July 15, 2005 in Business on Page A13 WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates around the country rose for a second straight week but still remain below rates seen a year ago. In its weekly survey, mortgage giant Freddie Mac …

July 15, 2005 in City on Page B1 Spokane city government is facing the prospect of closing a fire station, laying off police and reducing library hours in 2006 under a cash shortfall of nearly $6 million in …

July 15, 2005 in City on Page B1 The referendum drive to repeal Spokane’s domestic partner benefits ordinance has failed. County elections officials say sponsors of the referendum petition fell 121 signatures short of the number needed to …

July 15, 2005 in City on Page B1 PULLMAN – Across the Palouse, wheat and pea fields drape the landscape, a quilt of broad, uniform patches. But hundreds of years ago, before the plow and the combine, the …

July 15, 2005 in Idaho on Page B2 MERIDIAN, Idaho – An Ada County sheriff’s police dog is being booted from the K-9 unit after attacking a 13-year-old boy and biting his face, neck and shoulder in this …

July 15, 2005 in Idaho on Page B2 For 07-15-2005

July 15, 2005 in City on Page B3 Omak, Wash. Firefighters have made dramatic progress against an 11,300-acre wildfire on the Colville Indian reservation, officials said Thursday. Winds that stoked the blaze a day earlier died down by …

July 15, 2005 in City on Page B3 Spokane Park Board members Thursday threw their support behind a proposal to create a year-round public market on the Post Street Bridge and adjacent park-owned land west of the bridge. …

July 15, 2005 in Region on Page B3 SEATTLE – Washington state patrons of an American Indian-owned online tobacco store are being asked to pay uncollected taxes on their cheap cigarettes, and the state is threatening them with …

July 15, 2005 in City on Page B3 For the second time this month, Spokane firefighters have doused arson fires on Beacon Hill. Crews were called to the hill, north of Minnehaha Park and east of Esmeralda Golf …

July 15, 2005 in Idaho on Page B3 SANDPOINT – A North Idaho teenager charged in a pepper-spray attack on a 2-month-old infant has pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and has been sentenced to two days on …

July 15, 2005 in Idaho on Page B3 BOISE – An Idaho woman blamed mental illness and substance abuse as she pleaded guilty to scalping a teenage girl, saying she only intended to give her a haircut. Marianne …

July 15, 2005 in Idaho on Page B3 LEWISTON – The sawmill at Potlatch Corp.’s Lewiston plant resumed operation Thursday after a Wednesday evening fire caused extensive damage to conveyor belts and other equipment. “It was a very …

July 15, 2005 in Nation/World on Page B3 WASHINGTON – The Pentagon’s broad proposal to shut down or shift Air National Guard units across the country may not be allowed under the ongoing round of military base closings, …

July 15, 2005 in Region on Page B4 OLYMPIA – The state Supreme Court on Thursday struck down an attempt to force a voter referendum on the Legislature’s overhaul of voter-approved tax-and-spending limits, with one justice writing in …

July 15, 2005 in Opinion on Page B6 In the Inland Northwest, the old joke goes, there are two seasons: winter and construction. With the abundant rain this summer, locals are still waiting for winter to officially end, …

July 15, 2005 in Opinion on Page B6 The following editorial appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Thursday.

July 15, 2005 in Opinion on Page B6 It’s a civil war in Washington. The combatants have an eye-for-an-eye mentality. The partisanship is heated and nasty. Republicans versus Democrats? Nah. This one pits the media against the White …