A bit of good news today: Spokane schools showed strong scores on the WASL, which was pitched for Page One as relief from the hurricane news. However, we couldn't put it above the hurricane on the page, and didn't want to bury it at the bottom, so we're working on a graphic/teaser that will play prominently on the page and point to the story on the Region cover.

Initial guesses on the New Orleans death toll are in the thousands - shaping up to be one of the worst, if not the worst, natural disaster in U.S. history. We're working on local angles to the story beyond rising gas prices, if anyone's got any ideas, feel free to drop us a line.

Already some discussion on News is a Conversation this morning about today's front page display photo (below). Steve Smith summarizes the discussion prior to running the photo in a blog comment. So far, we haven't heard any complaints, which is unusual when you run a photo of a dead person on Page One. There was some trepidation at this morning's meeting about whether we ran the photo to big, but photo editor Dan Pelle argued that if we ran it any smaller, we wouldn't be able to see the expressions of desperation on the faces of the family. The discussion at the table mirrored the blog discussion pretty closely - consensus being that the photo told the real story of this disaster in a way that images of looters or smashed-up casinos cannot.

Killing the messenger

Reporter Ben Shors got an earful from supporters of Morning Star at a press conference yesterday. Apparently, one man said to Ben "all I wanted to do was choke you" after reading his August 25 story on two men suing the ranch over alleged sexual abuse. Smith reminded staff that they're under no obligation to put up with verbal abuse, although it seems to go with the territory from time to time.

Nutty headline

Of course, a headline like Peanuts envy doesn't go into the newspaper without a trip through one of the glass offices, and Smith cautiously gave the green light after the designer who came up with the idea promised to field any angry phone calls. So far, no complaints, although some at the table felt the gag didn't really work with the story.

Coming up

We're adding a page to tomorrow's paper for hurricane coverage, making room for photos from the scene. We'll also be scanning the blogs for first-person accounts, which we'll compile into a sidebar for tomorrow.

The situation on the Gulf Coast is getting worse - locally, we'll look at area volunteers heading south to help out, and we're putting together a collection of blog entries from the scene.

Also on Page One tomorrow: Four Spokane residents were among the 407 arrested by the DEA in a nationwide methamphetamine sweep.

The story on the City Council action to kill the proposal to sell Albi stadium was, at least initially, a front-page contender. However, when we took the front page down to four stories to make room for the Hurricane Katrina package, Albi was moved inside. Once it made its way to the Region cover, design issues pushed it to the bottom of the page. Not the most prominent position for what is the most-read non-Coug story on the Web site today.

A relatively slow news day at home means that Hurricane Katrina will dominate our front page tomorrow (although we're far out of reach of the wind and waves, the financial and human toll will be felt nationwide). Prominent in our coverage will be the expected impact on energy prices.

Locally, we'll have a story on some creative approaches thieves have employed to steal ever-more-valuable gasoline, and a Spokane company's new SUV-inspired laptop computer.

Steve Smith reports three subscription cancellations over Doug Clark's send-up of "My Way" a la Mayor West. Other feedback, particularly from those who listened to the audio version, has been more positive. Does Doug the singer get more latitude than Doug the writer?

A more serious note on the same subject - how do we provide people with information on how to sign the recall petitions without appearing to be promoting the recall itself? We can't get involved in a political campaign, but we also have an obligation to assist citizens with their civic duties. The recall effort differs from other initiative campaigns because it is a grassroots effort exclusive to our city (for instance, we regularly publish contact/location information for the group seeking to disincorporate Spokane Valley). That said, we'll also be seeking information from West's lawyers on how those who oppose the recall can help fight it.

Other odds and ends

Smith heard from a couple of readers who felt that Sunday's Seahawks story was a little too heavy on the Chiefs - understandable, since it came out of the AP's Kansas City bureau, but food for thought nonetheless. Also, videographer Colin Mulvany has a new toy - a dirt-cheap computer program that makes it quick and easy to combine audio and still photos into a single presentation (it's something we've always been able to do with Flash, but it's also a time-consuming process). Check out his first production at the Video Journal.

For tomorrow's front page we have stories about...

A federal bankruptcy judge ruled Friday that Catholic churches and schools are legally owned by the Diocese of Spokane and therefore available to settle its bankruptcy case, a victory to the dozens of people who have sued the diocese for sexual abuse.

Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk announced his resignation to pursue new challenges within the Nazarene Church.

Central Valley adopted a new dress code policy over the summer, with more specific rules for each grade level. The new policy is in part a response to today's fashion standards (or lack thereof), and a need for consistency.

Possible story - Decision expected this evening on whether National Guard tankers leave Fairchild AFB.

A continued Iraq update.

Shannon Sullivan sure looked happy in the photo on today's front page. Her petition to recall Mayor West was approved and signature gathering has begun. The question was whether the photo deserved to be in such a prominent spot.

Editor Steve Smith commented that we're going be constantly faced with challenges on how to display West-related stories. "We're going to have critics who say we're using the bully pulpit of the front page to promote the story."

In case you missed the story on A12 about West fighting to keep his city hall computer hard drive from being release publicly, West acknowledges in court documents "that there is information on the city computer disk that involves and relates to personal social contacts that I have had that are private and that do not involve governmental or proprietary functions."

It also was discussed in the morning news meeting that Sullivan no longer should be labeled as a "divorced mom" or "unemployed mom" in these stories but as a political activist or leader of the recall petition drive.

Several editors wondered about the radio talk show host who was critically injured in a collision between her motorcycle and a deer near Mount Spokane. Did that story belong on Page 1 if few people know who she is? Her show does air on 40 radio stations, but the name Laurie Roth is not exactly a household name. Still, it was an interesting story about an awful accident and we did have detail from people who know her.

Regarding the allegations of sexual abuse at Morning Star Boys Ranch, another former resident stepped forward to independently corroborate the claim that flower stems were inserted into boys' rectums and pictures then taken as a form of punishment.

Coming tomorrow:

We'll probably have something from the wire about the fatalities from Hurricane Katrina.

Locally, we'll have a story about back-to-school shopping and how schools are getting more strict about dress codes.

We should know today whether Spokane will get a team in the Arena II Football League.

And we are working on a story about a Army reserve unit from the Spokane Valley that's been paving roads in the searing summer heat in Iraq.

Today's news is breaking very late, so the front page has a lot of flexability built into it.

A rally held by Citizens for Integrity in Government is set as lead story, but ther may be changes depending on the turnout. Shannon Sullivan and her legal representatives will be at the rally to speak.

A follow-up on the West recall will include info on the details of signature-gathering, deadlines and other minutia of the case.

The city has passed a resolution condeming the recent attack on young American Indians, Sunday, in Spokane Valley.

National/International:
A federal commission approved a plan to consolidate Fort Lewis Army and McChord Air Force Bases near Tacoma.

In Iraq another deadline was missed for setting up the consitiution, poliical reactions.

Miss American may be leaving Atlantic city...

Two dramatic stories in today's paper were discussed at today's morning news meeting: the latest on Mayor West and a new lawsuit against Morning Star Boys Ranch.

A reporter wondered if the headline on the West recall petition being approved was too big for the relative importance of this story. This was "shuttle crash" headline type size, he said.

If the West recall makes the ballot, or if he's actually recalled, will it be an even larger headline? Perhaps. But editors argued that for the recall petition this was a significant hurdle, and because the court ruled so quickly it seemed stunning.

For tomorrow, we'll try to determine who's correct: recall petitioner Shannon Sullivan, who claims the county auditor must complete a petitions signature count within 15 days; or county auditor Vicky Dalton, who says there's no such standard and the count could take 30 days or more.

The two men who filed the lawsuit against Morning Star will hold a press conference today to detail more about their claims.

It was noted that alleged victims in sex abuse claims often are on the fringes of society -- drug abusers, prisoners or ex-cons. Editors wondered whether it hurts the credibility of the victims, or whether this is more confirmation that people who are abused can get "really messed up."

It's been a busy and surprising day for news. Here's how the front page is shaping up:
Our lead story is a complete package on the state Supreme Court's swift decision in the Mayor West recall case. Plus an update from the Spokane County Auditor about the possibility of getting the recall on the November ballot.

We have a story about two former residents of Morning Star Boys' Ranch, including one who served as its 'poster boy,' suing the Spokane group home today, alleging they were sexually abused by counselors in separate incidents in the 1960s and 1980s.

