The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • a6

PAGE A6 MONDAY THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW NORTHWEST FROM THE FRONT PAGE military and civilian aviation in the Northwest makes it the logical choice for the museum, Krauter said. The art deco terminal reflects the energy and excitement of earlyair travel. Its companion clock tower, named after aviation pioneer Nick Mamer, is a significant landmark along with historic hangars and historic National Guard headquarters. The planned collection, now held by the MAC, is from the former Fairchild Heritage Museum, with artifacts, documents and photos dating back to the mid-1800s. That museum closed in 2002, and a special act of Congress allowed the collection to remain in Spokane under the control of the MAC.

collection is considered world said Tony DeLateur, chair of the Honor Point museum. Supporters of a new museum previously sought to build on the south side of Spokane International Airport, but Krauter suggested that Felts would be a better place because of its history and local aviation activity. Plus, security issues are more easily resolved there, museum members said. Krauter said there is a possibility that a new museum building could be large enough to house Western Aviation, which provides fuel and maintenance for aircraft at Felts. Arevitalization plan for the airport calls for a new entryway on Fancher Way just north of Trent Avenue.

Street and landscaping improvements are also proposed, Krauter said. Open house on Centennial Trail gap An open house to talk about options for filling a gap in the Centennial Trail will be held Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt St. The gap under discussion is from Bridge to Boone avenues.

East Francis work postponed Reconstruction of Francis Avenue from Division to Market streets has been postponed until the 2013 construction season after problems assembling needed right-of-way were encountered earlier this year. But another project on Francis has gotten under way. The state is going to tear out the overpass bridge just east of Market Street and replace it with anew, larger bridge to allow room for the North Spokane Corridor. Workers have already installed crossing signals at the railroad grade level just north of the existing bridge. Work on a temporary crossing started last week.

Once that is completed, the old bridge will be demolished and the new one built. Funding is also available to do freeway grading and preparation work through that area, including track realignment and extension of a bike and pedestrian trail into historic Hillyard. Euclid, 29th expected to reopen Euclid Avenue from Crestline to Market streets is expected to reopen in time for this commute, city officials said. On the South Side, 29th Avenue from HighDrive to Grand Boulevard should reopen by Wednesday. Be prepared for lane closures Pavement crack sealing on Division Street from Francis Avenue to the at Country Homes Boulevard could result in daytime lane closures and slowed traffic through Thursday.

Lane restrictions are also in place for a sidewalk project at Newport Highway and Hawthorne Road. Drain cleaning on Interstate 90 from Argonne Road to Four Lakes could cause lane closures where work is under way. A grinding project on I-90 west of the Maple Street interchange along Sunset Hillis causing a reduced speed limit and lane closures from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. SRTC survey aids planning The Spokane Regional Transportation Council is developing a new metropolitan transportation plan to guide projects over the next 20 years and beyond.

Members of the public can weigh in at surveymonkey Free parking today downtown Parking is free today at downtown Spokane meters because of the Columbus Day observance. Signal work on U.S. 95 in Hayden New signal lights are going in starting today at U.S. Highway 95 at Lacey Avenue in Hayden. Left turns will be prohibited during the work.

Continued fromA1 GETTING THERE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. At 6 feet 1 inch, islander Chris Whited look much like a Hobbit. The cottage building, on the other hand, would be right at home in Middle Earth. Its undulating roofline, slanted walls and rounded doorways call to mind fantasy realms and pipe-smoking little folk. neighbors call it a Hobbit house, among other Whited said.

In fact, the new square-foot house already dwarfs two cottages the 59-year-old contractor has built on his property. A few years ago, Whited took a trip to Cannon Beach, and spotted a garden shed with an oddly sloped roof. When he got home, he decided to use the shed as a model for a fancy chicken coop. The result was a quaint henhouse with a curved roofline and neatly trimmed windows. When finished the coop, someone suggested he build a larger model for playhouse.

So he did. For a while, Whited kept the miniature cottages by the road next to a sign. He received a lot of calls, he said, but as much as prospective buyers liked his handiwork, they we- enamored with his price. It took Whited about $2,000 in lumber and a month of work to construct one model. Now, a flock of hens lives in the coop, a flock of grandchildren enjoys the playhouse, and Whited is busy re-creating the design on an adult-sizescale.

He plans to offer the new house as a vacation rental when done. Whited laid the foundation for the cottage a little more than a year ago and has worked on it in his spare time since. He sketched out the plans before he started, but realized the mishmash of curves and angles easily be rendered on paper. lot of it was learn-as- he said. He has pieced the house together well so far, though there have been challenges along the way.

It took Whited two months last winter to lay the shingles on the bulging roof. was like a three-dimensional puzzle up he said. He scrounged up some of his materials on Craig- slist. Many of the shingles are old-growth cedar, left over from another project. He lined one wall with stones someone gathered years ago from the Dungeness River.

latest addition to the house was a handmade, wooden water wheel, which he mounted to the side closest to the road. He plans to pipe water to the top of the wheel and install a little pond at its base. His wife thinks nuts, he said, but always had a soft spot for water wheels. think it adds a little magic or charm to the he said. Inside, the cottage looks surprisingly normal.

The interior walls are plumb, unlike their sloped exterior counterparts. Horizontal beams and tidy rows of vertical struts support the madly arching roofline. a small garage, a living area, a bathroom and a bedroom. Acovered porch looks out over the backyard. The house will keep Whited busy through the fall and winter.

He still needs to paint the board and batten siding, and finish the interior. His work would probably go faster if he get so many visitors. By now, he is accustomed to strangers pulling into his driveway to pepper him with questions. He mind, he said. It gives him agood excuse to take a break.

