February 2016 Current

FEBRUARY

2016

Cold Weather Commerce How Spokane Valley’s winter weather impacts local businesses page 4

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EV’S SPORTS KNIGHT Page 2

YOKE’S TO OPEN IN LL Page 14

HAFNER CITIZEN OF YEAR Page 8

EV LEVY ON BALLOT Page 23

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2 FEBRUARY 2016

Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up and reading the first edition of The Current under new ownership. It’s been a privilege to have a hand in creating our inaugural issue. The learning process of creating this was both challenging and rewarding. I am humbled by the community’s response towards the newspaper and this new adventure my team and I are undertaking.

I would like to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Ben Wick and I am now the proud owner of The Current and The Splash. I will give you some history of myself, but I would first like to introduce you to my incredible team that has taken this leap of faith with me.

When considering the acquisition of the paper and all that that would mean I knew there would only be one person who could fill the editor position, Craig Howard. I honestly could not be successful without him. So a huge thank you goes out to him and his family for jumping on board immediately so you wouldn’t miss an issue.

My wife, Danica, graciously allowed me to give her a job as graphics editor.

Although I had to allow her to work from home in her off time so she could still focus on our two daughters. This month was a whirlwind for her, but as you continue reading this issue, I think you will agree she did a great job. Our advertising coordinator is Joy Katt. She jumped in right in time to help us get all the last-minute details figured out for the businesses that continue to support this community newspaper by advertising with us.

Now, a little bit about myself and my passion for the community. I am a fourth generation Spokane Valleyite.

My great grandfather had a dairy farm where Sprague and I-90 are now that he lost during the Great Depression. He was here before the state was formed putting him on the pioneer’s list.

I am an East Valley High School and Eastern Washington University graduate with a Bachelor of Science in computer science and minors in math, physics and communications. While attending EWU, I became involved in the Spokane Valley incorporation effort and dedicated a lot of my time to researching the topic, getting the word out and collecting signatures, then asking people to support the creation of our new city.

During my summers I worked for the Spokane County Interstate Fair and, after graduation, got appointed by the Spokane County Commissioners to the county’s Fair and Expo Center Advisory Board. I served on the board for five years, was asked to chair all but one

year and still to this day serve as the llama superintendent, that’s right – superintendent of llamas.

I am a member of the Spokane Valley Kiwanis, focusing on issues affecting children. I was elected to the Spokane Valley City Council in 2011 for a fouryear term where I served as the city’s representative on tourism funding allocations, chaired the economic development committee, represented the city on the regional transportation projects and got to know and work with city and community leaders from around the state. There is some background on me, now let’s talk about the paper.

My role with The Splash and The Current started shortly after the last election in November when as I was reflecting on my narrow loss at reelection to the Spokane Valley City Council. During the election process, I noticed that most citizens were disconnected from what was going at the city, didn’t really know much about the issues that were going on around them, nor had many outlets to hear about what was going on around the community.

Specifically regarding the election, there were only a few articles or profiles in the papers describing the potential leaders and only one candidate forum/ debate hosted for the Spokane Valley area candidates during the entire election cycle from April through November. I realized that there is a real need to get more information out that focused on our community and followed our issues.

By chance, I heard that Josh Johnson of Peridot Publishing was moving in a new direction and that we might lose two outlets of information for our community. I quickly reached out to Josh in order to continue service to the community by carrying on both publications.

In carrying on The Current and The Splash, our pledge is “Honoring communities and encouraging citizen involvement!” Our newspapers are going to be family-friendly newspapers, honoring our community by highlighting events, issues and individuals and groups that are making things happen within our community. We are going to provide in-depth coverage of what is going on in our community to allow you to be better informed and hopefully encouraged to get involved.

Again, thank you for picking up The Current and I hope you enjoy reading it. We have great things going on in our community and I am excited to be able to share them with you.

Ben Wick

The Current

The Park Bench

Under the lights – EV grad Osso shines in local sports media

By Craig Howard Current Editor Keith Osso was enrolled in a sports broadcasting class at Mesa State College and debating on a career direction when a wise teacher provided some navigational insight.

Osso, a 1995 graduate of East Valley High School, was on a baseball scholarship at the school in Grand Junction, Colo. after playing two years at North Idaho College. At the time, he was more likely to be found in the batting cage than the study hall.

“First semester at Mesa, I had a professor named Jim Sweany who taught our sports broadcasting class,” Osso recalls. “We goofed off a lot in that class, a lot. One day he pulled me aside after class and I thought I was going to get a lecture about my behavior. He asked me what I wanted to do in life.”

When Osso replied that he was considering sports broadcasting as a vocation, Sweany applauded the idea.

“He thought I had a future in it,” Osso said. “He never knew how much that meant to me. Because of that talk, I committed, for the first time in my life, to academics.

I left Mesa with a GPA over 3.5 and was on the president’s list for 4.0 three times.”

Unfortunately, Sweany passed away shortly after Osso left Grand Junction and never witnessed the all-conference outfielder soar to success in a different field. After starting with Spokane-based KXLY in 2003 as a sports photographer, Osso climbed the ladder, rising to reporter and then anchor. In 2014, he was named the station’s sports director. Along with his TV duties, Osso is one-third of a popular sports radio show on ESPN 700 with Dennis Patchin and Rick Lukens.

Osso grew up in the Newman Lake area in an environment that resembled something out of the film, “The Sandlot.” Osso and his older brother, Ken, were part of a neighborhood group that played baseball, football and other sports year round. As for the atmosphere at home, Osso said his parents,

KXLY Sports Director Keith Osso graduated from East Valley High School in 1995.

The Spokane native was a standout college baseball player before starting his career in journalism as a sports photographer with KXLY in 2003.

Photo by Craig Howard

Bryan and Cindy, set the tone.

“My parents are awesome, they made us earn everything growing up,” he said. “They really showed both of us what it's like to have a strong work ethic and not expect life to hand you anything.”

Osso attended East Farms Elementary and Mountain View Middle School before becoming a Knight. In addition to football, wrestling and baseball, Osso played the saxophone and tuba in high school. After suffering several concussions in football, Osso hung up his helmet despite offers to play in college.

Growing up, Osso participated in the youth program at Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene.

“It’s my family's church and has a great deal to do with who I am today,” he says.

Keith is the proud dad of a daughter and has been married to his wife, Tonya, for four years.

The Current caught up with the former Knight recently to discuss his impressions of the local sports scene, his memories of East Valley and a job that pays him to be a knowledgeable fan.

Q: When it comes to covering local sports, how much of a benefit is it to have been an athlete yourself in this area?

A: I think the biggest advantage is that I have a good feel for the different school communities.

When a young player is on the rise I can compare them to the great athletes of my time that I played with and against or any other that I've seen growing up or covered over the last 13 years.

Q: Do you have an "all-time" highlight in your own personal athletic career?

A: Starting side by side with my brother at East Valley. I don't think I realized it at the time as I was only a sophomore and he was a senior but now that I'm older, I really look back at that time as something special. We both played receiver in football,

See OSSO, Page 3

The Current

OSSO

Continued from page 2

and I played centerfield, he was in left on the baseball field. A couple games he hit ninth and I hit leadoff so we got back-to-back hits.

Q: You seem equally adept on TV and radio. What are some of the main differences and do you like one more than another?

A: Huge difference. TV is facts only and move on quickly. We have about four minutes for a sportscast when we try to have around five or six stories about different players or teams. We have as much fun with the highlights as we can, but no time for opinion or to elaborate.

Radio on the other hand, we get three hours every day to talk about whatever we want. We can talk about sports, or “Star Wars,” food or whatever is on our mind. They are both fun in their own way.

Q: How often are you recognized out in public? Does it ever become a bother?

A: Pretty regularly and it has never been a problem. People in Spokane are great, they always have nice things to say to you. I think it's a great compliment when people tell you that they like the show or like the work we do on TV. People who watch or listen feel that they know us because we really do let people into our lives, so I think it's fun to get the chance to meet so many people in our community.

Q: When you think about the interest level in local sports, from high school leagues to college programs like Gonzaga and Washington State and pro teams like the Seahawks and Mariners, how do you think fans in Spokane stack up against other parts of the country?

A: I think there is a very nice balance here in Spokane. We have very passionate fans here, they are happy when things are going well and when their team loses, people here feel that. However, to the credit of Spokane sports fans, they don't get carried away. I feel that they have a longer leash around here for struggling teams than some other cities. Philadelphia, Boston, those types of cities will turn on a player for one bad game.

In the Inland Northwest, fans will support their teams in a positive fashion through anything.

Q: When you were competing as an East Valley Knight, did you ever picture yourself in the broadcasting booth or covering events as a sports journalist?

A: It's a popular answer in this business to say that you grew up dreaming of being a sports broadcaster and practicing in the driveway, but that wasn't my

FEBRUARY 2016 • 3

dream. My dream was to be on the field playing, I wanted to be one of the people the broadcaster nterviews. Unfortunately for me, I ran out of talent. Fortunately for me, I realized it and found an awesome way to stay involved in sports.

Q: I'm sure you get this question all the time – what is Dennis Patchin really like?

A: The most asked question I get. I owe a lot to Dennis. He hired me and taught me pretty much everything. Dennis is a very passionate person, not just about sports, but you can get him going on a number of topics. We've traveled the country together and we've had laughs at every stop. He is one of the most reliable friends I've ever had. If you need a ride to the airport at 3 in the morning, Dennis is your guy.

Q: What's the best part about your job? And what is your career highlight as a broadcaster?

A: There are so many great things about this job, we get to travel the country going to the biggest sporting events on the planet, but my favorite thing is meeting great young people and getting to tell their story. We have grown quite close to Jace Malek of West Valley in our sports department. This year at KXLY as part of Friday Night Sports Extra, we created the “Jace Malek Award for Toughness.”

We used that award to honor Jace and his fight with cancer by finding someone in our community that showed the same courage in life that Jace does.

We awarded it to Jeff Hinz, head football coach at Post Falls, who fights his own battle with cancer while still being there to coach and teach his players about football but life as well. That moment of handing coach Hinz that trophy was a very personal and fulfilling moment that I will never forget.

Q: Spokane may not have the top-tier pro sports pedigree of cities like Seattle or Portland, but what do you appreciate about covering franchises like the Chiefs, Indians and the team formerly known as the Spokane Shock?

A: It's fun to see sports at this level. What's really fun is when those players make it to the big leagues. Guys like Tyler Johnson who we started covering at age 16 for the Chiefs playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. We've had a good run of Chiefs and Indians making it up the last five to 10 years. With the Empire/Shock, I've had the privilege of calling their games on the radio the last six years and have made some good friends in that time. It's fun to have affordable options in town and those teams certainly deliver.

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4 FEBRUARY 2016

NEWS

The Current

The business of winter – Local companies adjust to shifting conditions, customer demand

when the mountain was viable for a mere 29 days.

Current Editor

“When we’re waiting for snow, it’s increasingly difficult to keep employees on – either that or they will leave,” he said. “We lost a considerable amount of folks last year.”

By Craig Howard

Each winter, Chris Haase turns into an impromptu weatherman.

The vice president of Spokane Valley-based Haase Landscaping Inc. makes it a point to stay updated on the latest meteorological news to ensure that his fleet of trucks is ready to plow, de-ice and shovel at a moment’s notice. His knowledge of the local forecast now borders on expertise.

“A lot of my friends ask me what the weather is going to be like,” Haase said.

This winter, Haase’s crews have been active, clearing both residential and commercial properties across the greater Inland Northwest. When it comes to certain medical buildings, chances can’t be taken with roads, parking lots and sidewalks as patients report for appointments.

“It’s about being on-call 24/7,” Haase said. “We’re monitoring things all the time.”

Like a number of local businesses, Haase (pronounced “ha-zee”) adjusts when the weather turns cold. When the climate is temperate, employees are maintaining lawns and overseeing irrigation systems. When winter arrives, the tasks shift – unless snow and ice stay away.

“Last year, we didn’t even install

While McQuarrie and his crew made the best of last year, working on the renovation of two lodges, the down time took its toll on a staff that can reach up to 350.

This winter – characterized by early layers of powder – has been a different story. Mt. Spokane opened on Dec. 11 and is on pace for what could be a record season. plows on the trucks,” Haase said.

While cities like Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake provide snowplowing and de-icing services on major arterials and designated residential streets, Haase receives calls from homeowner associations to help with other neighborhood roads.

“We take care of a lot of these HOA properties in the summer and winter,” said John Sheley, landscape manager at Haase.

Sheley said the work of tackling winter surfaces is rewarding, especially when he considers the alternative.

“If these streets and sidewalks don’t get plowed, you’ve got cars sliding around, getting into wrecks and people falling,” he said.

Like many other landscaping companies, Haase relies on seasonal employees who work during winter if there is enough

to be done. When the weather is severe, workers are on the job, not drawing unemployment or looking for part-time employment to fill the gap.

“This December was really busy for us,” Haase said. “We’ve definitely been in winter mode.”

Let it snow, let them ski Even at an altitude of almost 6,000 feet, Brad McQuarrie can feel pretty low when Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park isn’t covered in snow.

The longtime general manager of the Mead ski venue, McQuarrie recalls last winter opening hopefully enough. By the fourth week, runs were closing as staff scrambled to move remaining snow to keep part of the park accessible.

“We were only open for 39 days last year,” McQuarrie said.

That number nearly equaled the dismally warm winter of 2004-05

“We’re at capacity on weekends,” McQuarrie said. “It’s definitely been above average so far.”

Well-equipped for winter Gary Peters remembers the winter of 2008-09 in Spokane Valley when snow shovels were a hot commodity at Peters Hardware, a local institution since 1934. By March 30 of 2009, a record 93.6 inches of snow had layered the area and many residents couldn’t keep up.

“We sold out of snow shovels that winter,” Peters said. “Everyone ran out. It snowed 42 inches in one day.”