Spokane Public Schools expanded their definition of weapons in the schools to be any object used in a threatening manner. The district says the change helps them better keep track of incidents for state reports, but a local rights group said the law may be too broad.

An update of Iraq's situation. Clashes errupted between rival Shiite groups.

Today's story on the "Good Samaritan" who was beaten last week was the topic of conversation at this morning's news meeting. "What a collection of characters," was the reaction from Managing Editor Gary Graham.

Editor Steve Smith, who was out of town yesterday, wondering if we were possibly exploiting the mental state of the people in the story. City Editor Carla Savalli assured him that some damning details were intentionally left out of the story, but that we still needed to portray the characters in their true light.

Graham mentioned that the mental health story might be the "outrage" story of the week. Because of budget cuts that are just now being understood, kids with serious mental health issues will be in regular classrooms instead of alternative schools when classes start Sept. 6.

The sports section had lots of good stories today, including: the naming of the starting quarterback at WSU; the news that ex-Gonzaga star Dan Dickau might play for the Boston Celtics; that Mead football star Skylar Jessen plans to attend WSU; and that the Spokane Chiefs hit the ice this week with hopes of a better season.

Lots of news for tomorrow, including:

--While Spokane Mayor Jim West met with a citizens group in City Hall today, his lawyers were 300 miles away, trying to halt a recall petition.

--Results of a phone survey measuring voter support for tax increases to avoid police and fire layoffs in Spokane are expected today.

--Spokane Public Schools expand their definition of weapons in the schools to be any object used in a threatening manner.

Here's what tomorrow's Page 1 is looking like at this hour:

-- Joseph Duncan is set to announce his plea at an arrainment currently underway. The county prosecutor is set to announce if he will seek the death penalty for Duncan. This story is developing, but will receive large play.

--A follow up on the wildly popular "Good Samaritan" story. As it turns out, there may have some more issues at work in the events reported.

--Two alternative high schools could close and mental health services in public schools could face drastic cuts based on a draft plan from Spokane County's Community Services department.

--Gaza saga comes to a close. Israeli troops removed the final settlers from the area today.

--America is getting fatter, it's not news, but it's not uniform. The states with the highest percentage of obese adults are mostly in the South. Only one state isn't getting worse.

--President Bush is having a grand old time in Idaho. Coverage continues

Rehash of this morning's paper was brief. Notable was discussion of the centerpiece photograph and accompanying story on the cover of the IN Life section. Several folks at the table wondered what on earth a photo depicting safe removal of a football helmet had to do with kids taking care of themselves as they head off to college. (According to the caption, the picture was taken at Whitworth's athletic training orientation -- an example of how students are being trained to keep each other healthy.)
And coming up:

Editors were full of praise this morning for some stories that were published over the weekend:

M's pitcher Felix Hernandez is one cool cat

90 years, and still camping

Trail to mine honors Pulaski

Branching out

4 cruisers, 3 towns, 1 cop

The last two were written by one of our smmer interns, Jennifer Sudick, who is leaving soon to attend graduate school at Northwestern University. She's a Sandpoint High School graduate and has done a good job for us this summer.

Susan Drumheller and Rob McDonald hustled on Sunday to get the story on the Sandpoint murder.

And has anyone noticed how long the road construction list has been this summer on Amy Cannata's weekly "Getting There" transportation column?

For tomorrow, we're looking at a story about the CEO of a Post Falls health company who's been charged with embezzlement by a federal grand jury.

Former Gonzaga University basketball star Ronny Turiaf held a press conference today to talk about keeping his NBA dream alive and to thank the community for its support as he recovers from heart surgery.

A story that's been planned for several days should be in the paper tomorrow: Local mental health providers may be forced to lay off employees because of county and state funding issues.

We've got a nice feature in the works about John Goyke, who is a police officer for three towns: Oakesdale, Rosalia and Malden. He works pretty much every day of the week, shifting cars and uniforms as he moves from town to town on patrols.

From the wires:

A jury found Merck & Co. liable for the death of a man who took Vioxx, awarding his widow $253.4 million.

Rockets that were fired at two U.S. Navy ships docked in Jordan barely missed. A terrorist group claimed responsibility.

A White House plan to combat meth was criticized as inadequate and embarrassing by Republican lawmakers.

