February 23, 2009 in Idaho A prominent Coeur d’Alene insurance agent and school booster charged with possessing cocaine this month is part of a larger criminal conspiracy investigation involving at least a half a kilogram …

  February 23, 2009 in City OLYMPIA – To state Sen. Chris Marr, it’s a simple cost-benefit analysis. The cost: an estimated $18.2 million a year in state road damage from metal tire studs hammering away … 25

February 23, 2009 in City OLYMPIA – In what one senator described as “Spokane versus Spokane,” health and government officials clashed Monday over a proposal to remove most of the elected officials who now oversee … 5

February 23, 2009 in Business, City After more than two decades in the Spokane area, General Dynamics Itronix’s operation will close at the end of the year, the location’s business director said Monday. Affected are 380 …

February 23, 2009 in Business, City Sterling Mining Co. was expected to vacate its lease of the storied Sunshine Mine today, five months after ceasing operations and almost six years after it signed a 15-year lease …

February 23, 2009 in Idaho Micron Technology, formerly Idaho’s largest private employer, announced today that it’ll lay off 500 Idaho workers “in the near term” and 2,000 by the end of next summer.

February 23, 2009 in Idaho Idaho still will have to make substantial cuts in state agency budgets, despite the help it’ll receive from federal economic stimulus funds, state lawmakers said today. “There’s somehow this feeling …

February 23, 2009 in Region A federal prosecutor told jurors Monday that W.R. Grace & Co. knew for years that its products posed serious health hazards to residents of Libby, Mont., but the company hid …

February 23, 2009 in City A man wanted on a domestic violence assault charge led police on a car chase and foot pursuit this morning before having to be rescued from a creek bank. 3

  February 23, 2009 in Nation/World, Region While some of her Republican colleagues try to decide whether to accept federal stimulus money, Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington state says her mind is already made up.

  February 23, 2009 in Nation/World, Region Gary Locke, the son of Chinese immigrants who became Washington state’s two-term governor, is apparently President Barack Obama’s third try at filling the spot of secretary of commerce. 1

February 23, 2009 in Idaho Should Idaho nearly triple its beer and wine taxes - which haven’t been increased in four decades - to raise money for substance abuse treatment? Those who turned out at … 3

  February 23, 2009 in News A mistrial was declared this morning in the murder trial of Shellye Stark.

February 23, 2009 Looking for browsing materials? Check out these recent hand-picked links from Spokesman.com blogs.

February 23, 2009 in Idaho Restrictive legislation that Idaho lawmakers passed last year is keeping the state Parks Board from banning campers from shooting at each other in state parks, so now legislation is moving …

February 23, 2009 in City A plastic tube with end caps and a hole apparently for a fuse was not the pipe bomb it appeared to be, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

  February 23, 2009 in City Read the Spokane Police activity and service logs for Feb. 20 to Feb. 22, 2009.

  February 23, 2009 in Idaho Read the Bonner County law enforcement log for Feb. 20 to Feb. 22, 2009.

February 23, 2009 in Region An article in the Washington State University campus newspaper about a foot-long alligator at a fraternity is forcing the mascot to move out.

February 23, 2009 in City Spokane fire investigators determined clothing too close to a heater caused a blaze that ignited in a three-story apartment building that displaced 26 residents late Saturday.

February 23, 2009 in City Green Light Go won the local band competition “2009 RAWK Final Four” on Saturday, when Spokane Mayor Mary Verner also took the stage with a rap about the city and …

February 23, 2009 in City Cold and rainy describes the forecast for most of the week, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures will be in the mid-40s during the day and 30s overnight until …

February 23, 2009 in City Spokane County firefighters are at the scene of an abandoned commercial building near Geiger Boulevard and Lewis Street where fire ignited earlier this morning, according to dispatchers.