While sales of shovels and other winter-related products in 201516 have not equaled totals from that episode, Peters had already restocked ice melt products seven times by early January.

“A lot of customers come in and ask for advice on how to deal

See WINTER, Page 5

With headquarters near the former Painted Hills Golf Course, Haase Landscaping Inc. features a fleet of snowplow and de-icing trucks. (left) The O’Reilly Auto Parts store on Sprague near Bowdish (above) is currently stocked with plenty of winter-related products like ice scrapers and heavy-duty windshield wipers.

Photos by Craig Howard

The Current

NEWS

underneath a car, chasse parts are available. A diverse selection of ice scrapers, snow brushes and even fleece gloves serve as a reminder that motorists should be prepared for the cold.

“During the winter months we will see an increase in sales of under-car suspension items such as control arms and struts which can be damaged due to rough road conditions or impacts with curbs,” said Dave Wimmer, district manager with O’Reilly’s. “Another common item that we sell a lot of are batteries which, when stressed by extreme hot or cold, can fail, leaving people stranded.”

New inventory is delivered daily to a dozen O’Reilly sites in the greater Spokane area – a considerable benefit during scenarios like the windstorm when generators and gas cans were going fast.

A series of snowstorms in late December and early January left the greater Spokane Valley covered in frozen layers. Piles of snow were plowed into parking lots like the one at U-City above. At the Thrifty Scotsman on Sprague Avenue, patrons like Mary and Jack McLeslie (above, left) appreciate the restaurant adding soup and chili to the menu each winter while at Arby’s just to the west on Sprague, employees make sure to clear the sidewalks and drive-thru after each snowfall.

Photos by Craig Howard

WINTER

Continued from page 4

with something like ice dams or leaky roofs,” Peters said. “We do sell a little more stuff during the extreme weather. We’ve sold triple the number of snow shovels from last year and quadruple the ice melt.”

Like Haase, Peters does his best to track cold-weather patterns in order to meet the corresponding client demand. When snow doesn’t fall, the shelves at Peters look slightly different.

“I definitely keep an eye on the weather,” Gary said. “It affects our inventory, especially these last few years where we’ve had real mild winters. You don’t want to stockpile too much of it and have half the snow shovels left over.”

As freezing conditions took hold in the early part of last month, customers visited Peters in search of gutter cables to prevent ice from building up on the roof line.

Roof rakes and ice melt have also

been big sellers.

“When products are in short supply, then people are looking,” Peters said. “When we had that windstorm in November, people were coming in from a long ways for batteries, kerosene lamp stuff, something that would help them see in the dark.”

“Thanks to our nightly deliveries from our distribution center in Puyallup, we were able to provide to the community throughout the recovery period,” Wimmer said.

Cold weather, hot soup Friday is “Chili Day” at the Thrifty Scotsman in Spokane Valley – at least during the winter.

Owner Floyd Brown will celebrate 36 years of the burger establishment later in 2016.

Around a decade ago, the restaurant on Sprague Avenue introduced specialty soups when the thermostat dipped.

FEBRUARY 2016 • 5

“When we start to serve it all depends on the weather, when it starts to get colder,” Brown said.

Jack and Mary McLeslie drop by the Thrifty Scotsman regularly for the affordable, tasty fare. When the frost appears, the couple knows it’s time for a warm bowl of soup at their favorite diner. The McLeslies, Valley residents since 1963, are only split on one soup and it’s not pea.

“We like their soup,” Mary said.

“He likes them all except the tomato, but I like the tomato.”

During the week, Scotsman offers a soup of the day at a bargain price – $2.49 for a small bowl, $3.49 for the large. Options include cream of broccoli with cheddar, chicken with wild rice, tomato basil and clam chowder.

Each batch is made fresh in the morning and is usually gone by early afternoon, “We pretty much sell out of it every day,” Brown said.

Coffee sales here more than double during the winter. There is also a hot chocolate machine on site.

Brown says the restaurant has remained resilient during all types of extreme weather, from the Ice Storm of 1996 to the snow of 2009.

After the wind barreled through the region Nov. 17, Scotsman was opened the next day.

“That was a busy week,” Brown said. “We only missed one dinnertime.”

Snow shovels here range from $13 to $30. The bargain rate comes in handy when the dreaded snow berms emerge.

“When we really run out is when they plow the snow into driveways and people break their shovels,” Peters said.

Safe wheels in winter Customers walking into the O’Reilly Auto Parts store on Sprague Avenue near Bowdish Road are greeted by an array of products to equip vehicles in layers of safety this winter.

Car batteries, heavy duty wiper blades, antifreeze, washer fluid and deicer line racks and shelves.

If a block of ice wreaks havoc

Peters Hardware on Sprague near Pines has been helping customers get through local winters since 1934. Above, Gary Peters (left) chats with loyal client and longtime Valley resident Hal Moffit.

Photo by Craig Howard

6 FEBRUARY 2016

NEWS

The Current

Yoke’s sets stage for premiere of Liberty Lake store

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By Benjamin Shedlock Splash Correspondent Liberty Lake is getting a new friendly neighborhood grocer.

Yoke’s Fresh Market, the Spokane-based grocery chain, plans to open its 13th branch on Liberty Lake Road in early March.

The store opening promises to end a rocky year for the local grocery location. As the beloved local Safeway branch announced its closure last June when it was bought by Haggen, loyal customers were concerned that the shopping experience and relationships they had built with employees at the shop since 2000 would change.

Fewer than four months later, Haggen, declared bankruptcy and put the location up for sale. While much of the original Safeway staff made it through the transition, longtime Store Manager Dan DiCicco is excited about the energy Yoke’s will bring.

“With what I’ve seen Yoke’s do in the community over the years, they’ll fit in well here,” he said. “They’re going to jump right in here and help us out with the community service we were doing. They get it.”

DiCicco is supervising the store opening. He has had a decadeslong career in the grocery industry and opened the Liberty Lake Safeway in 2000. There, he developed a reputation for giving back to the community and supporting his staff. Satisfied employees treated customers well and the store created a loyal following.

John Bole, CEO of Yoke’s said DiCicco will be a key to the transition.

“It’s a tremendous benefit,” said Bole. “Another part of that benefit is we’ve gotten to know him and we really enjoy him.”

Bole said the Liberty Lake store gives Yoke’s a foothold it has been seeking for a while. A location on Sprague Avenue near Sullivan Road closed in 2009. Bole said the Liberty Lake addition will balance its local Argonne, Mead, Indian Trail, Deer Park and Airway Heights locations.

“This is great placement for us,” said Bole. “It’s a location that is never going to be obsolete. We closed a site in the East Valley area a few years ago and we’ve been looking for another location.

See YOKES, Page 7

To find out if you qualify for payment options – or for more information – please give us a call at 1-800-227-9187 or visit avistautilities.com/assistance.

Former Liberty Lake Safeway and Haggen Store Manager Dan DiCicco (right) will retain his role with Yoke’s Fresh Market as the Spokane-based grocery chain opens a location on Liberty Lake Road in early March. Yoke’s CEO John Bole (left) said DiCicco will be vital to the transition.

Photo by Craig Howard

The Current

FEBRUARY 2016 • 7

NEWS

Susan Ashley, MD Ashley Wilkinson, PA-C

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healthylivingll.com 1431 N Liberty Lake Rd, Ste B

(between Verizon and Jimmy John’s)

The Yoke’s store on Argonne Road (pictured) will soon be joined by the new Liberty Lake site as the Spokane-based grocery chain takes over a building formerly owned by Safeway and Haggen.

Photo by Ben Wick

YOKES

Continued from page 6

This fits perfect.”

DiCicco and his team have been putting in a significant effort since Christmas to get the store ready for the March grand opening. At 55,000 square feet, it’s a lot of space and there’s plenty to do.

“It’s a big undertaking to open a store,” DiCicco said. “You’re changing the décor, you’re getting new products. When you open a new store, you’ve got to put your stamp on it, make it different.”

Yoke’s will put its stamp on Liberty Lake by bringing its signature fresh foods and signature customer service to its Liberty Lake store. There will be a sushi bar and a deli featuring freshly cooked hamburgers.

“People are going to see a really spectacular deli, outstanding produce,” Bole said. “We also have a very friendly, patientfocused pharmacy program.

You’re going to see a pharmacy with a lot of personal attention.”

Other offerings will include the Natural Corner, a section specializing in organic foods.

To prepare for the transition, the team is stocking shelves now, developing the layout and installing new equipment. Some dry groceries are hitting the shelves.

By mid-February, about 100 staff should be in place to run the new store. This will increase the total staffing at the location slightly from the 90 employed by Haggen. Yoke’s will keep on many of the employees that the Liberty Lake community has grown to

know and love.

“You’re going to see a lot of familiar faces and a lot of new faces and new programs,” said DiCicco. “I’m excited about it.”

Bole said Yoke’s is wellequipped to support Liberty Lake’s community-minded priorities because of its own local roots. While the first Yoke’s opened in 1946, the enterprise began earlier when Marshall Yoke delivered groceries by horsedrawn carriage on the north side of Spokane. Chuck Yoke bought the store from his father in the 1950s.

“I think it’s a huge benefit that Yoke’s is local,” said Bole. “We are 100-percent employee owned.

Profits accrue to the people that are checking in your grocery store.”

Bole and DiCicco hope that as the employees benefit, Liberty Lake will, too. They want the community that enjoyed shopping at the Safeway to feel as welcomed by Yoke’s.

“I’m looking forward to working with some really great people,” Bole said. “We have, over the years, really improved our company and coming out to Liberty Lake and offering the best of what Yoke’s Fresh Market is today is something I’m very excited about.”

So far, the staff is on board, too.

“In my career in the grocery industry, I’ve never felt so welcomed as I have with Yoke’s,” said DiCicco. “This company has been outstanding. From the first day, they’ve made me feel part of the company.”

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The transformation from the Haggen store began in late December. Yoke’s expects to have a staff of around 100 in place at the Liberty Lake site by the middle of this month.

Photo by Craig Howard

The Current

8 FEBRUARY 2016

Educator, city leader Hafner named Citizen of the Year

By Treva Lind Current Correspondent Chuck Hafner gets recognized as a familiar face just about anywhere he goes in Spokane Valley, mainly from his tenure as high school principal at both University and Central Valley.

His network beyond those days has only widened from years of community work and serving since 2011 on the Spokane Valley City Council.

“I can’t go anywhere in the Valley without seeing one of my kids,” said Hafner, adding that many former students are now in their 50s, “but they’re still my kids.”

Today, Hafner’s list of leadership roles has grown considerably.

Among them is the work he considers a top priority for community impact – the tie-in with the region’s 9-1-1 emergency system. He chaired a panel to provide funding nearly a decade ago to restore Crime Check and a Spokane County interagency emergency communication system.

“Back before nine years ago, fire couldn’t talk to police,” Hafner said. “They couldn’t communicate back and forth if there was some kind of big accident.”

Agency and community leaders worked for months to advance the measure, approved by voters in 2008.

“We passed a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax for 10 years, and

Valley Council approves antisanctuary status

By Benjamin Shedlock Current Correspondent Spokane Valley’s City Council narrowly and contentiously passed a resolution at its Jan. 6 meeting declaring that it is not a sanctuary city.

The surprise resolution drew a contrast in policy with its neighbor to the west, the city of Spokane, and helped clarify the lines along which governing may take place in City Council during the New Year.

Council Member Ed Pace introduced the resolution, but not all of his colleagues around the dais expected to vote on it. The night was primed to be a pro-

now we have a communication system for all of the community that is so badly needed,” Hafner said.

More recently, he served as chair for the Spokane County Library District bond, a measure that failed. Hafner is also involved in multiple community panels.

A few include Visit Spokane, Spokane County Regional Health District board, past president of Spokane Valley Kiwanis, chair of Neighborhood Accountability Board, and Washington state Substance Abuse Coalition regional vice president.

At the Jan. 22 Gem of the Valley Gala, Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce presented Hafner with the 2015 Harry E. Nelson Citizen of the Year Award.

The top honor recognizes his widespread community work.

Katherine Morgan, chamber president and CEO, said Hafner has served the community well both in his career as educator in East Valley, Mead and Central Valley school districts and in several county organizations he joined after retiring.

“Chuck has served our community in so many ways — through his career as an educator and in the countless ways he continues to serve our region.”

Morgan said. “He is an amazing example for what it takes to make our community a better place to live and work.”

After learning about the honor,

See HAFNER, Page 9

forma swearing in of new City Council members and an election of a new mayor. Instead, voices were raised over the resolution.

The resolution states that Spokane Valley is not a sanctuary city and it goes further to direct police to enforce federal laws by asking for proof of residency as required. Council members stated that this is already the procedure that is followed in Spokane Valley, but it is different from what happens just next door in Spokane.

In October 2014, the Spokane City Council passed an ordinance preventing city employees, including police, from asking about an individual’s immigration status. That rule was codified in Spokane police policy prior to the ordinance being passed.

Council Member Bill Gothmann

Spokane Valley City Council Member Chuck Hafner learned he had been named 2016 Harry E. Nelson Citizen of the Year by the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce before the Jan. 5 council meeting. Marti Hollenback, 2015 Citizen of the Year, delivered the news Hafner who received his formal award at the GSVCC Gem of the Valley Gala on Jan. 22.

Photo by Craig Howard

2016 GSVCC Citizen of the Year Name: Chuck Hafner Age: 84 Occupation: Spokane Valley City Council member Unique personal fact: Traveled and visited World War II sites in France said the Spokane Valley resolution simply restated standing practice while Council Member Chuck Hafner said it would result in profiling.

“We were accused of springing the resolution with no notice,” said newly elected Mayor Rod Higgins.

“It’s not true. We tried to put it on the agenda six weeks ago, but it got voted off the agenda.”