Today's story about the arrests of 3 men in connection with the disappearance of a 13-year-old Spokane girl on Aug. 7 generated some discussion:

The story ran the inside of today's region section and on the front of Idaho's region section and there was a number of called-in complaints that the story did not adequately portray the girl as a victim and that it did not receive the same play as other more high-profile cases have received in the past.

The staff felt the story, which was heavily based on police reports and is entirely attributed, was dispassionate because of the hard-news angle.

There was a bit of disagreement about the placement of the gas prices/school budgets story. As a local story, some felt it might have been better on an otherwise very national/international front page. The decision was made, in part because of art, and it was noted that the paper has been very good about putting local stories up front. It has been recently calculated that more than 60 percent of our A1 lead stories are local this year.

The SCAPCA story was complimented for shedding light on a well-known but little-discussed problem.

TOMORROW:
County mental health providers may face layoffs.

A heavy day for national and international news and a light day for the local scene on tomorrow's front page.

- Staff writer Trinity Hartman will file Thursday afternoon (our time)from Cologne, Germany, and World Youth Day. Her story on a group of Spokane youth who traveled to Germany to hear Pope Benedict in his first official trip as the new pope. There has been internation buzz that the former Pope John Paul may be announced as a saint at this very event.

PLUS
- More on the Gaza pullout.
- 4 G.I.s killed.
- Serial Killer, BTK's sentencing.
- John Roberts
Sorry this is so brief folks, more detail for tomorrow's post.

Here's what tomorrow's Page 1 is looking like at this hour:

--A downtown Spokane homeless shelter is about to become homeless itself. The building where the shelter is located has been sold, and organizers now are looking for a new place to call home.

--Pharmaceutical companies are among the lobbyists in Seattle trying to influence state lawmakers from around the country who are at a conference.

--A federal indictment has been handed down in a cigarette smuggling case.

--More from Gaza. Israeli troops dragged Jewish settlers awy from their homes and synagogues.

--China and Russia are joining forces for their largest military exercise in odern history.

--Cooler weather in autumn doesn't mean oil prices will go down. Prices at the gas pump are expected to remain high, and record winter heating bills are almost certain to follow.

Today's lead story about the Gaza strip was played prominently in newspapers across the U.S., according to managing editor Gary Graham, who took a spin through Newseum's Page 1 collection. He also guessed that it was "one of the least read stories in the paper."

We know by looking at our online story tracking numbers that our readers click on breaking AP headlines several thousand times a day. But we also know that darned few readers click on the wire stories that have already appeared in print.

Statistics from this morning, for example, support Gary's contention. The Gaza story was only the 119th most-read story on the site. Tops, by far, was a story in the Region section about a Good Samaritan who was beaten.

Practically every story in the paper today, and many stories that are days old got more pageviews that the wire story on the top of the front page. Why is that? Perhaps interested Web readers saw it yesterday. Maybe the headline and first paragraph provide enough information so readers don't click on the story. People probably use the Web edition somewhat differently than they use the print version. Any readers care to tell us why they do or don't read wire stories?

Other notes from the morning meeting:

--The story about Jim West's legal brief ran on page B2 and some staffers wondered if we'd be criticized for not giving the story more prominent play. The reasoning used by editors was that the story didn't say much of anything new.

--Likewise, the story about Morning Star Boys Ranch didn't reveal much new. But it did appear on Page 1. The new information in the story is that former priest and admitted pedophile Patrick O'Donnell never was on the ranch's payroll. Whether he was on the payroll, though, has never been considered a key issue, and there was concern at the meeting this morning that putting the story on Page 1 might seem to absolve the ranch of some responsibility regarding O'Donnell. But the story was clear in quoting an attorney for alleged victims: "regardless of whether O'Donnell was a paid employee, he was able to remove kids and sexually abuse them."

Stories we're pursuing for tomorrow:

--Spokane Mental Health says it may be forced to lay off as many as 100 employees if Spokane County doesn't resolve its funding dispute with the state.

--State lawmakers from across the nation are in Seattle this week, and so are armies of lobbyists and their special interest clients. And they're doling out millions in sponsorship fees, banquets and other favors to foster relations and help their causes.

