Three 8th grade musicians from Lincoln Middle School in Clarkston have been invited to be a part of an all-state music event in Vancouver, Wash.

Austin Trail, Cooper Knutson and Alexis Ruddell will perform Feb. 16 with about 90 other middle school musicians in the Washington Music Educators Association All-State event.

The event “offers students the unique opportunity to rehearse and perform with the state's most talented 7th and 8th grade band and choir students,” a news release from the Clarkston School District read.

Students were selected after submitting audition materials to a statewide panel. Trail was named to the Junior All-State Baker Band, Knutson to the Junior All-State Mixed Choir, and Ruddell to the Junior All-State Treble Choir.

Linda Torgerson, Lincoln Middle School's music director, is slated to participate in the Northwest Music Convention in Portland before rendezvousing with students in Vancouver for the event.

Facing a debilitating disease and a Christmas season with three kids – including a newborn – a Coeur d'Alene artist did something extremely rare: He decided to focus on helping others.

Jason Sanchez had the idea to help Children's Village in Coeur d'Alene this Christmas because he knew he "had to do something out of the goodness out of the heart." So he contacted the charity and told them he had a plan to help by building a gingerbread replica to raise donations.

"My first reaction was to burst out laughing," Janie Givas, development director for Children's Village, said. "People have grand ideas all the time, until they realize what it will take to actually complete the project."

But when Sanchez came in with "a beautiful board already drawn of this great gingerbread house I knew he was for real," Givas said.

Sanchez had spoken with Sarah Colbert of Tom Addis Lake City Ford, who OK'd funding – about $500 – the project, and he was all set to start creating.

During the summer months the Valley Mission Pool is full of children laughing, now all you'll hear are screams!

This weekend, the Valley Mission Pool and locker rooms will be transformed into a spooky haunted house.  The haunted house will feature a zombie graveyard, tarp tunnel of terror and clown chaos.  If you bring a can of food to donate it's just $2 to get in.

Here are the details:

October 26th and 27th

7:30pm-10:00pm

11123 E. Mission Ave.

For more information, 509-720-5408 or jpapich@spokanevalley.org.