<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of today's (November 1, 2014) Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington).</div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; clear: both; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 1.2; font-size: 28px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">Punctual cat greets Libby Center students before, after school</h1></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Humming school buses often alert a fuzzy feline it’s time to take his post on the sidewalk, gathering strokes, scratches, a few cuddles and likely a treat, too, from students at Libby Center.</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Other times, the friendly tabby will arrive early outside the school building to primp, licking his black striped golden-brown fur as he waits. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“He’s here every day,” said Debbie Donohue, a Libby Center secretary. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The students say the cat’s name is Libby or Cleo or Einstein or Whiskers; one girl calls him Road Kill because of his tendency to run into the street. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We all argue over what to call it,” said eighth-grader Owen Gadd. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Like clockwork, the cat shows up before classes and again in the afternoon as students are about to depart. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The tabby “knows all the people here,” said Joy Koston, 12. He’s “really comfortable with a couple kids, but doesn’t like a big crowd.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When doors of the school are propped open, the cat saunters in and roams around. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He’s very friendly, said Debra DeWitt, the school’s new principal. She often supervises as students get on and off buses. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“When I’d be waiting, the cat would be there with me,” she said. “He’s there for everybody to pet.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The neighborhood cat no doubt considers his appearances a duty. No worries though, he sleeps between shifts each day and there’s speculation he stays home on weekends. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He doesn’t have too far to travel for work; his family lives across the street from the East Central school. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“He’s our Snake River cat,” said John Jensen, one of the cat’s owners. “We take him fishing and camping. He knows the difference between a carp and a sucker fish. He chases squirrels and he’s not afraid of raccoons.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This tabby is carrying on a tradition of a previous family cat, Smokey, who also greeted schoolchildren. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jensen thinks revealing Smokey’s name resulted in someone stealing the cat, so he’s keeping this one’s moniker a secret. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For all the tabby’s efforts, there are rewards, and he knows where to go to get them. His pace quickens when he sees a certain bus. The doors open, the children exit and he climbs onto David Schudel’s bus and jumps on top of the dashboard.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This is a daily occurrence,” said Schudel, who pulled a small bag of cat treats and fed one to the tabby. “Sometimes he’ll follow me down the aisle when I do the child checks. Sometimes people leave food out on the sidewalk for him.” </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While the students may argue over the cat’s name, they all agree: This is one smart cat.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Libby Center student Ella Fornof spends a few moments early Friday morning with the neighborhood cat. Libby greets the schoolchildren when they arrive in the morning and depart in the afternoon.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110114_01.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110114_01.jpg</a></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">School bus driver David Schudel has a gentle touch for Libby the neighborhood cat upon his arrival to the Libby Center on Friday in Spokane. Schudel gives the cat a treat when it jumps up on the dash.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110114_02.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110114_02.jpg</a></span></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>