--The Arrow Point Bar and Grill may get torn down as part of the new Gozzer Ranch and Golf Club development on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

We're also wondering if today's rain will have any affect on forest fires, and how far-reaching the effects of high gas prices will be for local schools, government agencies and businesses. Will the cost of pizza delivery go up? Stay tuned.

For tomorrow:

--You may have noticed big plumes of smoke over the Rathdrum Prairie today. It's the beginning of the annual field burning season for grass growers.

--A review of tax records found no evidence that a prominent pedophile priest ever worked at Morning Star Boys’ Ranch in any official capacity, the ranch’s spokeswoman said this week. (The priest has admitted molesting more than a dozen boys.)

--Spokane County Commissioners reacted angrily to news reports suggesting they had some type of verbal agreement with Mayor Jim West in which the city would leave the county with certain tax-revenue rich retail areas. Commissioners said the only thing they've told West is to keep his hands off commercial and residential property alike.

--Environmental groups say snowmobiles are killing the country's last caribou. They plan to file a lawsuit today in hopes to forcing the feds to curtail snowmobile traffic in North Idaho.

And from the wire services:

--Thousands of Jewish settlers and supporters defied today's deadline to leave Gaza, pelting Israeli troops with eggs and stones and dancing around the Torah in celebration of their resistance to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's historic plan to disengage from the Palestinians.

Sometimes it's difficult to balance the needs of readers who have followed an ongoing story and the needs of readers who are coming into a story fresh, without any context on the day they're reading the paper. There was some discussion this morning over whether we had too much background information too early in a couple of stories: on bogus degrees from local diploma mills, and on a former teacher pleading guilty to having sex with one of his students. Both stories included quite a bit of background information high up in the story -- which is great for helping new readers find their footing -- but may not have gotten to the news of the day fast enough for those who were already up to speed.

Doug Clark's double-entendre-laden column also came up in the meeting, along with a bit of surprise that all the reader feedback (so far at least) has been positive.

But the true jaw-dropper of the morning came from Features Editor Pia Hansen, who was describing the cover story of this week's edition of HOME. It seems that raising chickens is illegal inside the Valley city limits, but you're free to turn your Spokane back yard into a mini chicken ranch. If that's your thing.

Stories we're working on for tomorrow include:
-- a followup on yesterday's successful use of Idaho's Amber Alert system
-- a story on the scramble for baseball/softball fields in the Valley, where supply isn't keeping up with demand
-- a business story: For the first time this year, real estate sales have failed to show a year-over-year increase.

Our lead story for tomorrow: Foreign nationals, including potential terrorists, could legally gain entry into the United States with fraudulent degrees purchased from Spokane-based diploma mills, docments made public today reveal.

Also locally:

--Under a city of Spokane tentative parking ticket amnesty plan, motorists could clear up 2-year-old or older parking tickets for just 30 cents on the dollar.

--Smoke from burning grass from North Idaho could add to the region's smoky haze this week. Farmers appear to be poised to burn fields on the Rathdrum Prairie. Under Idaho's new secrecy laws, however, public health advocates say they are unable to warn residents most at risk.

--A story about baseball fields that was listed earlier today is NOT running tomorrow.

And from the wire services:

--Iraqi leaders failed to meet a key deadline to finish a new constitution.

--On the first day of Israel's Gaza pullout, soldiers handed out eviction notices to sobbing Jewish settlers.

--Women who take daily amounts of painkillers such as Tylenol are more likely to develop high blood pressure.

Summer weekends often are very quiet in Spokane. Not this past weekend. The big storm that blew through town Friday afternoon touched off a series of wildfires and caused power outages. Nine reporters scrambled across the region late Friday and pulled together a comprehensive package for Saturday's paper. "It was wild," city editor Carla Savalli said, describing the events of Friday night. She credited assistant city editor Dan Hansen with orchestrating the coverage.

Sunday's paper was full of interesting, timely stories:

--A story on the business page about high wheat yields shows what a huge economic impact farming still has here.

--A wonderful feature on the Spokane Indians players from the Dominican Republic, with a sidebar on a local man who provides housing for the players and coaches. Summer intern Jaime Cardenas did a superb job with that story. Editor Steve Smith thought that, in retrospect, we should have published the story in Spanish, too. This week Cardenas is visiting the Mariners, and hopes to have an interview in Spanish with 19-year-old Mariners rookie pitcher Felix Hernandez who doesn't speak English.

