Bloglander

Around here

Full-day kindergarten started at all Spokane Public Schools this week. (SR) 

Two people apparently tried to burglarize an Office Depot in Spokane with a sledgehammer, but were scared off by police, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the building. (KHQ)

The City of Coeur d'Alene passed its 2014 budget without asking for property tax increases. (CdA Press)  

Elsewhere

Ariel Castro, the man sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping three Cleveland girls and keeping them captive in his home for more than a decade, hanged himself in his cell. (USA Today)

While President Obama hasn't said he would go forward with a strike on Syria if a Congressional vote on the action fails, he told reporters this morning: "I always reserve the right and responsibility to act on behalf of America's national security." (NPR) 

A judge in Montana who sentenced a teacher to 30 days in jail for raping a student, sparking national outrage, now says it may have been illegal. (CNN)

Also

John McCain was playing poker on his iPhone during a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria. Yes, really. Here's the photo and McCain's tweet soon after: "Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing - worst of all I lost!" (WaPo)