According to the Spokane Valley procedures, a resolution may be introduced and passed at the same meeting. The process for passing resolutions is simpler than that for ordinances because they only state the policy of a municipality rather than create new regulation.

A “sanctuary city” is an unofficial term for a municipality that does not enforce federal immigration law, at least as a primary offense, or limits is cooperation with

with Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower, for the People to People ambassador program Goal for 2016: Take each day as it comes. Accept challenges and opportunities Hobbies: Boating, RVing and golfing

federal immigration agencies.

Depending on the source, between 60 and 340 cities have chosen to declare that they are sanctuaries, depending upon the definition.

Despite the heated rhetoric around immigration nationally and at this debate, Mayor Higgins said he does not see the issue as political.

“It’s like Spokane saying they are a sanctuary city,” said Mayor Higgins. “But we’re saying we’re not. We’re also saying our police force is doing their job.”

The voting fell along the same lines as it did for the mayoral vote earlier that night, with Sam Wood, Arne Woodard, Ed Pace and Mayor Rod Higgins supporting the resolution. Chuck Hafner, Dean Grafos, and Bill Gothmann voted against it.

The Current

HAFNER

Continued from page 8 Hafner said many other people share the award alongside him.

“The award I’m receiving is about more people than me,” he said.

“There is no way all these things could be accomplished without all these people who have helped me. The award I’m receiving, they are receiving also.”

Hafner also credits his wife, Janet, for her years of support. The couple moved to the Valley in 1955 when they both started teaching at Trentwood Elementary. They now live near 24th and Evergreen but spent 36 years as Ponderosa residents where they raised two daughters.

“Janet is my partner – she’s absolutely been a great lady and I couldn’t have accomplished what I’ve done without her,” Hafner said. “My wife knows I can’t sit down for very long.”

After working in East Valley and Mead school districts, Hafner served as U-Hi’s principal 1972 to 1976. He then worked as general manager at Appleway Equipment Leasing before a stint as director of the now defunct People to People Ambassador program in Spokane.

Work in schools called him back from 1980 to 1986 as CVHS principal, followed by five years as CVSD assistant superintendent.

During Spokane Valley incorporation efforts, Hafner voted against creating the city.

“I felt at the time there wasn’t a need for another level of government,” he said. “But once

FEBRUARY 2016 • 9 it passed, I felt I needed to be a part of it.”

Before joining the council, he chaired a campaign called Positive Change, which he described as rising from concerns among a group of citizens who thought the Sprague Appleway Revitalization Plan, or SARP, was too costly and expansive over a short time.

“Part of the Positive Change campaign resulted in bringing in four or five new board members,” he said. “It was a positive change.

I’m not degrading people who were there, but they were going to a program that was going too far too fast.”

He later took the City Council seat abandoned by his friend, the late Republican senator Bob McCaslin, who asked Hafner to replace him.

He then ran for council election and won a four-year term from 2014 through 2017.

“It’s been very rewarding,” Hafner said. “There’s ups and downs occasionally, but that’s politics.”

In addition to council commitments, Hafner vowed he’ll continue to work for library upgrades.

“I’m not through with that one,” he said. “It’s so badly needed in the community.”

Hafner admits he’s full of energy and isn’t ready to idle back. He enjoys seeing projects come together and how they impact the community.

“I always felt good I could be a part of that with other people,” he said. “I’ve had a fun life.

It’s exciting times, and I’m not through, God willing.”

CONNECT.

EMPOWER.

INNOVATE.

Starting a Business?

Is it time to dream, think about and plan for your next level of success? The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce is a leader in entrepreneur training.

In 2008, the Chamber Business Center became a site for the NxLeveL® Entrepreneur Program. Since that time, more than 150 new business entrepreneurs have successfully completed the program. This 12-week evening program, typically offered 2-3 times a year, is open to adults who have started orwho are thnking about starting a business. NxLevel is approved for Washington’s Self Employment Assistance Program (SEAP).

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Spokane Valley Tech, 115 S University Blvd., Spokane Valley June 17- Graduation/Presentation to the Membership Business Connections meeting.

1421 N. Meadowwood Ln. Liberty Lake, WA 99019 | 509-924-4994 | www.spokanevalleychamber.org

Chuck Hafner addresses the audience after receiving his Citizen of the Year award.

Photo by Danica Wick

The Current

10 FEBRUARY 2016

Calendar of Events COMMUNITY EVENTS

Jan. 1-Feb. 2 | Flag collection 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Mon.-Fri.) and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Sat.), Flag Museum at Pines Cemetery, 1402 S. Pines Road. Exhibition detailing the rich history of the American flag sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution and the Fairmount Memorial Association.

More at 926-2753.

Jan. 30-Feb. 6 | Spokane Boat Show 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Sat.); 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Sun.); noon to 8 p.m. (Mon.-Fri.). Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. More than 50 dealers from around the Inland Northwest represent the newest model boats and boating accessories. Admission for the week is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 12-17 (kids 12 and under are free). More at www. spokaneboatshow.com.

Jan. 30 | Super Bird Open House 10 a.m.-2 p.m., West Valley Outdoor Learning Center, 8706 E. Upriver Drive. Meet live birds of prey, tour the center, and enjoy fun games and activities. $5

suggested donation per person.

More at 340-1028.

Feb. 1 | Our Genes Aren’t Blue 4 p.m., Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne Road, Millwood. Discover what humans and onions have in common in a fun, hands-on class presented by Mobius Science Center for kids in grades K through 8. More at www.scld.org.

Feb. 2 |Compass Club Luncheon featuring Doug Osborne 11 a.m., Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan Road.

Doug Osborne gives a nostalgic look back at childhood through pictures, trivia, and song. Open to all women. Cost is $25.

Reservations (required by Jan. 31) can be made at 455.7789 or compassres@gmail.com.

Feb. 2 | Groundhog Day Feb. 3 | Grange potluck and meeting 6 p.m., Tri Community Grange, 25025 Heather St., Newman Lake. A potluck will be followed by a 7 p.m. meeting for this community-based service organization. More at 481-7447 or geje2@yahoo.com.

Feb. 4, 21 | Just Play noon,

Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main Ave. A community play date at the library with favorite toys and activities to enjoy. Ages 0-5; all children must bring an adult.

More at www.scld.org.

Feb. 4 | Don’t Fear the FAFSA 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main Ave. Learn to navigate the Federal financial aid system and complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid. More at www.scld. org.

Feb. 8 | Money and Aging Parents 6:30 p.m., Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne Road, Millwood. Learn how to handle the issues that arise when an aging parent is unable to manage their finances. More at www.scld. org.

Feb. 8 | Rockford Lions Club annual Valentine’s dinner 6 p.m., Harvest Moon, 20 S 1st St, Rockford. More at 892-4412 or vplank@bannerbank.com.

Feb. 11 | Cinn-A-Gram fundraiser Send a Valentine’s gift of two fresh Cinnabons, a coffee mug, gourmet treats, and a personalized

message. Proceeds benefit Meals on Wheels. Order by Feb. 8 to ensure free delivery. Cost is $30.

Visit www.mowspokane.org or call 232-0864 to order or 4560397 to volunteer.

Feb. 14 | Valentine’s Day Feb. 15 | Presidents Day Feb. 16 | Our Genes Aren’t Blue 4 p.m., Fairfield Library, 305 E. Main St., Fairfield. Discover what humans and onions have in common in a fun, hands-on class presented by Mobius Science Center for kids in grades K through 8. More at www.scld.org.

Feb. 23 | Community Dinner 6 p.m., Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2511 S. Pines Road. Free family-friendly dinner for anyone who would like to have a meal in fellowship with others. Open to all. Reservations are helpful, but not required. More at 926-7966.

Feb. 25-28 | Spokane’s 38th Annual Home and Yard Show noon-8 p.m. (Thurs.-Fri.); 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (Sat.); 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

(Sun.). Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. Displays and demonstrations of home and yard-related products, services, and improvements. $7 for the weekend; free for ages 12 or younger. More at www. custershows.com.

Feb. 26-27 | Junior Achievement Annual Bowling Classic 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Fri.) at Lilac Lanes 1112 E. Magnesium Road, North Spokane; 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Sat.) at Valley Bowl, 8005 E. Sprague Ave. Get a team together and “Bowl to Empower” area kids by funding local Junior Achievement programs. Register by Feb. 22 to qualify for prizes. More at 6247114 or www.jawashington.org.

Feb. 14 | Inland NW Freethought Society 2 p.m., second Sunday of the month, Shari’s, 240 N. Sullivan Road. A secular social group. More at 216-4788.

Baha’i Fireside Conversation 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., third Friday of the month, Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main Ave. Discussion of Baha’i teachings, history, and perspectives on resolving the challenges facing humanity. All are welcome. More at 599-2411 or www.bahai.us.

DivorceCare Recovery Support Group Tuesdays 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Eastpoint Church, 15303 E. Sprague Ave. Learn how to heal from the deep hurt

The Current of divorce and discover hope for your future. DivorceCare for Kids (ages 5-12) meets at the same time and location. Cost is $25 for workbook. More at 892-5255 or eastpointchurch.com.

Men’s Weekly Bible Study Tuesdays 7 a.m., Millwood Presbyterian Church, 3223 N. Marguerite Road, Millwood. The men’s weekly Bible Study meets in the Reception Hall with different members sharing in the leading of the study. All men are invited to join. More at www.milwoodpc. org.

MUSIC & THE ARTS

Jan. 15-Feb. 29 | Sumi-e and Watercolors by Keiko Von Holt 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Mon.-Fri.) and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Sat.) with reception Jan. 30, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Mangrove Cafe & Bakery, 18 N. Bowdish Road. Sumi-e and watercolor paintings by Keiko Von Holt. More at 926-2519.

Feb 4-28 | “The Curse of Evilina” 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.

(Thu.-Sun.), Unit 55, 225 N. Ella Road. A unique Valentine’s Horror in which 2-6 players follow clues, complete challenges to break the Curse of Evilina and survive. $21 per person. More at 714-3743.

Feb. 5 | Author Therese Marszalek 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Hastings, 15312 E. Sprague Ave. The author signs copies of her latest book “40 Days,” a resource for reflection and spiritual growth. More at 924-0667.

Feb. 5 | Music, Music, Music 6:45 p.m. to 10 p.m., St. Joseph’s Parish, 4521 N. Arden Road.

Benefit concert for Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank, featuring performances from “Phantom of the Opera,” “The Sound of Music,” and more. Tickets $5-10. More at 926-7133.

Feb. 16-17 | Spokane Symphony Chamber Winter Soirée 7:30 p.m., The Davenport Hotel, 10 S Post St. Enjoy music from various ensembles performing music from Harry Stafylakis, Adolphe Blanc, and Mozart. Ticket prices are $48 for table seats and $20 for gallery seats. More at www. spokanesymphony.org Feb. 19-Mar. 6 | “How the Other Half Loves” 7:30 p.m.

(Fri., Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sun.), Ignite!

Community Theatre, 10814 E. Broadway Ave. A comedy about the intertwining lives of three couples. Tickets $13-15.

More at www.igniteonbroadway. org.

Feb. 20 | Book Signing: “The

FEBRUARY 2016 • 11 Sign of the Eagle Trilogy” noon, Barnes & Noble, 15310 E. Indiana Ave. Author Jess Steven Hughes signs copies of his exciting historical novels, “The Wolf of Britannia, Part I & II,” set in ancient and Celtic Britain.

More at 922-4104 and www. jessstevenhughes.com.

Feb. 21 | “You & Me Time” Painting Class 1 p.m., Round Table Pizza, 15402 E. Sprague Ave. Spend one-on-one time creating a piece of art together with your child, grandchild, or other “little” (ages 3-12).

No experience necessary. $35 (includes supplies for you and your little). Info and tickets at http://conta.cc/1ZLoL4m.

Feb. 22-23 | Around the World In 80 Days auditions 6:30 p.m., Spokane Valley Partners, 10814 E. Broadway Ave. Ignite!

Community Theatre seeks 5-7 actors/actresses for their April production. Attend only one of the two nights for cold reading auditions. More at www. igniteonbroadway.org.

Feb. 27 | Photography Workshops 9 a.m. to noon, Veradale United Church of Christ, 611 N. Progress Road. A series of photography workshops starting with “Beginning Photography.” RSVP or get more information at 9267173.

Spokane Novelists Group noon to 4 p.m., second and fourth Saturday of the month, Otis Orchards Community Church, 23304 E. Wellesley Ave., Otis Orchards.

A support/critique group for writers. Open to anyone with an interest in writing fiction (no memoirs, nonfiction, poetry, etc., please). Participants should bring 5-10 pages to read aloud and 6-8 copies for others to read along and critique. More at 5907316.

Spokane Symphony Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W Sprague Ave.: “SuperPops— Herb Alpert & Lani Hall” Jan. 30 at 8 p.m., tickets $30-72; Spokane String Quartet presents “Russian Extravaganza” Jan. 31 at 3 p.m., Tickets $10-20; “Symphonic Films at the Fox—City Lights” Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m., tickets $15 and $30; “Tchaikovsky on Dante” Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 14 at 3 p.m. (pre-concert talk one hour before each performance), tickets $15-54. Spokane Youth Symphony presents “Passione” Feb. 21 at 4 p.m., tickets $1216; “Zen Fantastique” Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. (pre-concert talk one hour before each performance),

tickets $15-54. More at www. spokanesymphony.org.

Teen Writers of the Inland Empire 4 p.m., first Thursday of the month (except holidays), Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main Ave. Teen writers (grade six and older) meet to write and share their work. More at 8938400.

Drop-in Square Dance Lessons 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (through May 18), Western Dance Center, 1901 N. Sullivan Road. Square dance lessons for $3 per person; no partner needed. More at 2709264.

CIVIC & BUSINESS

Feb. 9 | Business Owner Workshop 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., CenterPlace, 2426 N Discovery Place. The Spokane Valley Small Business Administration and Chamber of Commerce offer information on local and regional resources to help your business start, grow, and thrive. More at spokanevalleychamber.com or 924-4994.