--The special section on the 60th anniversary of VJ Day. SWe've received several phone calls from appreciative readers.

--The story by Benjamin Shors on the Suicide Race at the Omak Stampede.

Interestingly, however, none of those stories were the most-read stories on the web site from Sunday. They were, in order:

--Floater traffic seen as threat to river.
--N. Monroe still closed at fire site.
--QB Swogger disappointed with his showing.
--A firm believer.
--Hundreds step up to help Idaho girls.
--Cougars return for reunion.
--Some question lack of charges for visiting judge.
--Annexation plans causing rifts.

There were several good local news and sports stories in today's paper, as well.
The story "Trooper resigns amid scandal" already has well over 1,200 pageviews on the web site today. It was on page A6 today. By contrast, the top wire stories of the day, which dominated A1, have barely received a glance from readers: "Pilots pass out, dooming jet" has had 77 pageviews; "Iraq charter down to the wire" has had only 19 pageviews and "Israelis leaving Gaza" has had 20 pageviews.

In other media news, our very own Cheryl-Anne Millsap was mentioned in this New York Times article. It called her "a columnist for an Idaho newspaper." Hmm. We'll ask for a correction on that.

What we're working on for tomorrow:

--Inland Asphalt wants to operate an asphalt plant in the Wandermere area of North Spokane. Not surprisingly there is neighborhood opposition. What's different in this case is that county officials seem to have changed course on whether it should be allowed.

--In a bid to raise money -- but probably not a lot -- the city of Spokane might offer parking ticket scofflaws partial amnesty.

--The scramble for baseball fields is likely to intensify with the proposed closure and development of eight softball/baseball fields located in complexes in Liberty Lake and Post Falls.

Crews continue to battle the fire in southeastern Washington. Our reporter and photographer got close enough to the fire to "singe their sideburns." They'll have a story on the latest fire conditions, as well as a feature on what it takes to run a 1,600-person fire camp. And there will be a story about how this fire is ripping through the upper reaches of the Tucannon River but appears to have spared critical fish habitat.

Within days of his arrest last month, accused North Idaho multiple-murder suspect Joseph Edward Duncan III confessed to FBI agents that he killed two Seattle girls in 1996. "He was talking and telling stories," a Justice Department source said. We'll have more details on that story tomorrow.

About 30,000 gallons of diesel leaked into the ground at an Avista facility leased by Cenex in Spokane. The spill happened on Sunday, but wasn't discovered by Avista until Monday morning, and reported to DOE Monday afternoon. DOE says it is above the aquifer. Avista disputes that. Both agree the soil should contain the spill before it leaks into groundwater. Removal of the contaminated soil already is taking place.

The business section will have a short story about a high-class penthouse planned by developer Walt Worthy in the hotel he's building hear the Davenport. There also will be an update on plans for locating a gay business district in Spokane.

Sports will have a feature on a former USC player who's now with the Seahawks, and an update from WSU football practice.

The InLife section will feature the Festival at Sandpoint. Also, look for the Home section in tomorrow's paper.

Coming Sunday, we'll have a special 12-page commemorative section for the 60-year anniversary of the end of World War II.

That must be true, since the consensus was that this morning's editions made for a good summer paper. And please note that there were more than just greenish hues in the lentil pictures on the IN Life cover. That's not an easy feat. The National Lentil Festival is Aug. 19 and 20 in downtown Pullman.

Lots of news in the wire section today, but this story missed our radar: There's a 9/11 story that says hijacker Mohammed Atta was identified by defense intelligence before 2001 but the information was not forwarded.

On tap for tomorrow

Also coming tomorrow: Reporter Bill Morlin is following up on news reports that suspected serial killer Joseph Duncan allegedly confessed to the slayings of two girls in the Seattle area in 1996 (He was paroled in 1994).

OK, not really. But I am going to be on vacation for the next 2 1/2 weeks - Ken Sands and the rest of the Web team will be updating the blog when they can, but bear with us if we miss a day here and there...

