Spokane

For pet owners, this is a story that doesn't happen enough. Nine years ago, the Fulkerson Family's sweet and friendly black cat, two-year old Rusty, went missing. It was suggested by neighbors that during that time, Otis Orchards was experiencing multiple disappearances of black cats. Nine years and 10.3 miles later on April 1st, Stephanie Fulkerson received a call from saying that Rusty had been found near Felts Field and identified thanks to the microchip Stephanie had implanted in his ear. 

     While hundreds of Boeing 737's are being inspected today around the world for possible cracks, 3 fuselages cruised through downtown Spokane this morning.      The 737 fuselages on special train cars are a somewhat common sight for people in Spokane. The plane bodies are being transferred from Wichita, Kansas to Renton, Washington for final assembly.      Before loading and transporting, the fuselages are sprayed with a green protective coating to prevent the aluminum skins from corroding during the trip. All the openings, such at windows, doors and access panels are sealed with a special yellow tape to prevent moisture from seeping into sensitive components of the future jet that could lead to corrosion. The larger openings are sealed with specially designed inserts to prevent contamination from moisture.

A Spokane Animal Sanctuary is urging people to choose chocolate rabbits this Easter Not real ones.   The River's Wish Animal Sanctuary in Northwest Spokane rescues rabbits.  Its rabbit house current holds close to 100 rabbits and animal advocates say it's at capacity.  It rescues rabbits from area animal shelters and takes them from people who can't care for them any longer. Kit Jagoda and her husband, Pete, founded River's Wish.  Jagoda predicts the rescue will see a spike in rabbit rescues soon after Easter.  Many parents give their children rabbits for Easter without realizing how much work the pets can be.   Rabbits are third on the list of animal left at shelters behind dogs and cats.  Jagoda reminds people rabbits are not Easter novelty gifts but living creatures.  She hopes people will consider the amount of care and work necessary to raise a rabbit before buying one as a gift.

The Orchard Crest Retirement Community will host their second annual Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 1 pm to 3 pm.  The focus of the event is to provide information, products and money saving ideas on how to conserve energy and better our planet. The event is free and open to the public.  It will be held at the Orchard Crest Retirement Community on 222 S. Evergreen in Spokane Valley. There will be several booths set up for viewing and gathering information.  Participating vendors include Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, SNAP Living Green, Spokane Regional Clean Air, Inland Northwest Wildlife Council and Clean Green.  , the featured speaker of the event, will share her "Secrets to a Green Thumb."  Refreshments will be served.

National NAACP President Benjamin Jealous was in Spokane Sunday for the first time. He was there to lead the 'Unity March' with the local chapter of the NAACP and anyone else who wanted to join.This was, obviously, in response to the attempted MLK Day bombing on January 17th, in which Stevens County man Kevin Harpham has been named a suspect. Though that was on everyone's mind, many in attendance expressed that this march and rally was about more than a bomb it was about coming together as a community to say hatred is not tolerated in Spokane.Other Spokane dignitaries included the Spokane Chief of Police Ann Kirkpatrick, Mayor Mary Verner and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

Spokane Police K-9 Officer Maximus helped nab a felon involved in a domestic dispute Sunday night.Officers arriving at a home in the 1600 block of West 12th Avenue were told by the wife of 30-year-old Leo Landon that he had a felony warrant for escape and ran from the home as police arrived. Maximus and his handler Officer Gorman tracked the suspect to a location two blocks away. Landon was hiding in the backyard of a house. He started to run away again, but quickly surrendered when he heard Maximus.

A north Spokane man dedicated to growing fresh fruits and vegetables for families in need now needs your help.   A year ago, Kerry Absher cultivated an empty lot on the corner Maple street and Kiernan into a bountiful garden, named God's Garden.   "Because it's His garden," said Absher.    "We're planting, He's blessing and we're giving it out to people who need it," he said   Absher does most the work himself from tilling, planting seeds to harvesting.   Last summer, God's Garden did so well Absher donated hundreds of pounds of fresh food to hundreds of families.   As the garden expands, Absher, who is on a limited income, said he needs help paying the water bill.   "A little nervous and worried," he said.   "We didn't have a problem growing stuff it was a matter of being able to afford it," he said.   Absher said the water bill averages between $80 to $100 a month.  He said it took him several months to pay off a $400 water bill from last summer.   Absher also needs new fiberglass for his greenhouse so he can start his tomato plants as soon as possible.   "It looks pretty shabby and it is, there's holes and everything," said Absher   Absher could also use a few good volunteers to help with weeding throughout the summer.   If you'd like to help call Kerry at 638-7480.  

At just 23 years old, Teresa Nord has already accomplished her life long dream of animating feature length films. For the past year, Nord, who grew up in the Spokane Valley has spent the past year in Los Angeles working on HOP, an animated comedy about the Easter bunny in theaters now Nord said she worked on various aspects of the film, including animating several of the chicks in the movie.

A Good Samaritan at a north Spokane gas station Wednesday heard barking and whimpering from a nearby dumpster and retrieved a six-week-old Dalmatian puppy that had been left inside.That person took the dog him, gave it a bath, then brought it to the Spokane Humane Society. The Humane Society in turn notified SCRAPS, which is now investigating the incident."We are taking this incident very seriously and are in the middle of our investigation," SCRAPS Director Nancy Hill said.The puppy was placed in foster care, where Hill says the dog is doing well.The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for abandoning the puppy.Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call SCRAPS at (509) 477-2532.

