December 26, 2012 in City The Spokane Police Department is searching for a man who allegedly stabbed another man during a fight early today at a gas station. 1

December 26, 2012 in Business Avista will be allowed to raise electric and gas rates in Washington in the new year and again in 2014, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said today. 31

December 26, 2012 in Idaho BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho is headed back to Washington, D.C., to participate in negotiations over averting the so-called fiscal cliff and doesn’t plan to … 11

December 26, 2012 in Nation/World HOUSTON (AP) — A spokesman says the fever that kept former President George H.W. Bush in a Houston hospital over Christmas has worsened, and doctors have put him on a … 33

December 26, 2012 in Business Spokane County’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly in November, to 7.7 percent. That matches the national jobless rate and is just under the statewide rate of 7.8 percent. 7

December 26, 2012 in News NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks is using its coffee cups to jump into the political fray in Washington. 10

December 26, 2012 in Nation/World on Page A1 WASHINGTON – As President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans wrangle over tax increases and spending cuts, they can agree on something: They want to lower the corporate tax rate. The … 40

December 26, 2012 in Nation/World on Page A2 FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Blind and alone in Alaska winter temperatures that dipped 40 degrees below zero, a lost 8-year-old Fairbanks dog wasn’t given much of a chance to make it …

December 26, 2012 in Nation/World on Page A3 Houston – Former President George H.W. Bush spent Christmas in a Houston hospital with his wife, Barbara, and other relatives who planned to treat him to a special holiday meal. …

December 26, 2012 in Nation/World on Page A4 BEIRUT – Syrian rebels fully captured a northern town near the Turkish border on Tuesday after weeks of heavy fighting and attacked a regime air base in a neighboring province, …

December 26, 2012 in Nation/World on Page A4 Tokyo – Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Cabinet resigned today to clear the way for a vote in parliament to formally install the nation’s new leader, Shinzo Abe, a conservative whose …

December 26, 2012 in City on Page A5 Eastern Washington’s last remaining drive-in movie theater will close next year. The owner of the Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre in Colville, Steve Wisner, recently announced the theater will show its … 7

December 26, 2012 in City on Page A5 From our archives, 100 years ago Some of the city’s lumberjacks and saloon denizens had themselves a merry Christmas – in jail.