Tireless city hall reporter Mike Prager is also an astronomy buff, and he's got a preview of the upcoming Perseid meteor shower for the front page tomorrow. Closer to earth, we'll have an update on the wildfire near Pomeroy, and a conservative group filed suit in two West Side counties today, claiming that a ruling requiring them to disclose talk-radio airtime promoting an initiative to roll back the gas tax violated their free speech rights.

From the wires: the Fed raised a key interest rate today; and more than 20 people were killed in attacks in Iraq today.

The photo of the fire camp in Pomeroy that you saw on the front page today was, believe it or not, the best photo we had available from the scene. Reporter James Hagengruber was able to file a story after all, before settling down into a horse stall for the night with a $27 sleeping bag procured from Wal-Mart. Ah, the glamorous life of a journalist.

With our own crew in place, we should have an update online soon, and a much better photo in the paper tomorrow.

So why did we take so long to get down there? There was some discussion of sending a photographer down Monday morning, but that would have left us with only one photographer to cover Spokane for the day. There's no easy way to assess whether it's worth sending two staffers hours away to cover a single event.

The latest information on the wildfire near Pomeroy indicates that it's probably going to get worse before it gets any better, so we're sending a reporter down this evening. He won't get there in time to file a story for tomorrow's paper, we'll be putting the AP version on Page One instead.

Also coming up tomorrow:

A proposal that could mean big changes for the downtown YMCA and YWCA; new developments in the Met Mortgage bankruptcy; and President Bush signed the $12.3 billion energy bill today.

Yes, that story on Hanford's role in the Hiroshima bombing was written by the same Karen Dorn Steele that's neck-deep in the Jim West investigation. Pulling off the two tasks simultaneously did not go unnoticed...

Where's the fire?

We're discussing whether to send a reporter and photographer down to Pomeroy to cover the wildfire there. It's a tough call - resources here are stretched fairly thin and the AP has been providing good coverage, but it's also a big event in our neighborhood and we always like to have our own people on scene (reporters and photographers all carry an arsenal of fire gear in their car trunks this time of year - helmets, heat shields, etc. - and are ready to go at a moment's notice).

Big news from the Jim West investigation today - documents filed today show that the FBI searched West's home last week and seized several computers and other materials (we'll have reaction from the City Council as well). Also, Shannon Sullivan's reply brief is due today in the ongoing recall hearing.

Also coming up tomorrow:

CenterStage looks like it's closing for good; thousands of bikers are heading for the tiny town of Rosalia this weekend; and we're following the effort to rescue seven sailors trapped in a snagged Russian submarine.

Today’s story on transgendered father Kimberly Stankovich generated a lot of discussion this morning – here’s a general summary of the arguments:

The Page One lineup is still in flux at this point - we've got updates on our usual suspects: Joseph Duncan and John Rollins Tuggle, and we're mindful of maintaining a mix of stories on the cover that isn't dominated by sex offenders.

Another issue coming up - do we name John Tuggle's ex-wife? We have a fairly firm policy of not identifying victims of sexual assault, and it stands to reason that identifying the mother could tip people off to the identity of the child (of course, Shasta Groene is an obvious exception - her name was so widely publicized in the search that once she was found we were backed into a corner on this issue).

Word that Joseph Duncan had been linked to a 1997 slaying of a 10-year-old boy in California came into the newsroom late yesterday afternoon, and reporter Bill Morlin scrambled to get a story together for the Web site and then flesh it out for the print edition.

The Riverside County (registration required) paper is reporting that Duncan had actually confessed to murdering the Anthony Martinez. We're checking it out...

Setting the scene

The editors were sitting around the table, discussing the previous day's paper, just as they did every morning at 10:00. They listened intently as a reporter described what she felt was a preponderance of anecdotal leads in today's paper.

An anecdotal lead is one that sets the scene rather than jumping into the news right away (examples here, here and here). Research shows that readers aren't crazy about them, and it was agreed that it's something reporters should watch out for and try to avoid when possible (for the record, the reporter that raised the issue acknowledged the advice applied to herself as well).

...August being a slow month for news. Early this morning, three people were killed in a car crash in Mead - the county's deadliest crash so far this summer and a tragic day among members of an extended family of Russian immigrants. Also today, California authorities announced that Joseph Duncan is the sole suspect in the killing of a 10-year-old boy in Riverside County in 1997.