Feb. 10, 17, 24 | Selling Online 101 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main Ave. Learn the basics of listing items on Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, and Etsy. More at 893-8400.

Feb. 10 | STCU Workshop: Protect Your Credit Score 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main St. Learn how a credit score is determined, how to maintain/earn a healthy credit score, and where to go for help. Register and find more information at www.stcu.org.

Feb. 17 | Mica Peak High School Dedication 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Mica Peak (formerly Baker) High School, 15111 E. Sprague Ave. Dedication ceremony for the new Mica Peak High School and Central Valley Early Learning Center. More at www.cvsd.org.

Feb. 19 | Chester Elementary Groundbreaking 3 p.m., Chester Elementary, 3525 S. Pines Road.

Ceremonial groundbreaking and student send-off. More at www. cvsd.org.

Feb. 29 | Greenacres Elementary Groundbreaking 10 a.m., Greenacres Elementary, 17915 E. 4th Ave. Ceremonial groundbreaking and “Leap into the Future.” More at www.cvsd. org.

HEALTH & RECREATION Jan. 26-Mar. 18 | Restorative

Yoga 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Tuesdays and Thursdays and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, Focused Fitness, 2426 S. Dishman Mica Road. Relieve stress and experience gentle stretching and deep relaxation through the use of props and poses. Bring a mat and blanket (eye pillow optional). $42. More at www.focusedfitness. org.

Jan. 27-Mar 23 | Breathing and Meditation 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays, Focused Fitness, 2426 S. Dishman Mica Road. Find a sense of calm as you prepare your body to take deeper breaths. Learn different breathing techniques and still your mind through meditation. A blanket or cushion is recommended. $20.

More at www.focusedfitness.org.

Jan. 27-Mar. 23 | Yoga Nidra 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Wednesdays, Focused Fitness, 2426 S. Dishman Mica Road.

Practice Yogic Sleep for extreme relaxation and healing with the deepest of all meditations.

Students must be able to perform yoga poses on the floor.

Bring a yoga mat. $20. More at focusedfitness.org.

Feb 2. | Multiple Myeloma Group 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Valley Hospital Education Center, 12606 E. Mission Ave. Oncologist/ hematologist Hakan Kaya will provide information about new drugs for myeloma patients and the most recent meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

More information at 675-2228.

Feb. 3 | Spokane Valley Soccer registration opens 8 a.m., Spokane Valley Youth Soccer, 9116 E. Sprague Ave., #138. Saturday games for ages 4 to 16 scheduled from Apr. 9 to May 21. Registration closes Feb. 29 and can be completed in person or online at www.vysoccer.org.

Feb. 12 | Warrior Camp MMA Event 7 p.m., HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. The cost of admission for these live MMA cage fights is $20-30. Tickets are available at Warrior Camp, 5027 E. Trent Ave., Spokane. More at www.warriorcampfitness.com.

Feb. 13-14 | Sweetheart Shoot-Out Fustal Tournament 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. Bring your favorite teammates for two action-packed days kicking the fustal around the courts.

Boys/girls teams U7 through U14 divisions. Register by Feb. 5; cost is $275 per team. More info at www.hubsportscenter.org.

The Current

12 FEBRUARY 2016

By Ken Briggs CEO, Spokane Valley Partners Most of you reading this know me as the CEO of Spokane Valley Partners. What fewer know is that I am also an adjunct faculty member at Whitworth University.

Wearing my academic hat, I find value in gaining a comprehensive understanding of a subject.

When I was asked to write an article about SVP my first thought was “human interest,” using testimonials about the good work we do. Charities are good (or should be) at “tugging

at heart strings.” However, it occurred to me that many readers may not fully appreciate the impact of the nonprofit sector on our society and our economy.

While an in-depth discussion of the sector would require far more space than allotted here, consider a few facts: In 2013, the nonprofit sector contributed $905.9 billion to U.S, economy; that is 5.4 percent of the total gross domestic product. Also noteworthy is that 25.3 percent of U.S. adults volunteered for a nonprofit in 2014, providing 8.7 billion hours of service with an estimated value of $179.2 billion. Nationally, nonprofits are the third largest source of private employment, behind only retail and manufacturing.

Closer to home, there are over 58,000 nonprofits in Washington state and more than 26,000 of those are active tax-exempt organizations with over 17,000 being 501(c)(3) designated (public charities). Fields of service include human services (35 percent), education (17 percent), arts and culture (12 percent) and other classifications (25 percent). The total revenue for Washington public charities is over $33 billion.

Charities and other nonprofits typically receive financial support from donations from individuals, families and businesses.

Depending on the nature of their work, they may also receive funding from government and foundation grants. Many produce special events such as golf tournaments.

Some organizations also have earned income from mission related earned income (business activities).

Spokane Valley Partners is a typical charity in some respects and somewhat unusual in others. Our operational support comes from donations from families, faith congregations

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We also receive a small percentage from government and foundation grants, fees for service and special events.

SVP also receives rents from five other local charities that are part of our campus – SNAP, The Arc of Spokane, Valleyfest, The Inland NW Fuller Institute for Housing/ Steps Re-entry and Impact Community Theater.

Beyond operations, the greatest support we receive is from in-kind (non-monetary) contributions of food (over 1.8 million pounds each year), clothing (135,000 pounds) and volunteer hours (25,000).

I urge everyone to learn about the organizations they support. It is important to know how much of donations go toward “overhead” and how much to programs. There is a wealth of information about the sector at the National Center for Charitable Statistic (www. nccsweb.urban.org) including copies of organization’s 990’s (tax returns). Guidestar (www. guidestar.org) is another excellent and unbiased way to learn about charities that you

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The Current

FEBRUARY 2016 • 13

CORNER

Continued from page 12 may want to support either financially or as a volunteer.

Another good way to check a charity’s credibility is to visit www.charitynavigator.org.

Most of you have heard slogans like “shop locally, keep your dollars in the local economy.” The same logic applies to charitable giving. While there are many well-run and effective national charities, giving to local charities makes sense because you can visit them and actually see where and how your charitable investment is being used.

Local charities like Spokane Valley Partners understand and embrace the interests, needs and values of our community.

Spokane Valley Partners has fewer layers of administration than typical international or national charities so more of your dollars go directly to delivering critical services right here at home. In fact, every dollar donated to Spokane Valley Partners is turned into $6 in services and our administrative and fundraising costs are under 8 percent, about half the nonprofit bench mark of 15 percent.

In a nutshell, supporting local charities improves the quality of life in our community and helps to build a stronger local economy.

“Community Corner” is a monthly feature in The Current highlighting news and insight from the local nonprofit network. Spokane Valley Partners is located at 10814 E. Broadway. To learn more about SVP programs or opportunities to volunteer and/ or donate, call 509-927-1153 or visit www.svpart.org.

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Lincoln left legacy of honesty and integrity

By Harvey Alvy Splash Guest Column When casually asked to define an “honest person” the logical response is, “It’s someone who tells the truth.”

But when honesty is revered as a character trait we need to go beyond a simple definition and ask what attributes do we expect of someone who walks down an honest path the days of his or her life? Fortunately, we have an excellent example to help us address this question—the 16th president of the United States, yes, Honest Abe. Although it’s generally assumed that Abraham Lincoln received his wellknown moniker while serving as president, in reality Lincoln “earned” the nickname by his early 20s. At that time, Lincoln was barely living above the poverty line and could claim only one year of formal schooling. Yet he was respected and admired by friends almost immediately after settling in New Salem, Ill. When town foot races were held, Lincoln was selected to judge the events and when a local militia was recruited for the Blackhawk War he was elected captain. At the age of 23, Lincoln was defeated in his first campaign for the state legislature but received amazing local support, winning 277 of 300 New Salem votes.

Why was this relative newcomer so trusted by the community? What did they see in this man? Historians often mention character traits that appealed to frontier citizens – common sense, a talent for

conversation and storytelling, a willingness to work hard and persevere, satisfying all debts and educating himself to meet personal goals while making a difference in the community.

However, in Lincoln’s case these outstanding traits reveal only part of the story. Lincoln’s honesty was buttressed by two other critical attributes that propelled him to heights far beyond the boundaries of New Salem: first, living his core values and second, telling the truth with humility.

Both qualities earned him the respect of friend and foe—and helped to save the Union.

Core values should determine our everyday behavior.

Lincoln’s core values were defined in the Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal.” As presidentelect, while traveling to Washington, D. C. for his inauguration, Lincoln visited Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Feb. 22, 1861. In Philadelphia he stated, “I never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence… all should have an equal chance.”

For Lincoln, Independence Hall was a sacred place. As a result of the Civil War and the subsequent passing of the 13th Amendment, emancipation was realized principally because the North embraced Lincoln’s core values. In a sense Lincoln was an open book, his words and actions matched. A helpful way to

assess honesty and integrity is asking if the walk matches the talk. In Lincoln’s case the answer is surely, a “yes.”

People witnessed Lincoln’s honesty through truth telling and humility.

Everyone, regardless of class, race or religion felt comfortable in his presence—he was approachable. Citizens could hear honesty in the president’s voice, see honesty in his words and judge honesty by his actions. Maybe the best example of both humility and honesty is Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address; particularly the immortal sentence – “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”

Lincoln’s humility and perspective helped to keep his brief remarks at Gettysburg focused on the real meaning of the day – the event was about dedicating the sacred memorial grounds to the fallen soldiers and rededicating the nation to their cause. Lincoln’s words captured the moment.

And, although it certainly was not his intent, his words live on, alongside the memory of those who fought at Gettysburg.

Aristotle believed that a speaker’s character is the most persuasive element of a speech. Honesty then, as

a character trait, holds great potential beyond the nobility of individual morality.

If people believe in your word, then the opportunity to make a difference is enhanced. Of course, the opposite is also true. If honesty and truth are absent qualities, then one’s word is meaningless. Abraham Lincoln succeeded, not because of wealth or pedigree, but because character and words matter, then, and now.

Harvey Alvy, a professor emeritus in Educational Leadership at Eastern Washington University, continues to serve as an educator in the U.S. and overseas. For more than a decade he helped to mentor hundreds of prospective school leaders in the northwest through the EWU Principal Leadership Intern program with Les Portner, Billie Gehres and Sharon Jayne. A former National Distinguished Principal for American Overseas Schools, Harvey led schools in Israel, India and Singapore. He is co-author, with Pam Robbins, of Learning From Lincoln: Leadership Practices for School Success.

Professor Avly donated his time and knowledge to write this guest column for Partners Advancing Character Education, for which the PACE leadership board thanks him.

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The Current

16 FEBRUARY 2016

West Valley students gravitate to guitar at Orchard Center

By Treva Lind Current Correspondent

Seven kids strumming guitars now fill a room with music twice weekly at Orchard Center Elementary, thanks to a recent $400 grant.

The 30-minute guitar workshops at lunchtime for fifth-graders started Nov. 16.

Leading them through chords is instructor Ralph Simmerer, a guitar hobbyist and math intervention specialist at the school.

West Valley Education Foundation awarded the funding to cover the cost of guitars and equipment, after Simmerer submitted a grant request. The Orchard Center guitar group gathers on Mondays and Fridays.

“I’m teaching them just basic acoustic guitar skills,” Simmerer said.

“They’re focused on learning chords right now, so they can learn guitar accompaniment for singing.

They’re learning strumming patterns along with some basic music theory — a beat, a measure, a rest, names of cords, major and minor chords.

“For fifth-graders, that’s challenging for them, but they love it.”

Student Kicea Lopes, 10, agreed the workshops are fun.

“The guitar sounds good, and I’ve always wanted to learn so when I grow up I can have a band,” she said.

And Isaiah Lyden, 11, watched closely as Simmerer taught chords in “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

“It’s really fun,” Lyden said.

“My dad’s a really good guitar

A guitar workshop taught by Ralph Simmerer is held twice a week at Orchard Center Elementary in the West Valley School District.

Photo byTreva Lind

player and he wants me to learn.”

Added Rochelle Svoboda, 11, “It’s good to learn for musical education.”

Simmerer wanted to provide small-group music sessions for students interested in the guitar, so he submitted for the grant. He began as a math specialist at Orchard Center this year, after working at Centennial Middle School for 10 years.

Orchard Center students get an all-around music program twice a week, Simmerer said, so the guitar session provides another choice.

“I wanted to give students additional opportunities to have more music in their lives,” he said. “Only some of the students take lessons outside of school. I wanted to make lessons available to students who might not otherwise have access to small-group lessons.”

With the funding, $300 went to buy guitars, and the rest paid for basic guitar books and equipment such as extra strings, tuners, and cases.

Simmerer said he stretched the dollars by scouring Craigslist and sales.

“I was aware the West Valley Education Foundation is a support group made up of community members who support West Valley schools.

They do fundraisers each year. I knew they have grants for teachers who want to do programs above and beyond for students. I supplemented a little with my own funds, but the foundation was very generous.”

He plans to continue the program for the long run, while keeping the group small.

It’s also focused solely as a fifth-grade program. To be in the guitar workshop, students sign an agreement to be good citizens in school and keep up with their class work.

The guitars are school property, but students who show high responsibility can take a guitar home for a couple of days to practice and bring it back, Simmerer said. He plans to help interested students find support for lessons in sixth grade.

“A couple of my students have gotten their own guitars and are practicing at home,” he said.

Teachers have been supportive of the students so they can attend the sessions, and he’s watched the children bond around school because of their common interest in guitars.

“I’d like to thank our music teacher, Sally Strauch, for allowing us to use her music room on a regular basis and store our guitars,” Simmerer said.

He added that the program also gives kids something unique in their lives.

“Having something special above the routine is important to look forward to a couple of days a week,” he said.

Simmerer started playing guitar at age 50 and has played for seven years. Previously, he mostly sang in choirs.