Despite sending out the announcement on April 1st, the Post Street Ale House insists, this is no joke: half-price food all day, every day in the month of April! The downtown pub, attached to the Hotel Lusso, announced screaming deals for the entire month. In addition to half-price food all day, the Ale House will also offer half-price drinks between 3 and 6 pm. "I want the people of Spokane to know how much we have appreciate their business this first year, and I am willing to give evreyone a good deal," said owner Walt Worthy.

The American Red Cross accepted a check from Sterling Savings Bank for their Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. Some 700 plus employees from 178 branches in the the northwest raised the money through the company's Jeans for Charity. Sterling bank allowed any employees who made a donation to the cause to wear jeans to work on Friday, March 18th. Sterling would like to encourage other business to consider implementing similar programs to help those that have been effect by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

As long as I've lived in Spokane Macys Northtown has not had a maternity section. My wife is now pregnant and has lamented at this fact.But now they do!It opened about two weeks ago. So, for all you women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, you can now shop at Macys.

The Salvation Army Thrift store is in need of donations. The store hasn't seen a dry spell like this in six years, according to the manager. Anna Moran manages the Thrift Store on North Division in Spokane and is using their giant reader board to advertise the fact that they need donations. "Our furniture, our clothing, it's just really depleting and I think it's our economy," Moran said. "People are putting them on eBay to sell, s lot o people are coming in asking if we do consignment, or sell clothes for people."

Spokane police have arrested a man who says he committed three armed robberies last weekend to help keep a roof over his familiy's heads. 23 year old Joey Maine is suspected of holding up the Zip Trip and Mike's Groceries on north Hamilton street and the Broadway Mini-Mart in Spokane Valley in less that 24 hours. When KXLY interviewed Maine in jail he explained that because he quit his job four months ago, he's struggling to pay his rent and utilities. Maine said he committed the robberies with a B.B. gun as a spontaneous way of solving his money problems. Maine told KXLY he was not addicted to drugs but court documents show Maine confessed to detectives that he was hooked on heroin.

Peggy Mangiarcina, Executive Director of the Sacred Heart Children's Hospital was awarded The 2011 "Making Our Kids My Business Award" Friday morning.Peggy has been instrumental in the health and well-being of children and families in the Spokane community for many years, beginning her work at Sacred Heart Medical Center in 1982. Since then Peggy has acted as Assistant Vice President of Patient Care Services and Director of Children's Services. Peggy chaired the design committee for the Children's Hospital and began her work as Executive Director in 2004. Since assuming the position of Executive Director Peggy has broadened the scope of services by bringing specialists in every pediatric subspecialty including: cardiology, surgery, emergency, oncology, and state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care services. Many of these specialists may not have come to Spokane without the tireless efforts of Peggy Mangiarcina.

If you're looking for something fun and free to do with your kids during Spring Break one local store has an idea. Sun People Dry Goods Company in downtown Spokane will be offering a free class on how to start a vegetable garden. Kids will learn how to plant a vegetable seedling in their very own pot to take home and watch grow.

Filmmakers in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area are invited to participate in the '50 Hour Slam', a film competition and festival designed to encourage both amateur and established filmmakers to stretch their creativity. The filmmakers will have fifty hours to write, develop, shoot and edit a 3 to 6 minute short-film. Actors for the films will be provided by local talent agencies. The kick-off of the '50 Hour Slam' will be at 7p.m. on Friday, April 1st at the Magic Lantern, located at 25 W Main Ave. downtown. Interested filmmakers should arrive at 7p.m. sharp because doors will be closed promptly at that time and the fifty hours will begin.

Residents of West Spokane can expect some new additions to their John A. Finch Arboretum. Coming all the way from Garden Gate Nursery in Pasco, Washington, members of the , a sector of the City of Spokane's , are shipping in 7-year old . 

Rogers High School students, interested in nursing careers, are spending their Saturday mornings in the classroom.  And they're getting paid to do it. The students are learning how to search medical databases and find medical studies at the WSU Spokane Nursing Building. The class is funded by an $894,550, three-year workforce diversity grant from the federal Heath Resources Service Administration.  Each student who attends 8 half-day Saturday sessions this spring, and a two-week summer camp on the WSU Pullman campus, will get a $500 dollar stipend.  There are also $4,000 tuition stipends up for grabs.

During a screening of milk in Spokane a few days ago, the EPA found a 'minuscule amount' of iodine-131 in the sample, and officials say there is no public health concern.The EPA has been monitoring milk for signs of radiation as part of its RADNET program and found, on March 25, a sample that contained 0.8 pCi/L of iodine-131, which is more than 5,000 times lower than the derived intervention level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The findings, according to the FDA and EPA, are "far below levels of public health concern, including for infants and children. Iodine-131 has a very short half-life of approximately eight days, and the level detected in milk and milk products is therefore expected to drop relatively quickly.""Radiation is all around us in our daily lives, and these findings are a minuscule amount compared to what people experience every day. For example, a person would be exposed to low levels of radiation on a round trip cross country flight, watching television, and even from construction materials," Patricia Hansen, an FDA senior scientist, said in a joint statement written by the EPA and FDA.Shortly after the EPA and FDA statement was released, Gov. Christine Gregoire issued her own statement, confirming that "Washington milk is safe to drink." "This morning I spoke with the chief advisers for both the EPA and the FDA and they confirmed that these levels are minuscule and are far below levels of public health concern, including for infants and children," Gregoire said."According to them, a pint of milk at these levels would expose an individual to less radiation than would a five-hour airplane flight," she added.Since the nuclear incident at the Fukushima nuclear complex in Japan, federal agencies including the EPA, FDA and the CDC have been monitoring for signs of radiation across the state."At no point have detection levels come close to levels of concern," Gregoire added.