Afew admirers have already asked Whited if he would build a Hobbit house for them. tell them I should probably finish this one he said. Associated Press Chris Whitedworks on his cottage on Bainbridge Island on Thursday. AHOBBIT-AT FOR HUMANITY Associated Press SEATTLE The two men competing to be next attorney general are co-workers, but about as much similarity King County Councilmen Reagan Dunn and Bob Ferguson will admit to sharing. Dunn, a Republican, and Ferguson, a Democrat, have been trying to draw differences for months in their quest to succeed incumbent Rob McKenna, the candidate for governor.

With about a month left until the general election, Ferguson appears to have an advantage. He garnered more votes than Dunn in the August primary, and recent polls show him ahead. But Dunn expects leads to flip- flop until Election Day. He put $100,000 of his own money into his campaign in September, according to campaign filings. Ferguson has offered himself as an independent- minded lawyer who is not afraid to leave party politics behind, while Dunn has touted his experience as a U.S.

prosecutor. Afourth-generation Washingtonian first elected in 2003 to the County Council, Ferguson was an at- torney at a prominent Seattle law firm before entering politics. If elected, Ferguson said, create a task force to look into an environmental crimes unit, seek remedies for gangs and continue the practice of consumer protection. one of the most important he said. are struggling.

When you think about it, all Dunn has pitched a jobs angle, saying like to create a task force to ease regulations on businesses. Dunn also says a moderate Republican who supports gay marriage and abortion rights. Dunn, though, had to backpedal a little in August when he was asked about an Olympia refusal to provide the so- called morning-after pill. Dunn, in a radio interview, said he hoped the pharmacist would win the current court case challenging a state rule that pharmacies must provide the pill. He later said he was talking about his personal view on the case.

Currently, the state Board of Pharmacy requires pharmacies offer the pill, a rule in a court challenge at the moment. Ferguson criticized Dunn for his statements. an example of injecting a personal view, which is the opposite of what an attorney general Ferguson said. get to choose which laws you defendand which ones you The attorney general oversees more than 1,100 people, including 525 attorneys. The current two- year budget for the office is about $229 million.

Among the main priorities are enforcing consumer protection laws and representing customers in lawsuits against companies, as well as representing Washington in all legal cases involving state interests, and providing legal opinions to public officials. State attorneys generalhave also played key roles in national issues recently, such as the failed challenge to President Barack health care overhaul and seeking monetary settlements against financial institutions after the recent mortgage meltdown. The office can also investigate and prosecute criminal activity at the request of the governor or a county prosecutor, though a smaller part of the role. Still, Dunn sees the attorney office as an important criminal-fighting entity. Should he get elected, he wants to focus on gang violence around the state, cyber bullying and putting more resources into combating human trafficking.

The attorney office the bully pulpit of criminal justice policy. where law enforcement agencies go to talk about the he said. Dunn points to endorsements from law enforcement agencies, compared to lone endorsement from the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association. Dunn is the son of a politician. His mother was Jennifer Dunn, a congresswoman revered in the Republican Party.

He was elected in 2005 to the King County Council after a career as a private practice lawyer and as a U.S. prosecutor. Dunn Ferguson ELECTION 2012 Attorney general race pits two co-workers Dunn, Ferguson on King County Council By Manuel Valdes Associated Press BILLINGS Some ranchers in Montana are selling calves early after a summer that left them battered by drought, fires and high feed prices. Tim Kiefer has a beef ranch north of Forsyth. He told the Billings Gazette that since the first of April, had just two inches of rain on his land.

That means his pastures that yielded 1,200 round hay bales last year muster even one this year. The dry weather left his cattle with little forage, so he weaned his calves and shipped them to sale yards five weeks earlier than normal. Kiefer alone. Ranchers across Montana low on food, water and even fences in areas burned by fireare selling early. The number of cattle moving through Billings and Miles City auction yards was up more than 1,000 head a sale compared to the same dates a year earlier.

That means selling with less weight about 185 pounds less per animal and less money for ranchers. Nearly $2 a pound less, Kiefer said. biggest reason for it has been drought conditions, reduced hay forage and hay prices that are pretty said Jay Bodner of the Montana Stockgrowers Association. are looking at their bottom lines. heard of a lot of light calves coming in early.

Prices are pretty high, but when you take off 200 pounds, a pretty significant loss a guy has to cattle economy generally produces more than $1billion in sales a year. The drought has also hiked hay prices. The feed has become so expensive that Kiefer, who also raises winter wheat, said he chose to bale his wheat crop this year and use it for animal feed so he have to buy hay. Drought forces ranchers to sell calves Associated Press (Annual Percentage Yield) ective and subject to change. Minimum deposit $10,000 new money from funds not already on deposit with AmericanWest Bank.

Available for business and consumer; not available as an IRA or for public funds. Penalty may be assessed for early withdrawal. Member FDIC. .50 APY 11-month Harvest CD special Take advantage of this CD special today. Stop in and visit us at any AmericanWest Bank branch.

At this you really should do this. Find us here: SPOKANE (Downtown): 509.232.1515 MT. SPOKANE: 509.462.2020 SPOKANE (Northpointe): 509.467.9084 SPOKANE (Sullivan): 509.927.3028 LIBERTY LAKE: 509.893.9700 Fire destroyed a home in the 15900 block of East Wellesley Avenue on Sunday night; the second time in a year there has been a blaze at the home. The fire started in the back of the home, said Spokane Valley Fire Department spokesman Bill Clifford. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but witnesses told firefighters they heard an explosion shortly before the fire erupted at about 9 p.m.

One person lives in the home, and he was not hurt, Clifford said. Firefighters were at the home about a year ago putting out a blaze, Clifford said. The owner was slowly rebuilding. Blast heard before fire destroys home From staff reports -A6Replate.