“I love the guitar and I just want to share that with more people,” he said. “I’m by no means an expert. It’s not a class. It’s a club.”

The Current

FEBRUARY 2016 • 17

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The first guitar workshop at Orchard Center took place in November and now includes seven students.

Photo by Treva Lind

The PACE character trait for the month is HONESTY Sincerity a n d reverence or love for the truth.

The Current

18 FEBRUARY 2016

I Spy with My Little Eye...

1 Red Gift tied up with a bow 2 Hearts shot clean through 3 Three flowers with a paisley beat 4 Arrows that need direction 5 Cupids with their bows aimed 6 Stars to light your way 7 Hearts with out flair 8 flowers amongst the rest 9 Kisses aimed right at you 10 Items with wings still to find (five butterflies, five hearts with wings) 11 music notes sounding sweet

Help the Robot Find his Heart

The Current

Building a legacy of hospitality in the Spokane Valley

By Jayne Singleton and Angela MacIsaac Spokane Valley Heritage Museum They didn't have much to give but what they had was there for the taking. Spokane Valley's history is marked with the generosity of individuals willing to give a helping hand to those who needed it, especially to the miners who travelled long, dusty trails in search of precious gold.

They rode in pack trains or on wagons. They came in droves and faced dwindling supplies and overpriced goods. When they needed it most, though, they could rely on the kindness of strangers, like Max and Pierre Mulouine.

"Those were the good old days when we could borrow anything a rancher had, except money, and the only reason for that was that the ranchers had none to loan," Brother Snodgrass wrote in an account called “The History of Early MICA District.” His document, a two-page typewritten article in the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum archives, is a terrific retelling of the people who lived, worked and did business in the busy Mica area.

The Kentuck Trail was named for Joseph “Kentuck” Ruark, a Pennyslvanian who came west in the early 1860s.

Contributed map

HISTORY

Max Mulouine (right) a French-Canadian native who settled in the Spokane Valley in the early 1870s, operated an 1,800-acre ranch covering most of the territory between Saltese and Mica.

Contributed photo

The Gold Rush into Idaho came only a few years after Ltnt. Col. Edward J. Steptoe established Ft. Walla Walla for a greater army presence in Eastern Washington.

The settlement became a central location, ensuring miners had somewhere to go for supplies.

Once the ore was found in the Clearwater country of north central Idaho in 1861, there wasn't a pick, shovel or gold pan to be found in Walla Walla. They were all sold out.

As the miners trudged their way from Washington to the other side of Idaho, they needed easy routes. They travelled one of three ways to Spokane – the Mullan Road, the Texas Road and the Kentuck Trail – and then on to Idaho.

The Mullan Road is, of course, the most well-known of the three. It was the first wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains and head all the way into the eastern corner of Washington.

The Kentuck Trail was shorter by 35 miles and more direct than the Mullan. It was named for Joseph "Kentuck" Ruark, a Pennyslvanian who came west in the early 1860s.

He operated the Blackfoot Ferry on the Snake River at Riparia, a

steamboat town just southeast of Washtucna. Ruark was in the first Coeur d'Alene excitement of 1865, wrote pioneer Thomas B. Beall. He was likely not known for his goodwill. Ferry operators were known to charge a pretty penny to the miners seeking transport across the waterways.

Luckily, the miners found lodging and generosity along the way.

The travelers forged their way along the Kentuck Trail toward Saltese Lake and onward to gold with few stops. One, the California Ranch established around 1861, was a haven in the rolling hills around what became Mica.

As the only established ranch along the Kentuck Trail between the Palouse and Spokane rivers in the 1860s, the ranch also served as an important way station and resting place for hundreds of miners, packers and early settlers who passed through this region throughout the frontier period. Henry Lueg, a Prussian immigrant whose diaries are important documents for our region's history, noted the ranch's existence in his 1867 “Journal of a Trip from St. Paul to Portland, Oregon.”

In his journal, Lueg referenced

FEBRUARY 2016 • 19

a man named Knight as operator of the California Ranch but we are most familiar with Mulouine.

Knight, a freighter on the Kentuck Trail and one of the original 49ers on the Gold Rush, sold his squatter's rights to the Mulouines around 1871, it is believed.

The Mulouine brothers, FrenchCanadians who came to the area in search of -- what else? -- gold, operated a massive ranch, as large as 1,800 acres and covering most of the territory between Saltese and Mica.

More importantly, Maxim Mulouine was a pioneer in Eastern Washington hospitality.

"Max took great pains to provide for the needs and comforts of his wayfaring guests, even building a large rock wine cellar of handpitched stone,” according to the Walla Walla Statesman. Brother Snodgrass, who arrived in Mt. Hope in 1886, was familiar with Mulouine, and spelled Max's surname with a double L. "When a man stopped with him who had money, he paid, but if not, Mr. Mullouine would keep him anyway," Snodgrass wrote.

"If he ever turned a man away, I never heard of it. Hundreds of people took advantage of the man's generosity and hundreds of people still owe him for feed for their teams, board and lodging for themselves (and families, too)."

Sadly, Pierre drowned in the Spokane River in August of 1879.

According to the newspaper, his horse had stumbled and Pierre was thrown off and never resurfaced. His body was not found until a month later. Both Mulouine brothers were well acquainted with Charlie Kendall at Spokane Bridge. In fact, they had lent Charlie money. Kendall died in 1873 and the Mulouine’s are listed in his will and probate as creditors. Pierre was buried near Kendall.

Around the turn of the century, Mulouine started selling off his land and platted a large portion of it for the town site of Mica.

Mica's growth -- especially around the discovery of clay and the establishment of the American Firebrick Company -- came and went.

Mulouine died in 1916 and is buried in the Mica cemetery. The original barn and granary still stand today as part of Scott's Dairy, a testament to the legacy Mulouine left as a generous, welcoming soul along the Kentuck Trail.

The Current

20 FEBRUARY 2016 Brought to you by

About and for Valley seniors

WV SCOPE forges on after loss of ‘goldstandard’ volunteer

we had a young man come to the office and asked to join SCOPE June worked with him on his application.”

When King found out that the applicant had not graduated from high school, she told him he would need to get his G.E.D. before he could join.

“She talked him through what he would need to do and where he would need to go to get his G.E.D.,” Scott recalled. “June was ready to pay out of her own pocket to help this young man get his G.E.D. We eventually figured out that he was too young to join SCOPE, but that’s the kind of person June was. I think that spirit is what we’re going miss the most.”

By Steve Christilaw Splash Correspondent The community that supports West Valley’s Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort (SCOPE) post got significantly smaller in 2015.

Tom and June King were there when the program started in Millwood in 1995 and were tireless volunteers as the program grew. Both Tom and June served as president and June held that position for nine years, earning honors for Volunteer of the Year and for lifetime achievement.

Tom passed away in 2001, but June maintained her volunteerism until last July, when she passed away.

“You don’t replace someone like June or any of the other long-term members we’ve lost,” SCOPE Executive Director Rick

The West Valley SCOPE Office located on Argonne Road in Millwood.

Photo by Ben Wick

Scott said. “You just have to keep going and hope some of our other members will step up and help take up the slack. And we’ve been doing that.”

Scott said there is a great deal of slack that has needed to be picked up.

Because she lived less than a block away from the SCOPE office, any time there was an alarm, June would be the first person to arrive to check. And she would attend every Millwood City Council meeting to provide a report on the post’s activities.

Scott said that King was always a stickler for starting the regular meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the dot.

“On that first meeting after she passed, once the clock hit 6:30, just about everyone in the meeting lifted up their wrist and pointed to their watch, reminding me it was time to start the meeting,” Scott laughed. “We all got a big kick out of that – but that’s kind of how we’re moving ahead.”

June King helped launch the West Valley SCOPE Program in 1995 with her husband Tom. Photo courtesy of Spokane County Sheriff ’s Office

cars and fill out paperwork.

“June could be a little gruff on the outside, but she went out of her way to take care of the deputies whenever they stopped by,” Scott said. “I think they miss her as much as we all do.”

Losing a long-term member who has intimate knowledge of almost everything involved with an effort like a SCOPE office is difficult. The vast amount of institutional memory lost can be overwhelming.

Scott said the memory is still available, just spread out amongst a broad section of the membership.

“We have a good, active membership and people have been stepping into those roles,” he said. “We’re going to miss June for a long, long time. She did set the gold standard for volunteering here.

She volunteered an incredible number of hours.”

to

What the office will miss most, he said, is the spirit June King brought to the office.

Sheriff’s deputies regularly use SCOPE offices to get out of their

“Most of our volunteers tend to be older folks and a lot of them are retired,” Scott said. “One day

Other things replace.

are

harder

SCOPE at a glance SCOPE operates with a mission “to foster community spirit, help provide a safe living environment in the communities where volunteers live and serve and increase citizen awareness and involvement in community oriented SCOPE volunteer program services in partnership with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.” There are 18 SCOPE branches throughout Spokane County. Offices in the greater Spokane County area include Liberty Lake, Newman Lake, East Valley, Trentwood, University, Fairfield, Central Valley, Edgecliff and West Valley. To learn more about SCOPE programs and opportunities to volunteer, visit www.scopespokanewa.org or call 509-477-3376.

The Current

FEBRUARY 2016 • 21

Trivia

The Crossword ACROSS 1 Bridge feature 5 Stringed instrument 9 Jane Fonda film, "Monster _____" 14 Make a bundle 15 Arabian bigwig 16 Green 17 Cybercafe patron 18 Take for a bride 19 Not bold 20 Beat 22 Gym tote 24 Itsy-bitsy biter 26 Ogler's look 27 Formula ___ 28 Chester White's home 30 Understandable 33 Kind of photograph 35 Folklore fiend 39 Part of MADD 40 It may be flared 43 Carry on 44 Energy drinks, perhaps 46 "Carmen" highlight 49 Drone, e.g.

50 Cleopatra biter 53 Shipping hazard 54 Donations 56 What a slow runner may need 59 "Ciao!"

62 Arise 63 Armoire feature

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10 Catch 11 Pole-lowering dance 12 Winged 13 Golf club 21 Breakfast sizzler 23 Charge DOWN 25 Get rid of 1 Adjoin 28 Identifying mark 2 Itch cause 29 Forum wear 3 Religious leader 31 Top 40 lists 4 Graceful bird 32 ___ bag 5 Cut down 34 Core 6 During 36 Prospector's 7 Small stream funding 8 First choice 37 Opportune 9 Apprentice doc 38 "If all __ fails..."

Bat's home Bloodless Coin since 2002 Analogous Gave out Erupt Lash mark

41 42 45 47 48 50 51 52 55 57 58 60 61 64

Gumbo pod Like some talk Clique Out "Wanna ___?"

Coming up Taste, e.g.

Ottoman title Avian chatterbox Face-off Dashed Dastardly doings It may be due on a duplex Propel a boat

Answers to Trivia: b, d, c, a, a, c, b, a

From mid-January to mid-February, the ancient Greeks held the festival of Gamelion, a celebration to mark what? a) The birth of Eros (Cupid) b) The marriage of Zues and Hera c) The mating of the birds d) The return of Spring What is the name of the cherub that shoots arrows of love into the hearts of humans? a) Cupid b) Eros c) Amor d) All of the above In Wales, the tradition used to be for a man to carve one of these out of wood and present it to his sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day. What was it? a) A heart-shaped box b) A letterbox c) A spoon d) A Before it became fashionable to give chocolates and flowers, what was the traditional gift given by a man to a woman on St. Valentine's Day? a) A pair of gloves b) A piece of jewelry c) A hair ribbon d) a kid goat According to one legend, St. Valentine was a Christian who was executed for performing marriages after the Roman Emperor Claudius II outlawed the institution.

Why did the emperor ban marriages? a) Not enough Men were enlisting in the army b) To reduce the birth rate c) So the men’s first loyalty would be to the gods, not their families d) All of the above During the Middle Ages, when knights would participate in jousting matches, they would dedicate their performance to a lady of the court whom they admired and perhaps were in love with. To let everyone know how he felt, a knight would pin a handkerchief or a scarf (known as a favor) belonging to the woman where? a) On his hat b) On his chest c) On his sleeve d) On his back According to an old European belief, certain members of the animal kingdom celebrate Valentine's Day as well.

What annual event is said to occur on February 14th? a) Gerter snakes have their annual ‘mating ball’ b) Birds choose their partners c) Garden snails shoot ‘love darts’ at each other d) Hens begin laying their eggs Today, an “X” on a card or letter represents a kiss. This practice has its origins in medieval times, when those who could not write would sign documents with an “X”. ow did this practice become associated with a kiss? a) The signer would kiss the “X” to show their sincerity b) The “X” symbolized the cross, or love of God c) The “X” symbolized two mouths touching d) None of the above

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LIBRARY

22 FEBRUARY 2016

The Current

SCLD hosts kindergarten registration kick-offs

By Clarissa Fidler Current Guest Contributor Starting kindergarten can be exciting, fun and a little scary – and that’s just for the parents.

To help both parents and kids get ready for kindergarten and navigate the registration process, Spokane County Library District is hosting kindergarten registration kick-offs at nine library locations in March.

“The programs are designed to let parents know what’s expected in kindergarten and what children should know before they go to kindergarten so they’re ready to learn,” says Mary Ellen Braks, Library Services manager and Excelerate Success partner.

Registration information for each school district will be available at the registration kick-offs, along with hands-on literacy activities parents and kids can participate in together.

Parents will also have time to ask questions about the registration process for their child’s school.

“It’s important to have a consistent message throughout Spokane County about kindergarten registration and the importance of children being ready to learn when they go to school,” says Braks.

For the first time ever, all school districts within Spokane County have established a common kindergarten registration date.

Parents and caregivers can begin registering children for the upcoming 2016-17 school year on March 1. This new precedent is a result of work done by Excelerate Success, the community’s cradleto-career partnership comprised of individuals from local agencies, businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations.

