A FIREFIGHTER WORKS to extinguish the fire at a home on the corner of Johns Prairie and Batstone Cutoff roads. The people living there were unharmed but two dogs and a cat were killed in the blaze.

FROM LEFT, ALAIRE HALL, Queen of the Forest 2007, stands by Lacie Messenger as Princess of Cedar, Emilie Schnabel as Princess of Spruce, Sara Chapman as Princess of Douglas Fir and Nancy Yuan as Princess of Hemlock. Mattie Sobotka is an alternate on the court. On the junior court, Hannah Avina is Princess of Wildlife and Kairee Brown is Junior Princess of Wildflowers. Brothers Jacob and Robert Hanes won the titles of Paul Bunyan and Smokey Bear, respectively.

CAN THEY spell "happy"? Members of the Journalistics, which took first place in this year's Spell-E-Bration, flash winning smiles. They are, from left, Dave Pierik, Frankie Zehrung and Janel Suppes.

CAST OF THE Shelton High School Drama Department production of Once on This Island will perform this weekend. The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 17-19. Performances will take place in the Shelton High School Auditorium, 3737 Shelton Springs Road.

DESPITE HIGHRISE HEROICS from the likes of senior Premier One player and perennial all-leaguer Dwain Friedlander (2), the lads of Climber soccer and their retiring 27th-year coach Brian Fairbrother missed out on the postseason by a single goal last week, bowing 0-1 at Yelm in a match they had only to win to clinch the league's final district berth. Flanking the star midfielder above are teammates Alex Potts (14, a junior) and Jared Ibarra (20, an upstart ninth-grader). The Climbers finished Coach Fairbrother's final season at 5-6-1 in league.

A couple of guys
with a running gag

Sam Nichols, on the right, and Richard Quirke, in the driver's seat of his Dodge Viper, have a wheel deal that started with their meeting by the A&W Restaurant. Nichols came up to this major muscle machine and said to Quirke while leaning forward with a look on his face such as you might see at the starting line of a race: "I would ask you to race, but I wouldn't want to make you look bad." Quirke said he's one of Sam's biggest fans. "I have seen him repeatedly driving up the hill past the library on freezing cold days, sometimes in the rain, but if he recognizes you he will smile and wave."