The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 6

jiiiiiiiniiiiii i mi' iiir PAGE A I Monday, April 1. 2002 The Spokesman Review Spokane, Wash Coeur Alene, Idaho Law makes hospitals offer birth coDutcroI for rape wetoms But some say Catholic facilities dont comply with statute, own rules Two products specifically marketed as emergency contraception are Plan which contains progestin only, and Preven, which contains estrogen and progestin. Both are "safe and effective, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Side effects include nausea and abdominal pain.

Emergency contraception is not the same as the abortion pill RU-486 (mifepristone), which the FDA approved in 2000. Birth control pills also can be used as emergency contraception. Instructions are available from Planned Parenthood and on a Web site operated by Princeton University Continued Birth controlA7 spokeswoman Marilyn Thordarson. Thats been the policy at Sacred Heart, Holy Family Hospital and other Sisters of Providence hospitals for years. A Planned Parenthood leader said shes spoken with two rape victims who said they werent offered emergency contraception at Sacred Heart.

What I would hope is the anecdotal evidence I hear is wrong and that the new law will reinforce what is already happening, said C.J. Gribble, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest. By Carla K. Johnson Staff writer Gov. Gary Locke signed a law last week requiring hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims.

Spokanes two Catholic hospitals say that has been their policy, but advocates who accompany rape victims in the citys emergency rooms say a few patients have not received that offer. We provide contraceptive drugs for the purpose of preventing fertilization in cases of sexual assault, said Sacred Heart Medical Center I hope that women in emergency rooms will get good information to make individual choices about what will happen to them now at this most difficult point in their lives. Victim advocates hope the new law will raise awareness about so-called morning-after pills, which are also available in Washington from authorized pharmacists without a doctors visit. Emergency contraception pills contain hormones that reduce the risk of pregnancy. They are taken in two doses, 12 hours apart, within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse.

i Tom Davenport photosThe Spokesman Review Prairie Cowboy Church Pastor Lee Richmond welcomes members for Easter Sunday service at the Cloverleaf Grange near Post Falls where the group meets on alternate Sundays. Cowboy pastor leads his flock at Easter service Words are simple music is sweet at old-time church Easter in the Arena wood-burning barrel stove near the entry. The wood paneling and the wood ceiling warmed the gray light coming through the tall, narrow windows two on either wall. Nobody dressed up fancy. Jeans, Western shirts, vests were the order of the day for the three dozen people from infants to elders who grabbed chairs or sat on benches along the wall.

Some Neil Templeton holds his 8-month-old granddaughter, Natalie, while singing a hymn Sunday at the Cloverleaf Grange. By Kevin Taylor Correspondent Cowboys are said not to speak much, at least according to the mythology of the American West. And when cowboys do have something to say its plain and to the point. So if you are Lee Richmond, preaching to the faithful at the Prairie Cowboy Church just outside Post Falls, that could mean you need help to fill up an hour on Easter Sunday. I still havent figured out this pastor thing, Richmond said.

Richmond needed only about 20 minutes for a simple, pointed talk about faith on the day that Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But church doesnt last just 20 minutes, even a cowboy church, and so there was help in the form of music. Did we leave time for the preacher? asked Mary Bush, unslinging her electric bass after 40 minutes of gospel singing at the Cloverleaf Grange Hall, where the Prairie Cowboy Church meets on alternate Sundays. Mary Bush and her husband Mike, who plays banjo and dobro guitar, and Steve and Cindy Bradshaw on six-string and mandolin, filled the grange with sweet gospel music. Its the sort of music people away from cities have played for ages when they gather for a house blessing or a wedding or a funeral.

Its music you dont hear on the radio. You hear it coming from the living room or the front porch when friends gather and play it for each other. You tend to hear it in your heart, because that's here it comes from. The Easter service of the Prairie Cowboy Church had the good-heart feel of a family gathering. The plain rectangle of the grange hall was sparse but comfortable, heated by a Liz KishimotoThe Spokesman Review Gazing at the multitudes, Kiara Carpino watches as throngs of people arrive Sunday for the Easter in the Arena service held at the Spokane Arena.

The Life Center Foursquare Church presented the service, which was open to the public. Young inventor has world on a string churchgoers sat and read their Bibles even as others stood and sang along with the musicians. Children took crayon to coloring books and would cut loose with happy toddler hoots as the spirit moved them. People smiled even as they put a finger to their lips. Hands offered in greeting tended to be weathered and words friendly.

If you need something in this church, just say the word. Somebody will help. Thats why I like a small church, said Clyde James. Neil Templeton was wearing a straw cowboy hat but Im a retired systems analyst for Eastern Washington University. Templeton and his wife, Lou, have been driving from Spokane for Cowboy Church services for several years.

Their daughter, Toni, and 8-month-old granddaughter Natalie also attend. Neil Templeton said the church draws people who are cowboys at heart, looking for a group thats down-to-earth and friendly. And Richmond, the preacher, wasnt up on a pulpit or off behind an altar. He was right there with Continued CowboysA7 process, well, then all the better, He recently received the first sales report, covering the last six months of 2001. It was just more than five figures.

Ravagni, who is home-schooled, spends some time each day working on his business shipping orders, working on his Web site, marketing or communicating with music stores, Continued GultarA7 used markers to show where the notes are, essentially making a tool that took the pain out of learning to play. And so became the Dont Fret Note Map. And then the Dont Fret Chord Map. Now 13, Ravagni has the patent. Hes got business around the globe.

There are plans to publish the finger positioning guides in Hebrew. The $9.95 Dont Fret Note Map, now made of vinyl with color-coded dots, is published for global distribution by Hal Leonard a major music print publisher. We had gotten wind that Nick had this product and there was a buzz about it, said Jeff Schroedl, vice president of popular and standard publications for Hal Leonard. Hes one of a kind for sure. Ravagnis goal, and his grand plan, is to encourage kids to opt for guitars over guns.

If he gets rich in the He created guitar aid at age 5, now markets them across globe Associated Press ISSAQUAH, Wash. Nicholas Ravagni was 5 years old when he witnessed another boy emerge from his guitar lesson in hysteria, tears in his eyes. Later that day, he slid some plastic wrap under his guitar strings and bill passed both houses without opposition. An attorney for the mall said the changes to the current law were a bad idea, but added the lawsuit in question wasnt a SLAPP suit. Train talk The Spokane Transit Authority will host two public meetings this week on the proposed light rail commuter train project.

The first will be 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jepson Auditorium at Gonzaga University. The second starts 7 pm. Wednesday in the former Birkebeiner Brewery building, 35 W.

Main STA light-rail experts will be on hand to answer questions about the proposed 16-mile train line, which would run from downtow to Liberty Lake. The project, estimated to cost $500-5600 million, may be put before voters later this year. If I remember right, it's really ugly, said Francine Boxer, the countys chief executive officer. That prompted Commissioner John Roskelley to ask, Do we even need a county flag? Judging from the way this ones been taken care of, apparently not. Tougher to SLAPP someone around Among the scores of bills being signed into law by Gov.

Gary Locke last week was one that caused a bit of a stir when it debuted at its first legislative committee. The new law makes it harder to sue someone who brings a complaint about a public issue to a government agency Such litigation is called a SLAPP suit, for strategic lawsuit against public participation. Under the new law, the person who gets sued for bringing the complaint no longer has to show it was made in good faith For the bill's first hearing, several Spokane City Council members appeared in support, including Chcrie Rodgers who wore a gag for part of the time to represent her feelings about a River Park Square garage lawsuit that names them. City Councilman Steve Corker said it was important for public officials to speak on controversial issues and Senate supporters said the lawsuits stymie public debate The PUBLIC PERISCOPE Not such a grand old flag The search is on again for Spokane Countys flag. Officials are trying to track down the elusive banner so they can decide whether to make copies of it.

prompted the search recently when it asked fora replacement of the county flag that has become tattered and needs to be retired from its place over the Post Street facility. The original, however, is nowhere to be found. Its not around, said Danicla Erickson, clerk of the Board of County Commissioners. We've been lixiking for it everywhere. flag features the crimson silhouette of an Indian wearing either spiked hair or a feathered headdress.

The background is green with a blue slash representing the Spokane River and a yellow disk for the sun. The design is meant to represent the Spokane tribe Designed as part of the Washington centennial celebration back in the late 1980s, the flag went missing in 1995 before being discovered in a county vault. But even if it is found this time, there are no guarantees that it will be reproduced. Spokane County's flag hangs on the door of then-Commissioner Steve Hasson In 1995. The blue slash represents the Spokane River, while the yellow disk symbolizes the sun.

The head has either spiked hair or a feathered headdress. I Public Periscope, published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports You can contact us by mail co The Spokesman-Review, 0. Bo 2160, Spokane 99210, e-mail at jimcspokesman com, phone at (509) 459 5461, and fa at (509)459 5482. F'-e The Spos'nan Rviw Contact the City Desk: (509) 459 5400, fax (509) 459-5482: e-mail news-spokesman com Online regional news: www spokesmameview com.