“By unifying the county districts around a common registration date, we hope to increase the number of families who register earlier in the spring so that we can connect families to their schools and make the transition into kindergarten easier for everyone,” said Justin Seppi, Excelerate Success AmeriCorps VISTA. Historically, kindergarten registration dates in Spokane County have varied from school district to school district.

Excelerate Success found that last year nearly one third of families registered children for kindergarten only three weeks before school started.

“This puts tremendous stress on both families trying to figure out where and how to register for school and schools trying to prepare their kindergarten classes,” says Seppi.

Deb Clemens, Cheney School District superintendent and Excelerate Success partner, took the network’s proposal for a

Valentine’s Day orchestrated with a library card

jazz and classical selections – a little Etta James, a little classical guitar, and for my beloved, the “Star Wars Suite,” the love theme from episode II is a gorgeous piece of music, even if the love story was horrible.

Second, a little poetry to share with each other. I searched OverDrive and found one of my favorite collections, “Love Poems”

by Pablo Neruda. I also spotted “100 Best Loved Poems,” which includes some perennial favorites

by Shakespeare, Byron and more. I love watching romantic movies, and Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to indulge.

Looking to Hoopla again, I found a couple of gems that might be just right. “An American in China” is an award-winning film about a young man who finds himself, and love, while traveling in China.

By Gwendolyn Haley Spokane County Library District Valentine’s Day is not a big deal for my husband and me. As two working parents with three kids at home, we usually don’t have the time or the energy to go all out on a romantic date. This year, I’m going to plan a low fuss, low stress date night using my library card.

First, music to set the mood.

Hoopla is a great source for free, downloadable music you can borrow at the touch of a button. I picked out a few albums from the

What to bring to register All registrations begin in March Here are some common items that you will need to register your child for school: • Birth certificate • Immunization records • Proof of residence: driver’s License, piece of first class mail Please check the school district information for additional forms you may need. unified registration date to the October 2015 superintendents’ meeting, where the idea was met with unanimous approval.

Spokane County Library District also has a variety of kindergarten-related resources, including detailed registration information for each school district, available on the “Getting Ready for Kindergarten” section of the Library District’s website.

“We designed the materials on our website with the intention that it would give parents who don’t already have kids in school some information because the landscape has changed over the years,” says Braks.

For more kindergarten resources, visit www.scld.org/ getting-ready-for-kindergarten/.

Clarissa Fidler is the communication specialist for the Spokane County Library District.

For those who prefer love stories with a gothic twist, I suggest the masterpiece adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey,” but you also can’t go wrong with a classic like “The Palm Beach Story,” starring the wonderful Claudette Colbert.

With music and entertainment settled, the third and final element is food. I love to eat, but who wants to spend their evening cooking and washing dishes? “One Pan, Two Plates”

by Carla Snyder, available both as an eBook through OverDrive and in print at your library, offers the perfect solution with over 70 simple and quick recipes for one pan meals.

Thanks to the library, we’re all set for a lovely romantic evening (provided we can get the kids to bed early).

The Current

FEBRUARY 2016 • 23

East Valley Schools are promoting the replacement of expiring Maintenance and Operations Levy. Remember to vote by Feb. 9.

Photo by Ben Wick

East Valley voters to consider replacement levy Feb. 9 From Current News Sources East Valley School District voters will be asked to consider approval of a four-year school programs Maintenance and Operations Replacement Levy on the Feb. 9 ballot. The levy is not a new tax but renews and replaces the district’s current educational operations levy approved by voters in 2012.

The Maintenance and Operations Levy represents 25 percent – or about $12.5 million - of the school district’s annual budget. Funding from the levy maintains current educational programs and activities including textbooks, salaries for teachers and support staff, teaching materials, technology, special education, routine school building maintenance and other essentials include utilities and insurance.

The levy also funds extracurricular activities including art, athletics, drama, music and afterschool programs.

Proposed levy amounts are set to protect against the possibility of a loss of state matching funds for school levies known as “levy equalization.” The impact to East Valley taxpayers is an estimated annual levy tax rate of $4.40 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation from 2017 through

2020, a decrease of 4 cents per $1,000 below the levy approved by voters in 2012. If state levy equalization funding is received, the levy tax rate in 2017 is estimated to be $3.90 per $1,000.

Ballots for the Feb. 9 election were mailed by the Spokane County Elections Office on Jan. 22. East Valley School District voters will have until Feb. 9 to return their ballot by mail or in an official elections dropbox located at area libraries.

About East Valley School District #361 East Valley School District educates more than 4,200 students in eight schools and online learning programs across approximately 100 square miles.

The district is recognized for innovative educational opportunities for students including year-round school, an online K-12 program, project-based high school and an integrated technology/arts magnet program. The district’s 83.4 percent on-time graduation rate and 92.3 percent extended graduation rates are higher than state and national averages. For more information visit www.evsd. org.

24 FEBRUARY 2016

SPORTS

CV state football champs reaped lessons from 1995 squad

By Mike Vlahovich Splash Sports Editor After Central Valley High School won the 1997 State 4A football championship, members of the class from two years earlier were only too willing to claim a share of the credit.

“We say jokingly we helped pave the way,” says running back Giorgio Usai from the 1995 squad.

Not so fast, counters Patrick Libey.

“If that’s what makes them sleep at night,” said Libey.

The proof, as far as he is concerned, came during coach Rick Giampietri’s retirement gathering last month.

“They had books out about Coach G’s success and there was a great big state championship book,” Libey quips. “We said, ‘Hey guys, where’s all your stuff? We don’t see any awards or accolades or anything.’ We were having pretty good fun with that.”

The joshing by members of both classes was all in good fun.

“Maybe we’re giving us too much credit,” Usai concedes.

“A lot of those guys were an extremely talented bunch.”

Case closed? Not necessarily.

As gifted as the 1997 class was

– 25 then-sophomores were listed on the roster and five were starters – the 1995 team did have some influence on what transpired in 1997’s oneloss season and 49-13 blowout of South Kitsap for the title.

Zac Scott, for one, was a receiver and defensive back for the state champs who had an interception for a touchdown in the title game.

“They took us as ninthgraders and sophomores under their wing,” Scott says. “They were great leaders. That’s where I learned my work ethic.

They showed us how to win.”

The 1995 Bears had high hopes that were borne out, despite an early setback.

“We thought we were pretty good,” says quarterback R.J. DelMese, who went on to play at Western Washington and today is a partner in the accounting firm Moss Adams.

“We had a pretty good player at every position. The weird thing is, Ricky (Giampietri, the coach’s son) was the running back and the positions were set. Then, Ricky separates his shoulder.”

Rick, Jr. missed only one game, but pretty much was limited to playing defense. Usai, who had entertained thoughts of giving up football to concentrate on weight lifting, was thrown into

the breach. All he did was gain a league-leading 1,388 yards, the second-best single season in GSL history at the time. He scored 146 points, setting a single season record.

“I was going to be the starting cornerback and was perfectly happy with that,” recalls Usai, who later played football at California junior colleges before joining DelMese at Western.

Today he is in the business of selling fitness equipment to schools.

CV won 10 straight games to lose 42-28 in something of an upset in the first round of state to eventual finalist Kamiakin. The Braves knocked out the Bears at Albi Stadium. Usai scored on a game opening 80-plus yard run in what DelMese called “a shootout” that between the teams amassed some 1,000 yards of total offense.

“Kamiakin was the fastest, most athletic team we played,” DelMese says. “We just ran out of time.”

While Libey and Greater Spokane League rushing record obliterator Tyree Clowe were juniors on the title team and didn’t play with any of those ’95 athletes, the seniors benefited by example.

Of those 25 sophomores listed on the 1995 roster, 19 stayed the course. Third-year starters were Nate McFarlane, whose long game-opening kickoff return set the tone for the championship game, standout Garret Graham, Wil Beck,

Members of the 1995 and 1997 Central Valley High School football teams gathered last month with fellow Bears from seasons past for the retirement celebration of longtime Head Coach Rick Giampietri. From left to right: Giorgio Usi, R.J. DelMese, Jeff Allen, Patrick Libey, Zac Scott and Tyree Clowe Photo by Bob Johnson

The Current

Brandon Bouge and Preston Crossman.

Scott estimates 10 of them went on to play in college.

The Bears were a team of men against boys. The line averaged 250 pounds, including 340-pound Crossman and oneman wrecking crew and State 4A MVP Beck who weighed 296, scored CV’s final TD on a trick play and played four years at Idaho.

“Those guys up front, our guys in the trenches were difference makers,” Libey says.

Clowe was a 200-pounder who would set single season and career rushing records of 2,318 and 3,937 yards that stood until a few years ago. He was first and third in season scoring and his career 342 points were nearly 100 more than the runner-up and rushed for 254 yards and four TDs in the state final.

Linebacker Libey played with Beck at Idaho, and until recently helped coach at Washington State and his alma mater before returning to Spokane and starting a business.

Their loss lone loss, against Gonzaga Prep, came in the next-to-last game of the season. But the Bears won four playoff games, allowing just 34 points and obliterated South Kitsap in the Tacoma Dome, where I watched incredulously from the sidelines.

Both Scott, a real estate broker in Coeur d’Alene who went on to play at Central Washington University, and Libey say they were confident early they could be state champions.

“You may think I’m crazy, but that was our goal in seventh and eighth grade,” Scott says. “I feel it started there, personally.”

Good friends to this day, Usai, R.J. DelMese and Jeff Allen off the 1995 team as well as Libey, Scott and Clowe from the state championship season got together last month to swap tales and continue the debate, all in good fun, naturally.

Libey got in the final word. “I think at the end of the day we agreed they were pretty darn good and so were we,” Libey says. “We just happened to play a few more games than they did. I’m glad I was on the’97 team. I’ll just say that.”

The Current

SPORTS

FEBRUARY 2016 • 25

The Final Point

program. It took a conversation with Eagles’ Coach Craig Whitney find out that Jace had been listed as a lineman and needed the new number in order to carry the ball.

The sky seemed the limit for a beast-mode future college gridder and two-time 220-pound wrestling high school state runner-up.

Then, a nagging hip injury his senior year turned out to be a malignant tumor, necessitating amputation of his leg. The story of his plight and how the University of Idaho honored its scholarship offer was well-documented and put sports in perspective.

But the lesson then hit closer to home. I ruminate because my daughter Linse, jaundiced and feeling ill, was told to beat feet to Valley Hospital’s emergency room following a blood test ordered by her doctor in Seattle.

Our family had gone to the new “Star Wars” movie the Monday after Christmas and she refused to leave until it was over. Like a bad dream, she was subsequently jetted by airship to the University of Washington’s Medical Center.

The prognosis? Life threatening and rare acute liver failure.

Panicked family hastened to Seattle the next day, hoping for the best, but fearing grim news.

In the room filled with bustling staff we sat in a fog hearing that Linse was put on the transplant list and of the subsequent risks.

Although typically a glass-halfempty guy, I probably didn’t realize the severity as much as my wife did.

Over the course of a week Linse was tested daily to determine of the extent of the liver damage.

Thankfully, she was released from the hospital with encouraging news, but she’s still struggling physically and it will take six months to a year to determine if the liver regenerates or must be replaced.

It got me to thinking about my time as a typical sports dad who make the game more important than it is and let the seeming injustices of my children’s high school experiences fester. I believe to this day that my son could have contributed to the football team 15 years ago. It was

his favorite sport but being a latebloomer didn’t get the chance.

Needless to say, the coach and I didn’t see eye to eye. Baseball was the same. I still believe he deserved to start as a junior, but was relegated to the bench until his senior season. Jared took it in stride. Dad obsessed.

Linse wound up having a successful high school softball pitching career, but I still grated about her treatment in volleyball and my wife, Tambra, had to apologize for the run-in I had with a coach.

She was a record-setting pitcher Central Washington University. I, however, paced like a caged lion along with other dads, as if her time on the mound was akin to the apocalypse.

Sitting daily in the UW medical facility while your daughter is being poked and prodded, you come to the realization how silly it was to act like a petulant child.

Win or lose the games must be fun, not life or death. It took staring into the maw of the real thing to hopefully learn that lesson.

Sports Notebook

last year, averaging some 19 points per game. The rest of CV’s 61 points-pergame average has come from nine players, including Hailey Christopher and Lacie Hull, Lexi’s twin. Both are approaching double figures averages. All three are sophomores.

Post-season begins Feb. 9.

Two-time state veteran East Valley girls would like it to be three. They’d lost just twice with four games remaining and had a two-game lead in the Great Northern after a two-point win against second place Clarkston.

Seven players are returned, led in scoring by Hannah Burland who was averaging nearly 13 points per game. Elle Burland, Hannah’s cousin, and freshman newcomer Genesis Wilkinson, are neardouble figures scorers and Jordan Phelan is a key component. Eight different girls on the team have had at least one double-digit game.

University was in fourth place in the GSL heading into the league’s final five games.

Senior veteran Kaitlin Pannell has been the season long scoring leader at 14.4 points per game with Brooke Bailey scoring just under 10.

Improved Freeman behind Sydney Sather and Cassidy Crosswhite was bunched among four teams vying for second place in the Northeast A league. Valley Christian, whose freshman Phoebe Trigsted is scoring at 12.1 clip, is playing break-even ball.

Boys teams in contention Ryan Maine can score high or low as the situation demands. The state co-champion in golf last spring knows the fewer strokes the better. But he’s prolific when it comes to basketball for Northeast A-leading Freeman. The Scotties standout scored 30 points as they took over first place with a

wild 82-80 overtime win against Lakeside with five games left.

Maine was averaging 19.4 points per game with five games remaining. Teammate Michael Coumont is scoring at a 12.7 clip with Jack Paukert just under 10 points per game. His two free throws sealed the key win over Lakeside. Six players have had double-digit nights.

