Buzz Bin

by Michael Bowen & r & & r & Get Your Child Sprayed


City of Spokane pools may be closed for the season (except for lunchtime lap swimming at Witter Pool through Wednesday), but kiddies can still cavort amid the spray pads and water sculptures at six city parks though Sept. 29: Shadle, Harmon, Mission, Grant, Nevada and Grandview. Call 625-6960 or 363-5458.





"Codgers A.A.R.T"


Meet not one but two regionally famous artists on Friday evening at the Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. in Coeur d'Alene: Harold Balazs and Mel McCuddin. Sullen, quirky old men and remote, disjointed figures ... no, we're referring to their paintings and sculptures, not Mel and Harold themselves. Call (208) 765-6006.





Pilot Poet


Gonzaga's Visiting Writers Series kicks off on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 pm with Herman Asarnow in the Foley Center. Asarnow, who's an English professor at the University of Portland, published Glass-Bottom Boat in May: poems about being a son and a father, poems about the joys of jazz, marriage and responsibility. Call 323-6681.





Supplemental Strolls...


Since you've already completed the half-dozen hikes described in "An Hour to Heaven" in the Annual Manual -- which makes you one industrious little beaver, as the Manual's only been out a week -- then consider picking up a "Spokane Trail Guide" by Rich Leon and the Sierra Club. There's even a second guide devoted to Eastern Washington and North Idaho, and both contain unique suggestions for out-of-the-way hobnailing. Write [email protected].





...and Revealing Rides


Speaking of autumn's approach, it's a great time to ride with local bicyclists. Starting Sunday at 10 am at Cabin Coffee in Browne's Addition, mountain bikers will tackle the Great Northern railbed below Rimrock. Or a week later, on Sept. 23 at 2 pm, meet at Qualchan Golf Course to ride up Eagle Ridge and along the Cheney-Spokane Road. Visit www.spokanebicycleclub.org.





Producing Plutonium


As a community, they bombed. They even had a parade float featuring "Bombers and Bomberettes." What a new hour-long documentary about Hanford reveals, however, is what a big-stakes gamble the Manhattan Project was. Showing on KSPS on Thursday, Sept. 20, and Sunday, Sept. 23, at 7 pm, with additional middle-of-the-night broadcasts.