Thousands of families are counting on your generous donations to have a family turkey dinner next Thursday.  KREM 2 sat down with one mother who just moved here in hopes of a new life.  The look in two-year-old Alfred Anderson's face would never lead you to believe he and his parents are in need.  But Alfred's dad was recently laid off from his construction job in Albuquerque.  The family moved to Spokane hoping for a fresh start.  They are grateful to find a place to live temporarily at the Salvation Army shelter.

"It's been a year and a half since I've had my own stove, I'm amazed by how much this place has to offer," said Jackie Anderson.

Anderson volunteers while her husband got a job with the Salvation Army as a bell ringer.  Right now, it's not enough to put food on the table.  With another baby on the way, the donation will help Anderson focus on finding more permanent housing.  And the classes she's taking to prepare for school.

"I'm looking forward to that, I'm a big animal person, vet tech is where I want to go," said Anderson.

Although this is literally just one meal, it's more than that for the Anderson's.  It gives them hope for the future.  And they are humbled by what others are doing to make sure their family has a special holiday.

The health district goes undercover more than 100 times a year to make sure stores are obeying the law and not selling cigarettes to minors.  KREM 2 went along as four stores in our area were caught making the sale.

The health district's tobacco prevention team supervises the underage volunteers as they try to buy cigarettes in the store.  Four out of 12 places sold to the girls.  Three spots were just down the street from each other in downtown Spokane.  Once the girls come back with the pack, it's taken as evidence.  Afterward, the supervisor confronts the clerk.  One clerk says he assumed the girl was 18.  He was visibly upset he got caught.

Just across the street on Second and Division, the 7-11 also sold to the minors.  The clerk claimed she typed the wrong birth date in the computer.  The state hopes stores comply 80% of the time.  In this undercover operation, compliance was just below that.

Each of the clerks who sold to the teens face a $75 fine and may have to take an education course.  Some of them could even lose their jobs.

Dry Fly is churning out the booze as fast as it can because the bottles are flying off the shelves.  In just two years, Dry Fly has gone from a small distillery to a small distillery with a big reputation.

Dry Fly is Washington's first distillery since prohibition.  It took passing a new law to put them in business.  Now two years later, they're breaking out.  They started with vodka and gin.  The first run of Dry Fly whiskey sold out in 90 minutes.  The company is adding a bourbon in 2010 and looking to get bigger.

Liquor is a regulated business.  Dry Fly says there will be some hoops to jump through when it's time to expand.  But they've bottle success before, the company says it will do it again.  There are restrictions on how much booze Dry Fly can sell out its own doors.  But even with heavy restrictions, they're still allowed to do a lot more than states like Idaho.

Graffiti is a symbol of a major problem in Moses Lake.  Gangs are running rampant through Grant County.  And there is two guys in charge of bring them all down.  Chris Kanoff and Earl Romig have had their share of mad-dogging, being stared down as they drive through neighborhoods.

They say the gang members know the police department is stretched thin.  That's why they've chosen Moses Lake in the first place.  Every few weeks, gang members show up in the local papers.  Sometimes in the morgues.

Romig and Kanoff know they have an uphill battle.  They think there are a thousand gang members in the county.  They have had 53 drive-by's this year alone.  And gangs control whole sections of the city.  Romig and Kanoff say it's a big job.  They know they are outnumbered but eventually, they'll win.

For more information on the Neighborhood Watch Program, contact Chris Kanoff at 509-754-2011 extenstion 642.  Or email at ckanoff@co.grant.wa.us

Last year, Second Harvest gave out more than 8,000 Thanksgiving dinners.  This year, they are setting the goal even higher because they know the demand will be even greater.
 
Moving food out of the Second Harvest food bank is a constant job for volunteers.  This year, the need for help is up 24%.  Many of those first time clients are middle class families hit hard by the economy.

Local farmers have stepped in to help keep up with the demand by donating everything from squash to onions, apples and 15-tons of corn.  Local growers are bringing in more than 80,000 pounds of potatoes.  That means fresh potatoes will be included in the Tom's Turkey Drive Dinner for the first time.

And for the first time, the bank is hoping to deliver 10,000 dinners, each for a family of four.  That means 40,000 people could have a Thanksgiving meal this year thanks to donations.  But the pantry still has space, especially for non-perishable and canned goods.  Leftovers will be saved for Christmas donations.

<a href=”http'//special.krem.com/turkeydrive/10_2009/”>More info on Tom's Turkey Drive</a>

"You live and learn" is basically Mayor Verner's slogan this year as she tries to make this snow season easier on the city.

"We want to be better prepared," said Verner.  "As a result of the last two years of heavy snow, listening to our citizens, we want to try a new approach."

Instead, the city will focus its energy on aerterials and putting more responsibility on neighbors.  Last year, plows started when there was four inches.  That's now being bumped up to six.  The city says they have taken a look at the snow plans from a dozen cities around the country and thought this plan was a good middle ground.

In Spokane, once six inches hits, you'll have six hours to move your car to the odd-numbered side of the road or risk being towed.  Mayor Verner is hoping that will erase the problem of cars left all winter on the side of the road.

The city says although they've already used up 90% of their snow budget for this year, thanks to January snow, they have already bought all their supplies for the year.  They think they will be able to make it through until January.

While in the police car, police say the suspect suffered a seizure.  They called an ambulance and he was taken to a hospital.  Minutes later, another man was arrested in his parked car.  Police are not saying if he is connected to the robbery but they are questioning him.