Central Valley’s 40-39 escape against the Titans, left the Bears tied for third place with a 12-3 overall record, two games behind Gonzaga Prep.

CV spent most of its time on the perimeter shooting 3-pointers (they made nine) during a 59-56 loss to the Bullpups that came down to CV’s final shot that just missed tying the score.

Eight players have had double figures games, led by Josh Thomas’ 12.9 points average. Cameron Tucker was .1 point behind and Ryan Rehkow was at 11.0.

University had a 6-9 overall record with five games to go. Austin Dill led the team with a 13.9 point average. Spencer Matt, who led the Titans in scoring last year, missed the first nine games of the season with injury, but was averaging 13.3 points in the six games since his return, including 20, more than half U-Hi’s total, against CV. Nobody is going to catch defending state champion Clarkston in the Great Northern League, but West and East Valley were among three teams vying for second.

The Eagles, picked last in the GNL, have compiled a mark of 10-6 on sophomore Connor Whitney’s buzzer beating 3-pointer that broke the Knights’ (8-8) heart. They met once more.

WV had three averaging double figures, Johnny Sage (13.8), Brennen Folkins (12.1)

and Austin Yoakum (10.9). EV was paced

by Eli Holecek at 12.4 points per game and Jeremiah Hillard at 10.5.

Chase Strunk and James Segalia were averaging around 10.5 points per game in the Northeast 1B South League with two games left and playoffs in the offing.

Mat title at stake More often than not the season ending wrestling match between the Titans and Bears has been for the GSL title. This year was no exception when the two teams completed the dual season (after Current press deadline).

The Bears had a wealth of league unbeaten individuals including defending champion Bryson Beard, his brother Bridger and had three freshmen to watch – Tyrell Sims, Zach Stratton and Wyatt Whickam.

Titans coach Don Owen is a master strategist and this season may have been his best. Except for the upper four weights, including state finalist Levi Meinzinger, the majority of U-Hi wrestlers had losing or break-even league records. Yet they managed wins earlier against three contenders, including an unfathomable victory over Mt. Spokane despite winning but six of the 14 weight classes. The Titans also bring back state placer Cam Sorensen.

East Valley captured the Great Northern League championship as it prepared for 2A post-season, led by state finalists Trey Meyer and Logan Sundheim. West Valley returns state placers Hunter and Drake Ferguson.

Defending 1A champion Freeman has a chance to do well again. The Scotties return five state veterans, including second place Sebastian Hyta and fourth-place Peyton Smetana.

By Mike Vlahovich Splash Sports Editor We, in this sports-obsessed world, paint our faces and act like fools treating every win with euphoria and every loss in despair as if we’d lost a loved one. It’s as if the game has become our raison d’etre.

But I learned over the holidays it only takes one life altering experience to change your perspective.

I’ve been a sports nut ever since I could read a sports page.

Gonzaga Prep’s unbeaten state football championship was a time for celebration – but everything pales when juxtaposed against the story of West Valley standout Jace Malek’s battle with terminal cancer and a recent personal trial.

I witnessed Jace first-hand as a high school sophomore, cutting through Clarkston football players like an axe through so much cordwood. I didn’t know who he was because the number he wore, 99, wasn’t listed in the

By Mike Vlahovich Splash Sports Editor We’ve got spirit – how about you? First there was the “Golden Throne” pitting West Valley against East Valley. Then, Central Valley and University vied for the “Stinky Sneaker,” the annual spirit basketball games played before huge crowds.

As the season reached the three-quarter mark, CV’s boys and girls won the basketball games. By a slim margin, University took home the coveted sneaker.

Then there was the Battle of the Bone between the Bears and Titans. Only the Bone isn’t for spirit match, but was a spirited one that determined the Greater Spokane League wrestling championship, Jan. 27, as this publication went to press.

Herewith a capsule of Valley teams’ seasons prior to playoffs that begin in early February: CV girls class of the field Central Valley’s undefeated girls’ basketball team has but one senior who plays extensively.

Six of the players are sophomores with a couple of freshmen contributing as well.

Despite the youth, it that didn’t stop GSL coaches from tabbing them the league favorites prior to the season and they’ve performed as billed.

Through 15 games, CV was unbeaten and largely untested. Lewis and Clark was likely the only to team to stand in the way of a perfect season.

The Bears’ average margin of victory was more by more than 30 points per game.

Lexie Hull took up where she left off

26 FEBRUARY 2016

SVFD Report February 2016

Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to a total of 1,530 emergency calls from Dec. 16, 2015 through Jan. 19, 2016.

Highlighted calls include: • Gas leak – Dec. 16 – SVFD crews responded to a car that had lost control on an icy road in the 1200 block of South Liberty Drive at 10:20 am. An Oldsmobile was up against a garage. The vehicle had struck a natural gas meter and the leaking gas was audible. SVFD crews stretched a line and in full protective gear turned off the valve to stop the gas leak. The driver was uninjured. The air inside the home was safe.

• Motor vehicle accident – Dec. 27 – A car and a semi-truck were involved in an accident near the Evergreen Road/I-90 ramp just before 3 p.m. The car driver had car merged into the rear corner of the semi, which did not appear to stop.

The car had substantial damage to the front end and had taken out a road sign before coming to a stop off the side of the freeway.

• Technical rescue – Dec. 28 – A 19-year-old female was injured while sledding down a steep, icy hillside in Mission Park. Shortly after 10 p.m. SVFD crews were called to the 11100 block of East Mission.

They secured the young woman on a backboard and completed a low

NEWS

angle technical rescue to pull the patient to the top of the hill. She was transported to the hospital.

• Structure fire – Dec. 30 – An overloaded electrical circuit caused a fire that destroyed a single-wide residence in a mobile home park in the 24000 block of East Trent.

Shortly before 9:30 p.m., SVFD crews arrived to find the home fully involved in fire. Suppression efforts were hindered by a nearby fire hydrant buried under a snow drift. A 28-year-old male resident escaped unharmed after his cat alerted him to the fire. The home had smoke detectors, but they were not working.

• Service call – Jan. 4 – SVFD crews were called to the 19200 block of East Riverwalk Lane just after 10 p.m. The neighbors of an unoccupied house were concerned about the sound of water flowing.

Crews observed water running from a second floor wall near the front entry. They entered the home through an unlocked door and shut off the water, locking the door as they exited.

• Tractor-trailer fire – Jan. 8 – Shortly before 5:30 a.m., SVFD crews responded to a vehicle fire on I-90 westbound at the Sprague Avenue exit. The vehicle fire, which was caused by an electrical failure in the engine, destroyed the cab of the semi and two of the new vehicles it was hauling. The driver escaped unharmed.

• Motor vehicle accident – Jan. 9

Community Brief

Northwest Farm Credit Services presented the Freeman School District with a donation to replace football and track bleachers in late December. From left to right: AgDirect Territory Manager Chad Goldsmith, FCS Insurance Specialist Darcie Sainsbury, Annie Keebler of the Freeman School District and Freeman Superintendent Randy Russell.

Contributed photo

Freeman School District awarded rural grant Northwest Farm Credit Services (FCS) awarded the Freeman School District a $2,500 rural community grant in late December to replace bleachers at the Freeman football and track complex.

Freeman Superintendent Randy Russell expressed gratitude for

a company that has traditionally supported the Rockford-based district and surrounding community.

“We would like to thank Northwest Farm Credit Services for the generous grant that will help provide a safe, comfortable place to sit for our students, parents, staff and community members for decades to come,” Russell said.

“Thanks again Northwest FCS you continue making a difference in the lives of our community.”

In 2015, Northwest FCS awarded 62 rural grants to rural communities totaling more than $134,000. Since the program’s inception in 2007, the company has presented 464 rural grants totaling more than $948,000.

The next rural grant deadline is Feb. 1. If you are a Northwest FCS customer and think your rural project may be eligible, visit www.northwestfcs.com for more information.

– SVFD crews responded to a multivehicle accident just east of Sullivan on Trent Avenue at about 4:45 p.m.

Crews arrived to find three cars involved in the accident, which was partially blocking the westbound lanes. Two cars had been involved in a “T-bone” accident and were heavily damaged. One patient was transported to the hospital.

• Garage fire – Jan. 10– Improperly stored gasoline caused a fire that destroyed a detached garage in the 8500 block of East Mission Avenue just after 8 a.m.

SVFD crews arrived to find the garage fully involved in fire and quickly initiated suppression efforts, preventing the fire from spreading to the nearby home. Damage was estimated at $11,500, including an ATV stored inside.

• Motor vehicle extrication – Jan. 16 – Shortly before 1:30 p.m., SVFD crews responded to a small SUV off the east side of the road down a small embankment at 3915 South Pines Road. Three people were trapped inside the vehicle.

Crews stabilized the vehicle using struts and strapping to a tree. They partially removed the roof to free the patients who were transported to the hospital in stable condition.

By the numbers: Fires* 70 Emergency medical services 1,176 Hazardous materials 16 Motor vehicle accidents 160

The Current

Extrication 5 Water rescue 1 Low angle technical rescue 1 Building alarms 87 Service calls 14 *Types of fires include brush, commercial, residential, rubbish, vehicle and unauthorized burning and downed power lines 2015 statistics In 2015, SVFD firefighters and paramedics responded to more than 15,872 emergency calls, up 15.5 percent over 2014. Of these calls, 78 percent required an emergency medical service response.

Spokane Valley Fire Department serves the cities of Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Millwood and unincorporated areas of Spokane County including the communities of Otis Orchards, Pasadena Park and the area surrounding Liberty Lake, with a combined population of 125,000 across approximately 75 square miles.

Established in 1940, the department operates 10 stations providing fire suppression, emergency medical services, technical rescue, vehicle extrication, hazardous materials response, swift water rescue, fire investigation, fire prevention, commercial property inspection, CPR and fire safety training. For more information, call 509-928-1700 or visit www. spokanevalleyfire.com.

The Current

Higgins earns bid as Spokane Valley’s latest mayor

By Benjamin Shedlock Current Correspondent Rod Higgins – who found his way onto the Spokane Valley City Council via a coin flip in 2013 – was elected as Spokane Valley’s sixth mayor on Jan. 5. Higgins takes on the role of leading City Council proceedings and incorporating voices of Valley residents into the governing process.

Higgins was elected by a 4-3 vote in a contest against Chuck Hafner, who garnered the votes of Dean Grafos and Bill Gothman. Higgins received the votes of Arne Woodard, Sam Wood and Ed Pace. Under Spokane Valley’s council-city manager form of government, the city manager provides executive leadership and the mayor is elected by fellow City Council members to lead the council and meet duties required by the state such as disaster declarations.

The mayor also acts as the face of the Spokane Valley and been an important conduit for engaging the community and soliciting their input.

The process was a bit smoother than Higgins’ first introduction to council on Feb. 5, 2015 when he and Linda Thompson, longtime executive director of the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council, were the finalists to replace Brenda Grassel.

When existing council members wound up in a tie vote, Higgins won a coin flip to earn his way onto the governing board.

Higgins is being elevated to this role at a time when the Valley is addressing statewide and national issues that affect local quality of life.

At the same time, a slate of local administrative issues awaits the council and the new mayor will have to manage the Valley’s business environment. Also on the agenda are maintaining the council’s productive working relationship and shaping the conversation around more politically charged issues than the Valley has traditionally addressed.

“The mayor makes sure voices are heard at City Council meetings,” said Spokane Valley Public Information Officer Carolbelle Branch. According to Branch, as City Council chair, the mayor has an important role

FEBRUARY 2016 • 27

NEWS

in appointing council members to committees and council members help convey the city’s priorities to residents. In this way, Spokane Valley’s mayor helps shape the city’s message.

“The mayor has an important role in organizing,” said inaugural Spokane Valley Mayor Mike DeVleming. For DeVleming, Spokane Valley could benefit from more mayoral outreach, possibly through attending meetings at service clubs so people will understand what the City is doing.

DeVleming, was often seen visiting with community groups during his tenure and initiated civic-friendly programs like “Pizza with the Mayor.”

Higgins ready for new role Based on his willingness to get out and work with the community and his previous city experience, Higgins figures to fit the public-face mode.

“I intend to be active in getting out and meeting folks,” he said.

Higgins prepared for his role as mayor with two years on the City Council and a stint on the planning commission.

“It’s the same dais and same issues, like land issues and zoning,” he said.

That role was important for Higgins because it put him in front of the same group he would deal with as a council member and mayor, including working with Olympia on infrastructure issues. Even before he gained his local governing experience, Higgins interfaced with the federal and state governments as a director with the International Society of Mine Safety Professionals.

Looking ahead to 2016, it’s unclear whether local administrative issues will remain in primary focus for the Spokane Valley City Council.

The Valley has a reputation for pragmatic governing that Higgins contributed to on the planning commission and through work on the Valley’s comprehensive plan.

The City Council helped the Valley weather the Great Recession with a budget surplus and council members have worked together to move the young city forward.

Valley looks to Olympia The legislative agenda adopted by City Council on Dec. 8 suggests they will continue to address practical issues. The top item is finding $21 million in additional transportation funding to build an overpass for the BNSF rail line at Barker Road. The

Rod Higgins was appointed the mayor of Spokane Valley at the Jan. 5 City Council meeting.

Photo by Craig Howard

project would separate the rail and traffic grades to improve emergency access and address coal train concerns including traffic, whistle noise and accidents.

With the proposed opening of the Tesoro Savage Vancouver Energy Distribution Terminal, which could add up to four trains per day to Spokane Valley’s rail traffic, Higgins sees value in the overpass, naming safety for first responders and schools as issues that need to be addressed.

BNSF has promised $346,000 to the $29.2 million project, but Mayor Higgins said the rail owner could offer more.

“It would be nice if the railroad took a sense of responsibility,” he said.

The council’s other legislative priority is expanding its authority to recoup costs for code enforcement.

State legislation would help the Valley recover costs when it responds to a court order to perform abatement.

