Saturday’s highlights
Principal Tammy Fuller reflects on 32 years of achievements displayed in the Mountain View Middle School trophy case. She hopes to find a place for the trophies and awards and is planning events to mark the last days of the school. SR photo/J. Bart Rayniak
There's a must-read story in Saturday's Valley Voice that needs to be looked at today if you didn't manage to get to it on Saturday. Reporter Lisa Leinberger has an excellent story on Mountain View Middle School, which will be closed at the end of this school year as the East Valley School District struggles with state funding cuts and the loss of a recent bond. She talked to students, teachers and parents who are in mourning for their school. Some of the students are second generation attendees and some of the teachers were once students at the school themselves. It's a real community school, something you don't find a lot in today's more transient society.
Meanwhile, there was also a bunch of news coming out of City Hall last week. There are six candidates for the vacant Spokane Valley Planning Commission seat, one of whom has had a rocky relationship with city staff and once made a comment during a council meeting that could be considered threatening. I also took a look at the two candidates who will be interviewed for the vacant City Council seat during tomorrow's council meeting. Chuck Hafner is the favorite to get it, thanks to his long involvement in the community and his strong ties to the Positive Change council members.
The city's Community Development Director, Kathy McClung, has announced that she will retire at the end of July. That annoucement got an immediate strong reaction from councilman Bill Gothmann, who said he believes some council members have been hostile to city staff and that has caused the departure of more than a half dozen key staffers.
Rounding out Saturday's package were details on the new trash pickup days and an update on Millwood's efforts to save the city's wading pool. A special meeting is set for today at 5 p.m. for the council to vote on an ordinance to allow citizens to raise money to repair the pool.
