Bloglander

It's about time you introduced last night's pizza box to the scraps from your freshly mowed lawn. They always did have a lot in common, or at least they can both be used in next summer's garden.

Starting Monday, July 12, Spokane County residents can include food scraps and food-soiled paper in their curbside "Clean Green" bins, which are currently designated for weeds, tree branches and other yard-related rubbish. Materials in the Clean Green bins will be composted and later sold back to residents for garden and landscape projects. 

Residents who subscribe to curbside pickup can drop debris in the Clean Green cart for their garbage hauler. Those without the convenience of the early-morning pickup can take scraps and clippings to the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System (SRSWS) facilities on Geiger Boulevard, Elk-Chattaroy Road, or Sullivan Road. 

Feel free to toss: food scraps, cardboard boxes, paper bags, food-soiled paper towels and napkins, tea bags and coffee grounds and filters.

Don't include: plastics of any kind, plastic-coated or "shiny" paper or cartons, Styrofoam, aluminum foil, liquids or glass. SRSWS encourages a "When in doubt, leave it out" mantra for making these distinctions.

For more specifics or directions to STSWS facilities visit solidwaste.org or call 625-6800.

New leaders in town Col. Paul Guemmer took over as commander at Fairchild yesterday, while Bishop William Skylstad has announced a press conference for 10:00 this morning, likely to talk about his retirement and his replacement, Michigan's Blase Cupich.

Raceway spending Spokane County Commissioners Mark Richard and Todd Mielke added on another $588,500 to the public's bankrolling of the Spokane County Raceway, over the strenuous objections of Bonnie Mager. (SR) 

One big BBQ More than 1,000 people turned out to a free barbecue put on by the Spokane's Women and Children Free Restaurant in West Central last night. (KXLY)

Woman faces jail for loud sex A British woman prone to waking neighbors with noisy congress has been warned by a judge: One more time and you're going to jail. (KHQ)

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You know the beat battle we talked about a few weeks ago? In a competition against a couple dozen other beat-makers, Dan "Ocean" Cuccia, 29, took the crown. Cuccia is one half of local hip-hop crew Cheap Meat Suits — a relatively inactive Bad Penmanship group, but one whose album I was totally floored by (see my review of Dark City here). 

By winning the Spokane Beat Battle, Ocean will move on to compete in a Northwest beat battle later this summer in Portland — where a hefty cash prize is on the line. 

Download Ocean's winning beat here. 

I didn't think so. 

The City of Spokane is breathing hot and heavy over an online poll by All-America Rose Selections to name one lucky flower patch "America's Best Rose Garden." They want you to help bestow that honor on Manito Park's Rose Hill. The top five gardens in this floral popularity contest will be visited by a panel of experts, who will judge the gardens on the basis of "beauty, creativity and the garden’s overall contribution to its community" (though I haven't exactly seen Manito out picking up trash on the highway lately).

The winning garden gets $2,500, a feature in a national ad campaign, and did we mention civic pride?

Voting opened on April 1, but voting ends on July 1. Go now. Make your voice heard. Do your duty. Let it be known the world over that nobody obsesses over online rose contests like the great and mighty Spokane.

Ombudsman granted powers His requests for invisibility and plasma blasts were denied, but Spokane's police ombudsman was endowed with powers to conduct his own reviews and sit in on internal investigations, after years of debate and months of deliberation. (SR)

Half-mast Flags throughout Washington state are flying at half-mast today in honor of Spokane Valley's Joshua Dumaw, a U.S. Marine corporal killed in combat in Afghanistan last week. (KREM)

Worst driver ever? Authorities say the motorist who struck and killed a Cheney pedestrian over the weekend also hit a cyclist back in April. (KHQ)

More tainted sausage This time on a trail near the Clark Fork in Bonner County. Sausage laced with insecticide has killed one dog and sickened two. (Bonner County Daily Bee)

Our bad The president of FIFA says he'll re-open discussions about technology to review goal-line referee calls after an England goal against Germany was disallowed. (The kinds of ref mistakes that x-ed out two U.S. goals in the tournament will not be up for review.) (NYT)

David Elton III, a long-shot candidate challenging Bonnie Mager for Spokane County Commissioner, District 3, while still awaiting trial on charges he made e-mail threats against civic leaders, has withdrawn from the race, he says in a press release issued today.

Elton's departure still leaves three Republican challengers going against Mager, including former Spokane City Councilman Al French, Steve Salvatori and Jeff Holy.

In his press release, Elton cited mounting legal expenses and marital strains in his decision to leave the race. He is still awaiting trial nearly two years after he was arrested and jailed for e-mails that he says were dark humor but which friends who saw them were disturbed enough to forward to Spokane police. The e-mails contained sentences such as "I want to murder the following people" and listed City Council President Joe Shogan and Betsy Cowles, chairwoman of Cowles Publishing among others. The e-mails also contained references to the murder threats as "Kidding!" "Joking!" and "Comedy below."

However, after calling Elton to the Public Safety Building for an interview, police determined the e-mails to be threatening and booked him into jail. His case has gone through several defense attorneys and a slew of judges.

Motorists heading south on Market Street in Hillyard on Saturday knew exactly where to go if they were having gastrointestinal problems.

The city of Spokane is encouraging you to water your lawn early in the morning, use a broom instead of a hose to clean your sidewalk and plant native plants that require less water than their non-native counterparts. It's good for the environment. It can save you money on your water bill. And if you don't agree (or just don't care) it's going to cost you starting in January.

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The city kicked off its "Slow the Flow" public awareness campaign today in an effort to prepare citizens for the coming changes and urge them to start conserving now. Not only are city officials showering Spokane with tips on how and why to conserve water, but they are also offering credits up to $375 to water utility customers who install "smart controllers" on their underground sprinkler systems. New systems with rain and soil moisture sensors qualify for the program as long as they are of the "smart" variety, using real-time weather and moisture data to adjust how much water is released. All of the jargon-filled details are at waterstewardship.org.

The campaign will continue via radio, newspaper and online ads throughout the summer.