Public Periscope

Foam away from home

Al Gore can do the Macarena without submitting an environmental impact statement, but a Spokane Valley tavern needs the OK from three agencies before hosting foam dancing.

Owners of the Blue Dolphin want to blow three feet of suds onto the dance floor. Promoters say foam dancing is all the rage in Italy, L.A. and on the East Coast - as well as in Kennewick … The tavern’s proposal was stalled for nearly two months while the state Liquor Control Board studied the issue. It finally gave its blessing, but only if the county health district and county commissioners approve, too … The health district says the soap appears safe, as long as no one eats it. Commissioners say they’ll probably grant approval, too, although they resent the state agency for passing the buck.

What’s in a name?

The folks at Fairchild Air Force Base seem to change the name of their newspaper almost as often as they change wing commanders. With the new year, the base newspaper got a new look and a new name … Forget Global Warrior, a moniker they’d had for a couple of years. Now it’s The Fairchild Connection. Capt. Mark Brown, base spokesman, said the change coincides with a change to a larger page size. … “We can get a lot more news” in the new format and hope some day to have a second section, Brown said. “Since we decided to wash the whole paper, we changed the name, too.” Before it was the Global Warrior, the base paper was called The Strikehawk, which succeeded The Fairchild Crown, which took over from The Fairchild Times … Decades ago, it had an even more evocative appellation: Spokane Bomber Views. The flags (or, in civilian terms, the titles) for those newspapers included a drawing of a squadron of big planes - presumably ours - coming in over the city skyline.

Fill the pothole with suds, and let’s dance

Check your spare tires, you may need them soon. Not only has harsh winter weather left Spokane County roads in bad shape for spring, it’s taken a big chunk out of the county budget normally used to fill potholes … Crews spent $570,000 on plowing, sanding and de-icing county roads the first 15 days of 1997, more than a third of the budget for the entire year. The county will have to scale back on other maintenance in case November and December are especially brutal … The county spent $2.6 million last year removing snow and ice from its 2,600 miles of roads, up from $866,000 in 1995.

It’s a record

Spokane Transit Authority set a record for riders last year, as 7,831,964 people climbed aboard those buses plying through the community. And no, they weren’t all on the bus you took to work that day during the ice storm when it was too scary to drive yourself … Routes with the most passengers per day are, in order, East Sprague, North Division and Cheney. The figure represents an increase of nearly 5 percent above 1995.

Because you asked

Why were the flags flying at half staff on some buildings around town Tuesday and Wednesday, but not others?

The flags on state buildings were lowered by order of Gov. Gary Locke to mark the death of former state Supreme Court Justice William Goodloe. He was a former state senator who served on the court from 1985 to 1988, ran twice unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate, and served as a herald for some factions in the far right on such topics as gay rights, condom distribution and needle-exchange programs. The irony of Locke, a supporter of same-sex marriages, ordering the flag-lowering for Goodloe was not lost on some political observers. But it’s an honor befitting a former state chief justice.

, DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope, published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports