Bay area, has worked in a wide range of industries over the years. She’s worked in sales for a communications company, as a doctor’s office receptionist and office manager, as a long-haul truck driver and as a corrections officer at Pine Lodge Correctional Facility before it closed.
Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in global business management from the University of Phoenix nearly a decade ago. She’s been a stay-athome mother for the last few years and homeschools her four children.
Phillips said her two oldest are participating in the district’s Running Start program and her family has also hosted several foreign exchange students who have attended West Valley schools, so she’s familiar with the district. She also volunteers at West Valley High School’s booster club.
“I want to help ensure that the schools are there to successfully integrate students into society,” she said. “I know they had a rough time during COVID.”
Phillips said that school districts need to do more thinking outside the box and need to be more agile. “I know there were a lot of complaints during COVID,” she said. “I had a student in the school and I know I really had to advocate for my student.”
People were frustrated and the district should have been quicker to pivot to virtual learning and not try to “reinvent the wheel,” she said. “There seems to be a lot of gatekeeping for community success,” she said.
Anselmo, who grew up in Spokane for most of her life and graduated from East Valley High School, has been a sixth-grade teacher for Spokane Public Schools for the last 10 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in teaching from Washington State University, a master’s in teaching from Grand Canyon University and a principal’s certificate from Whitworth University. She is also National Board certified.
Anselmo said she loves teaching
sixth graders because she enjoys watching them discover who they are and they’re also old enough to appreciate her sense of humor. Spokane Public Schools is moving all sixth graders into middle school this fall, so Anselmo will begin teaching at Chase Middle School when classes resume.
Her two children have grown up in West Valley, with her youngest starting high school in the fall. Anselmo said that she’s often thought of running for a seat on the school board and now that she’s no longer in school she has the time to devote to it. White also suggested that she run, Anselmo said.
“I’ve always thought of it,” she said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind. Mainly it’s just an opportunity to connect with the district.”
Dubois describes himself as a military brat who didn’t really grow up anywhere, but he claims Texas as his home. After high school he did a two-year church service mission in Phoenix before earning a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and a master’s in psychology from Grand Canyon University.
He held jobs in construction and manufacturing before working as a recruiter for Grand Canyon University for several years. He is currently a day shift supervisor with Frontier Behavioral Health, where he runs the First Call for Help crisis line.
Dubois has six children, four of them grown and two still in West Valley Schools. He is currently the president of the Seth Woodard Elementary PTO. He said he believes his work can be useful for the district and wants to make sure the mental health of students is supported.
“I have found that working in mental health, especially postCOVID, that our kiddos are having a hard time,” he said. “I feel like it would be a preventative measure compared to where I work. I think it will give me an opportunity and a platform to influence long-term change.”
Dubois applied for a vacant seat on the school board last year, but another person was selected to fill the position. He said he appreciates how much a school board can influence its community. “I’ll help wherever I can,” he said.