Council readies to tackle comp plan The new mayor also said the comprehensive plan is up for revision and he plans to pursue that process in a business-friendly way.

“We’re taking away regulation,” said Higgins. As an example, he pointed out a rule from the previous administration the city could lift that required companies to provide landscaping in heavy industrial areas.

These issues suggest a continued pragmatic focus, but other topics on the city’s plate engender less unity. At the Jan. 5 meeting, Council Member

Ed Pace introduced a resolution stating that Spokane Valley is not a sanctuary city, or a municipality that does not enforce federal immigration law as a primary offense. The mayor utilized his gavel several times to re-establish order when the debate reached a pitch. (see story on the decision in this issue) Passions are also increasing in the Valley over the Tesoro Savage refinery. While the main concerns it raises are safety and rail traffic, the issue has introduced broader environmental concerns. Many of the public comments at the Jan. 13 statewide public hearing at CenterPlace incorporated concerns about climate change, offering another possible point of friction if the Valley submits a formal comment on the refinery.

According to DeVleming, another challenge facing the city is voter apathy and engaging diverse groups in the city. In the latest round of council elections, voters opted for an older group of men from one district.

“The City Council is one demographic – it’s not healthy for the city,” said DeVleming.

Such issues suggest that the Valley may becoming more polarized, but Higgins says he’s focusing on the Valley’s needs.

“The contentiousness is brought into focus by other council members,” he said.

As for the diversity issue, Higgins emphasized “we’ve been searching far and wide since Brenda Grassel left,” adding that there are multiple definitions of diversity.

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The Current

28 FEBRUARY 2016

Service Directory Volume 5, Issue 2 EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Ben Wick

Craig Howard

ben@libertylakesplash.com EDITOR

craig@libertylakesplash.com GRAPHICS EDITOR

Danica Wick

danica@libertylakesplash.com

A DVERTISING COORDINATOR Joy Katt

joy@libertylakesplash.com

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BiJay Adams, Harvey Alvy, Ken Briggs, Steve Christilaw, Clarissa Fiddler, Jim Frank, Gwendolyn Haley, Treva Lind, Shardé Mills, Ross Schneidmiller, Benjamin Shedlock, Mike Vlahovich The Liberty Lake Splash P.O. Box 363 Liberty Lake, WA 99019 Phone: 242-7752; Fax: 927-2190 www.libertylakesplash.com The Splash is published monthly by or before the first of each month. It is distributed free of charge to every business and home in the greater Liberty Lake area. Additional copies are located at drop-off locations in Liberty Lake and Otis Orchards.

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Errors should be reported immediately to 2427752 or by email to editor@libertylakesplash. com. Confirmed factual errors will be corrected on this page in the issue following their discovery.

Let's talk school boundaries!

We’re a growing district! We are currently adding capacity for approximately 2,000 students thanks to the voter-approved 2015 Construc�on Bond. As a result, we will need to adjust a�endance boundaries for all elementary schools as well as Greenacres and Evergreen middle schools.

Want to get involved? We’re accep�ng applica�ons to join our Boundary Review Commi�ee. Apply at CVSD.org today!

Advertising information Display ad copy and camera-ready ads are due by 5 p.m. on the 15th of the month for the following month’s issue. Call 242-7752 for more information.

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Complaints about advertisers should be made in writing to the Better Business Bureau and to advertise@ libertylakesplash.com. The Splash is not responsible for the content of or claims made in ads.

Copyright © 2016 All rights reserved. All contents of The Splash may not be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

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The Current

FEBRUARY 2016 • 29

OPINION

Spokane SUPPORT EAST VALLEY River Forum Conference set STUDENTS for next month

By Ben Wick Your vote counts, vote yes by Feb. 9 Attention citizens! The East Valley School District needs our help. The Maintenance and Operation Levy which provides for approximately 25 percent of the East Valley School District annual operating budget is set to expire this year without our support. This is a key funding source for the district that they cannot afford to lose.

These dollars are used to reduce class sizes by funding additional teachers, enrich student experiences and lives by funding arts, music, and athletics.

They also provide funds for routine building maintenance and much, much more. This ballot request isn’t a new request and doesn’t provide overproduced programs. In fact, we are already providing this funding level, our school district leadership has utilized the funds to create and run efficient, effective programs and these programs need to be continued.

The world is changing, the job market has changed and the economy is still changing.

As our children and future generations are growing up in these new times, they are going to be the ones most affected by the changes and our schools are the frontline to prepare them for this new future. Everyone can agree that we want what’s best for our children and the next generation. We need to provide them the tools to be successful.

As a region, we have seen a number of close elections and it goes to remind us that every vote truly does count and matter. Last November, we saw a near record low voter turnout for the Spokane Valley region. When we remain silent, we leave common sense to chance. Our kids and neighbors need us. We can’t let this happen, we can’t leave our future to chance. Please join us in supporting our future with East Valley Students and vote yes by Feb. 9!

The 2016 Spokane River Forum Conference is scheduled March 23-24 at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. The event will be preceded by the Coeur d'Alene Lake "Our Gem" Symposium on March 22 co-hosted by the Spokane River Forum, Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Indians and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

With over 250 people expected to attend, the conference provides an opportunity for representatives from Washington and Idaho to share information, network with others and reach out to the public. Local and regional approaches to addressing water quality, water resource, restoration, recreation and stewardship concerns will be highlighted throughout the conference.

The conference typically draws a diverse crowd that includes natural resource specialists, local, state, tribal and federal agencies, water purveyors, elected officials, watershed councils, property owners and conservation groups. Local businesses, chambers of commerce, colleges and universities are also represented.

“Participants will be able to choose between sessions that lean toward being more technical, policy, or public outreach oriented,” said Andy Dunau, executive director of the Spokane River Forum.

Examples of discussion topics include climate change specific to our area, green solutions being researched and implemented and case studies from Portland and Seattle on effective public outreach. Also on the agenda are the latest in water resource and water quality modeling and research, toxic reduction strategies and our emerging blue economy, which refers to the synergy between environmental restoration and economic development.

For more information, call 509-5357084 or visit www.spokaneriver.net.

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Clark’s Tire and Automotive • Family Medicine/Healthy Living Liberty Lake Greenstone • Liberty Lake Family Dentistry • Liberty Lake Orthodontics Liberty Lube • Post Falls Family Dental • Spokane County Library District Thrivent Financial • Weishaar, Sue Weishaar D.D.S.

Index of advertisers Following are the local advertisers in this issue of The Current.

Amaculate Housekeeping 13 Avista Utilities 6 Clark’s Tire & Automotive 3 Central Valley School District 28 Central Valley Theatre 23 Cornerstone Church 6 Evergreen Fountain 21 Family Medicine Liberty Lake 7 GraceSon Housing Foundation 10 Greenstone 32

Healthy Living Liberty Lake 20 KiDDS Dental 17 Kiwanis of Liberty Lake 14 Liberty Cross Ministries 5 Liberty Lake Family Dentistry 5 Liberty Lake Orthodontics 3 Natural Spine Solutions 4 Ott Knott Used Golf Carts 27 Ponti Veterinary Hospital 28 Riverview Little League 14

Roller Derby

26

Simonds Dental Group

32

Spokane County Conservation District 14 Spokane County Library District 22 Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce 9 Valley Hospital

13

Weishaar, Sue Weishaar D.D.S. 12 Service Directory

30

Of note: This thank you message was produced by The Current’s advertising team, which works its tail off on behalf of partner businesses, helping them share their messages through advertisements. This is an independent function from The Current’s editorial team, which has its own evaluation process to determine the community news stories and features it pursues. For more information about a win-win partnership that expertly markets your business to thousands of readers (while making this home-grown community newspaper possible), email advertise@valleycurrent.com. With story ideas, contact editor@valleycurrent.com.

30 FEBRUARY 2016

The annual Gem of the Valley Gala was a fantastic event to kick off the New Year on Jan. 22. Dr. Phillip Rudy recieved a Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to our community. Chuck Halfner was presented with Citizen of the Year. HUB Sports Center was awarded Non-Profit of the Year. Heart of the Community Award went to Avista. Signs for Success was awarded Small Business of the Year with Rosauers Supermarket, Inc. receiveing Large Business of the Year. Jesse Sheldon of Inland NW Baby took home Entrepreneur of the Year. Each school district recognized a Teacher of the Year. Central Valley- Robin Barnhart, East Valley- Tim Busse, West ValleyEric Groshoff. Congratulations everyone.

Photos by Katy Payne

LOCAL LENS

The Current

The Current

ON THAT NOTE

FEBRUARY 2016 • 31

Telling the story of the Valley – one paper at a time

By Craig Howard Current Editor One of the many benefits of being a journalist – in addition to the garden show comp tickets, press row access to the llama pen and the occasional free appetizer – is the opportunity to meet a diverse collection of characters.

When I began working at the Spokane Valley News Herald in April 2002, one of those characters was Lester Smith. A native of Indiana, Lester moved to the Valley in 1965 and earned a living as a salesman, technician and business consultant but was known by most as a workingman’s poet.

He would drop by the Valley Herald office on Pines Road a few times a month and pontificate on the latest happenings in local and national government, most often with an animated delivery that was rarely confined to a chair. Lester’s claim to fame was writing poems – lots of them – on a range of subjects that could fill an encyclopedia. By 2007, his count of original compositions was over 30,000.

“Give me a topic, any topic,” Lester would say in a tone that was part carnival jester, part auctioneer.

He would then proceed to scrawl verses on the nearest scrap of paper, typically completing his ballad in the time it would take to warm up a slice of pizza in the microwave.

While Lester may not be remembered in literary anthologies with the likes of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, he was acknowledged as the Valley’s unofficial poet laureate – a virtual assembly line of rhyme. When he passed away in 2011, the community lost a unique treasure, one who left behind a legacy of creativity,

enthusiasm and storytelling.

Lester served as a reminder to me that the written word – whether it appears as poetry on Post-It’s or in the columns of a newspaper – reflects the priorities and experiences of a people. I was fortunate to tell that story for a decade at the Valley Herald after Managing Editor Mike Huffman hired me to join a staff that understood the importance of chronicling local history as it happened week by week. For the Herald that role began in 1920, the same year the first news report was heard over radio waves in the U.S. The newspaper would soon have plenty of company on the nationwide media front.

My time at the Herald included floating over forests and farmland in a Valleyfest hot air balloon, moderating a candidate debate, covering the incorporation of Spokane Valley after the vote finally passed in May of 2002 and meeting the movers and shakers of the inaugural leadership team at City Hall. Some of those pillars are gone now – from the inaugural City Council alone, Mike Flanigan, Rich Munson and Gary Schimmels have passed on after helping forge the foundation of the city we know today.

I miss other friends who were part of my journey at the Herald.

Florence Boutwell, who came to the Valley during World War II from her native New Jersey to live and work at the Velox Naval Supply Depot (now the site of the Spokane Business and Industrial Park), continues to be an inspiration when it comes to preserving the history of the area.

Her four-volume set on the Spokane Valley served as an exceptional resource whenever I needed information on the heyday of farms and orchards, the origins of the region’s irrigation system or the lineage of a building featured on the historic registry.

A l t h o u g h Florence passed away in 2014 at the age of 94, her library of Valley research lives on.

Most of her papers ended up at the Spokane Valley

Heritage Museum, a local institution whose representatives contribute regularly to the Valley Current.

I’m grateful for the chance to work alongside Charlie Plumb at the Herald for several years before he passed away in 2007. Charlie was a veteran writer and editor who stood for all that is good in the newspaper business – class, fairness and a stellar work ethic. Former Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard may have put it best when he told me that Charlie represented a vanishing breed of “gentlemen reporter.”

My time at the Herald also meant the opportunity to cover some of the Valley’s best athletes – an assignment that was more of a privilege than a chore as an avid sports fan. I remember the pride of West Valley, Bryan Peterson, a football, basketball and baseball standout, who went on to play several years in the Boston Red Sox farm system before returning home to star as a quarterback for Whitworth.

There was Angie Bjorklund of University High, arguably the most skilled basketball player the area has ever produced. After being named the state Player of the Year her junior and senior seasons, Angie became the all-time leader in three-pointers at the University of Tennessee, winning a national championship as a freshman starter.

Occasionally, I took my reporter’s notebook outside of the area with the resulting commentary finding its way into columns that allowed for more flexibility – and sometimes a chance to root for the hometown team. In 2003, I tracked down a media pass to the inaugural “Battle in Seattle” where a determined Gonzaga squad led by Blake Stepp edged third-ranked Missouri in overtime. It was the first regular season Zags’ game to be televised

by CBS Sports despite the fact that most Missouri fans I interviewed had no idea where Gonzaga was located on a map.

My experience as a journalist has also meant getting to know colleagues in my field, some of whom have changed the local media terrain.

In 2011, I had lunch with my friend Josh Johnson who I’d met years ago when we were both covering the Liberty Lake City Council. The longtime publisher of The Splash, Liberty Lake’s popular community newspaper, Josh told me at the time that he thought the Valley could benefit from another print publication. He liked the idea of the paper carrying on a waterrelated name in the spirit of The Splash and a regular supplement called The Wave.

By February 2012, the first issue of The Current was showcasing the greater Spokane Valley with a dynamic approach that won over readers. I joined the effort two issues later and have been fortunate to write for The Splash and Current ever since.

Now both papers have begun a new chapter with former Spokane Valley City Council Member Ben Wick taking over as owner and publisher. I’ve known and respected Ben for years as a skilled and trusted community leader and view it as a blessing that a lifelong resident of the Valley has stepped up to guide a pair of local publications into the future. Led by Ben, we have a talented team that is dedicated to covering the news that matters most to you, our readers.

In the spirit of Lester, Florence, Charlie and others, we’ll do our best to write the unfolding history of the communities we call home. With gratitude, we look forward to telling your story.

The Current

32 FEBRUARY 2016

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