Also coming up on Page One tomorrow:

An effort by Spokane Police to crack down on on nuisance crime downtown; another deadly day in Iraq; and an emergency repair on the space shuttle was deemed a success.

"Yonder" is the word we were looking for on the airplane story on today's page B1. Not "younder." Sorry 'bout that.

Follow the leader

If you were following along yesterday, you know that as of the 4:30 news meeting, we had decided to lead with Toronto plane crash rather than Iraq. However, photo issues moved the plane crash to the centerpiece position, leaving Iraq as the only obvious lead. Only problem is, by the time most people read the paper, the Iraq news was nearly 24 hours old, and an additional 14 Marines had been killed (one confused reader called and accused us of deliberately misinforming the public by changing the number from 14 to 7). Such are the pitfalls of the 24-hour news cycle.

Gary Graham took a peek at the newseum this morning and found that most newspapers prominently displayed the Toronto crash. Iraq placement varied widely.

Sex offender on the loose

Also in the plan last night - we were going to run a photo of fugitive sex offender Timothy Addison McCamey in the rail on Page One. We're not sure why it didn't get there - more than likely just an oversight.

Coming up

A follow on the auto-theft ring; and a couple of Idaho school districts have purchased software to screen visitors, volunteers and delivery drivers that visit their schools.

Two big stories were nominated for the lead position on the front page - violence in Iraq that killed seven Marines, raising the U.S. death toll above 1,800, and a plane crash in Toronto in which all 309 people aboard survived. The plane crash won out, in part because of the unusual circumstances, and also because it occurred much later in the day.

Also coming up on Page One tomorrow:

The Court of Appeals has upheld a Spokane judge's decision to rescind a woman's divorce decree temporarily because she failed to disclose she was pregnant; we're also looking at a car theft ring with a person on the inside - the Department of Licensing, that is...

Reporter Jim Camden, who wasn't at yesterday afternoon's meeting, thought maybe the moose story should have gone to Page One. In retrospect, a compelling argument could be made that the moose photo might have made a better centerpiece than the space shuttle photo. However, no one wanted to make a case that the story itself was front-page news.

Coming up:

Spokane County commissioners are set to decide today whether to shutter polling stations and have everyone vote by mail ... stay tuned.

The moose on the loose at Comstock Park almost wandered onto our front page tomorrow - after all, it's not every day that a pair of moose wander into a city park, and the spectacle drew quite a crowd. On the other hand, moose come into the city all the time - does this one become more newsworthy just because we were able to get photos (and video) of it?

Ultimately, we decided that, as fun as the moose may be, it wasn't a big enough deal to move out to Page One.

Non-moose stories that did make the cut include:

President Bush installed John Bolton as ambassador to the U.N. today via a recess appointment; the city council is considering whether to hire an outside lawyer to conduct an investigation into Jim West's computer use - meanwhile, the fifth and final member of the city-appointed commission has resigned.

Did you spot it? A typo on our Ryne Sandberg commemorative section cover made it all the way through production before anyone saw it. Question is, what do you do about it? Does an error like this (that is, small enough that no one in the production process noticed it) justify the expense of reprinting the entire section in these budget-strapped times?

Well, we didn't reprint it. And now, the sentiment around the table appears to be that we probably should have. There weren't immediate answers to questions of how much it would have cost or whether a reprint was even feasible (remember - we're talking 100,000+ copies here).

The most important question, though, is whether an error such as this one has an impact on our overall credibility. There are typos in the newspaper all the time - that's just the reality of a 24-hour publication cycle - but this was on a commemorative section that, presumably, some readers will keep around for a while.

Story underplayed?

Sunday's investigative piece on sex abuse in Spokane in the 1970s ran at the bottom of Page One, and some editors said it should have run higher on the page. The decision to position the story at the bottom of the page was based on two things: First, it was a contextual piece, not breaking news, and therefore didn't justify a lead position. Second, we were sensitive about confronting readers with such an alarming story on a Sunday. However, some felt that playing the story at the bottom of the page may create an impression that we aren't confident in our reporting, which assuredly is not the case.

Coming up

A couple of callers have told us there's a moose calf running around in Comstock Park - we've sent videographer Colin Mulvany to check it out. Could make for intersting footage. Or, the whole thing may turn out to be nothing more than a wild moose chase...