Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control archive for Aug. 2013

SATURDAY, AUG. 31, 2013

Sunday Spin: RIP Edward Thomas Jr. 

You could call Edward Thomas Jr. a spark plug in Spokane’s African American community or an activist for the city as a whole. Call Thomas – who passed away last week from cancer – the founding chairman of the Citizens Review Panel for Spokane police,…

Continue reading this post »

THURSDAY, AUG. 29, 2013

Feds won't pre-empt WA pot law 

OLYMPIA — The federal government will not try to stop Washington from setting up a way to allow adults to use legal marijuana. In what state officials described as a “game changer”, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Thursday the federal government will focus attention…

Continue reading this post »


A mass transit, double-decker bus in Spokane? 

At last week’s Planning, Community and Economic Development committee meeting, Spokane city planning director Scott Chesney was discussing the Larry H. Miller empire and its request to temporarily shut down some streets while the car dealer did some re-arrangement. Not exciting stuff. Then, off-handedly, Chesney…

Continue reading this post »

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28, 2013


Take a shot at the news quiz 

We at Spin Control like to think our readers are better than average when it comes to following the news. This comes not from any scientific readership survey, but from reader comments that point out any mistakes we make, details we overlook or alternate interpretations…

Continue reading this post »

TUESDAY, AUG. 27, 2013

City Hall Scoop: Foot bridges and vegetated roofs 

There were enough members for a quorum, but the dais was a bit spare at Monday's regularly scheduled Spokane City Council meeting. Councilman Jon Snyder, acting as council president pro tem in Ben Stuckart's stead, politely led the charge through the hour-long meeting. Councilman Mike…

Continue reading this post »




MONDAY, AUG. 26, 2013

Holder asked to explain pot policy to Senate

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is being asked to explain to a Senate committee his department's policy toward Washington and other states that have legalized some form of marijuana consumption. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wants Holder to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept.…

Continue reading this post »

SATURDAY, AUG. 24, 2013

THURSDAY, AUG. 22, 2013

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 21, 2013

AG: Public hospitals have to follow abortion law

OLYMPIA – Public hospitals that provide maternity services must also provide access to contraception and abortion, even if they contract with a private company that bars such services, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Wednesday. In a formal attorney general’s opinion, Ferguson said state law,…

Continue reading this post »




NY Times discovers the coal train issue

Always fun to see how other folks view Spokane. Here's the take of a New York Times writer who reported this week on the controversy over coal ports and coal trains expanding in the Northwest. SPOKANE, Wash. — The Pacific Northwest’s sense of itself can…

Continue reading this post »

TUESDAY, AUG. 20, 2013

County primary turnout comes up deuces

Twenty-two point twenty.two That's the percenage of turnout for those areas of Spokane County that had something on their ballot in the August primary. About halfway between one voter in five and one voter in four. Not quite abysmal, but definitely not very impressive. Precinct-by-precinct,…

Continue reading this post »


VA Center name-change ceremony Wednesday

The Spokane Veterans Administration Medical Center will officially get its new name at a ceremony Wednesday morning. The Northwest Spokane facility will become the Mann-Grandstaff Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in honor of Pfc. Joe E. Mann and Platoon Sgt. Bruce Grandstaff. Mann was…

Continue reading this post »


MONDAY, AUG. 19, 2013

OLYMPIA -- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Hyogo Prefecture Gov. Toshizo Ido plant a star magnolia on the Capitol Campus to mark the 50th anniversary of the sister state relationship between the two regions. (Jim Camden)

Washington, Hyogo mark the big 5-Oh

Inslee and Ido finish the planting of a tree to mark the sister state anniversary. OLYMPIA – Leaders of Washington state and Japan’s Hyogo prefecture marked the oldest “sister-state” relationship in either country by making speeches, planting a tree and feasting on smoked salmon and…

Continue reading this post »


Park department reorganization vote delayed 

The Spokane City Council won't vote on proposed changes to the city's park department tonight. Park Director Leroy Eadie pulled the proposal at the last minute after discussions with City Council President Ben Stuckart, who is opposed to the changes. Under Eadie's proposal, more senior…

Continue reading this post »


OLYMPIA -- A member of the Chehalis Tribe cooks king salmon over an open flame in preparation for a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the sister state relationship between Washington and Hyogo prefecture, Japan. (Jim Camden)

Preparing for a feast

A member of the Chehalis tribe cooks king salmon over an open fire near the Capitol. OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee and Hyogo Prefecture Gov. Toshizo Ido had Kobe beef for lunch at the Executive Mansion. But food to be served after a mid-afternoon ceremony…

Continue reading this post »


OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee and his wife Trudi welcome Hyogo Prefecture Gov. Toshizo Ido to a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of a sister-state relationship between the two areas. (Jim Camden)

Washington has 50-year-old 'sister'

Gov. Jay Inslee and his wife Trudi greet Hyogo Prefecture Gov. Toshizo Ido at a ceremony marking the sister state relationship between the two areas. OLYMPIA -- Washington state officials will mark the 50th anniversary of a relationship with Japan's Hyogo prefecture with some pomp…

Continue reading this post »

SATURDAY, AUG. 17, 2013

State toll system: High tech, low marks  

OLYMPIA – Add to the long list of things the Puget Sound communities have that Spokane residents can be glad they don’t: Toll bridges. Spokane’s last such facility, the Maple Street Bridge, removed “Toll” from its title in 1990 after some 42 years of collecting…

Continue reading this post »

THURSDAY, AUG. 15, 2013

The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.



Blog Archives

Aug. 2013
31 29 28 27 26
24 22 21 20 19
17 15 14 13 12
11 09 08 07 06
05 03 02 01