The store was is in lockdown during the investigation.  Police are interviewing employees and customers.  There is no word on what the gunman wanted.  Nobody was hurt during the robbery.

Patrol officers are now branching off into teams, one or two on each shift.  Some will be in uniform, others will be in plain clothes.  Their job is to patrol hot-spots which are areas that have seen a lot of problems.  Car thefts alone nearly doubled last month.  They'll also be checking on prolific criminals who've been released.  It used to be these kinds of patrols were only done when officers had time.  Now they're an ordered daily function.

The department will run the daily patrols through January then take a look at how successful they've been to decide whether or not to continue.

Recovery.gov is supposed to show you where 750-billion dollars in stimulus money is going, state by state.  But there are holes in the tracking system as tax money is issued to places which don't exist.

Spokane is in legislative district five.  But according to the federal government, there is 39 extra districts that we don't have.  Washington only has nine legislative districts.  But recovery.gov says money has been given out all the way to district 39.

Here's the breakdown' In Washington, the 10th district saved 60 jobs with $1 million dollars.  The 38th, no jobs, but $1.5 million dollars.  And in the zero district, three jobs and $2.5 million dollars.

It's the same story in Idaho, which has only two districts.  Recovery.gov says there is 35.  Districts that don't exist, like the 5th, 8th, and 28th, got more than two million dollars.
 
Washington and Idaho legislators say they found out about the site in the last few days, but they're not surprised.  Recovery.gov says it was just human error.  But now legislators want to find out where that money actually went and why no one was keeping a closer eye on your tax dollars. 
 
The recovery.gov website was updated late Wednesday afternoon.  But it still includes money and jobs not attributed to any legislative district.

It comes down to resources.  The county already doesn't have enough and they are going to see even less very soon.

Jack Driscol works as the Chief Criminal Deputy for the County Prosecutors Office and is witnessing the largest cut to prosecutors they have ever seen.

"We'll probably cut out district court until in half," said Driscol. 

They currently have eight prosecutors working all 10-thousand misdemeanor cases yearly from DUI's to shoplifting.  But seven of those prosecutors are being let go because of budget cuts.  The county plans on moving some prosecutors around.  But it still means only four people will do the job what was once twice that many.

Instead of focusing on domestic violence cases and DUI's, they'll be letting some criminals back out onto the streets even faster.

"These other crimes will get less attention and won't get handled in a timely fashion or won't get prosecuted at all," said Driscol.

Many of these first or second time offenders won't see a second of jail time.  Instead, they will participate in things like theft awareness programs.

"Is that fair to our citizens. fair to the case?  It's not how we handle them currently, it's not how we prefer to handle them, but it's the reality when you're told you have to lay off this many people," said Driscol.

What started as a traffic stop near Crestline and Sprague just after 4 a.m. Wednesday, ended with a high speed chase into Idaho.  Spokane County deputies laid spike strips across I-90 slowing the suspects car.  Post Falls police did the same when he took an exit.  When he was taken into custody, officers found the suspect, 29-year-old John Rovik, had just been released from jail two weeks ago on a vehicle theft charge.

On Tuesday, crime analyst Tom Michaud showed KREM 2 a list of hundreds of criminals the Department of Corrections recently released from supervision because of budget cuts.  On the list included Rovik.
 
Last week, officers arrested Michael Bridges after he broke into several cars in North Spokane.  He was found hiding in a box.  This week, he was arrested for shoplifting at Sears.  Instead of hiding, he was armed with an airsoft pistol.  Police say they are concerned what starts as a petty theft is turning into a pursuit or hold-up the next time.
 
Rovik not only faces charges of eluding, but unlawful imprisonment as well.  Two women were in the car at the time and apparently asked Rovik to let them out.

The Cannabis Cafe will only be open to diners with a medical marijuana card.  Draperies will be put over the windows to keep in line with Oregon law, requiring medical marijuana be consumed in private.

The owners of the Cannabis Cafe have run into some controversy in the past, when the site was used for sex parties.

"Most people don't have a problem with it being a pot cafe," said neighbor Matthew Busetto.  "It's the fact that the Solomans have proven themselves to be rather irresponsible and negligent neighbors", Busetto said.

"Every issue that they had we've done things to address it", said Eric Soloman, manager of The Cannabis Cafe.

Soloman said no marijuana will be left on site because it could be a target for thieves.

A quick moving cold front will bring snow accumulations of 1 to 2 inches to the region today. The highest accumulations will fall from Malott to Disautel Pass on Highway 155, where 2 to 3 inches will be possible.

A winter weather advisory for snow means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow covered roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.

Snow is also in the forecast for much of the rest of the Inland Northwest as well. Expect 1 to 2 inches in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene areas, and 2 to 3 inches to the north of those areas. Moses Lake, Pullman and Lewiston areas are expected to get less than an inch of snow accumulation from this storm.

Authorities say Charles Moody, 66, from Cottonwood, went hunting with his son, Brennus Moody, Thursday and hadn't been seen since about 4'00 p.m. Authorities say Charles and Brennus separated, and Brennus was unable to locate him on his own.

Latah County Search & Rescue scoured the area east of Harvard, Idaho in the St. Joe Forest near Strychnine Ridge, north of Laird Park.  Latah County was notified at 9 p.m. Thursday and initiated a search that lasted through the night.

Charles was found Friday before noon. A KREM 2 News crew on the scene reported Charles appeared to be in good spirits.

Air support from Fairchild AFB and Border Patrol aided volunteers and deputies in the search.