Learn about featured City departments while enjoying great food at local restaurants!

The Office of Neighborhood Services and Community Assembly’s Building Stronger Neighborhoods committee have organized four “meet & eat” events to share information about various City departments and the services they provide: Each event is intended to provide an understanding of what the featured departments does and how they can help you make your neighborhood a better place. Both the department head and other staff will be present at each event to answer your questions.

All “meet & eat” events will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the dates listed below:

• July 6th – Christy Hamilton, director of COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) – Northern Light Brewery (1003 E. Trent Ave)
• July 21st – Jonathan Mallahan, director of the Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS)/Code Enforcement and Heather Troutman, Code Enforcement Supervisor – Northern Lights Brewery (1003 E. Trent Ave)
• Aug 5th – Mark Mattke, Director of Workforce Development – Northern Lights Brewery (1003 E. Trent Ave)
• Aug 25th – Leroy Eadie, Director of Parks – Downriver Golf Course Club House (3225 Columbia Circle)

If you plan to attend please contact Sandy Scott by email at sscott@spokanecity.org or by phone at 625-6730.

*Attendees of these events are responsible for their own food and beverage.

The dedication of the Riverside extension through the University District as Martin Luther King, Jr. Way on Friday, June 18th was a very moving and beautiful ceremony. Many thanks to all of those that have worked to make the naming of this street in Dr. King’s memory a reality.

To the right is a photo of Rev. Happy Watkins and Ivan Bush, two of the local civil rights advocates who have worked for over 20 years to have a street named for the late Martin Luther King, Jr. in Spokane.

I’m honored to celebrate the vision of Dr. King on a campus that is dedicated to education, justice and peaceful pursuits!

This past Sunday, Spokane celebrated the 100^th Anniversary of Father’s Day, established here in Spokane by Sonora Smart Dodd. I had the opportunity to take part in some of celebratory festivities over the weekend - it was an honor to celebrate such a dynamic and influential Spokane woman — and meet some of her relatives from around the world.

You can visit Greenwood Memorial Terrace Cemetery to see the new memorial dedicated to Sonora, plus a beautiful waterfall and bench they installed in her honor.

Visit www.fathersdaybirthplace.com to learn more about Sonora Smart Dodd — business woman, civic leader, advocate for Native peoples…a great role model for our daughters!

The 2nd Annual Spokane State of the Green Economy was held on June 16th

I was one of approximately 140 people that attended this 2nd annual event hosted by CLEEN|NW, a consortium of leading energy efficiency northwest companies led by Greater Spokane Incorporated.

We heard about some of the exciting work being done locally to develop the clean tech, smart energy and green building industries here in Spokane.

As we all know, our environment is changing and our economy is changing. In order for Spokane to maintain and grow current and new businesses, we need to position ourselves to meet the demands of a changing business environment. Clean tech is an exciting sector that is a focus for the city of Spokane’s economic development efforts.

For more information on CLEEN|NW visit their new website at www.cleennw.org.

The SHOWCASE of Green Homes

This event, the first of its kind in the Northwest, runs through June 27th  and features six homes awarded between 3-5 stars on the Built Green Certified scale.

Last week, my husband and I really enjoyed seeing the homes and honoring the builders at the Showcase and VIPs Award Night, which preceding the official opening of this exciting home show.

For more information visit the Showcase of Green Homes website at www.spokaneshowcaseofhomes.com