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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Wilson Criscione

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All Stories

News >  Spokane

Council ready to OK Uber, Lyft; taxis to get breaks

When Chris Wetherell gets off shift as a firefighter at Spokane International Airport early in the morning, he takes a long drive to his home in Spokane Valley. On his way, he opens up a Lyft app on his phone, throws a pink moustache on his car and picks up someone in the city looking for a ride. Wetherell has been a Lyft driver since May and was one of the first five drivers to operate in the city. Lyft and its competitor Uber are ride-share companies that use phone apps to arrange transactions to transport passengers. But since Lyft and Uber arrived in Spokane, taxi companies have questioned their legality.
News >  Spokane

Bomb threat at GU quickly resolved

Gonzaga University officials are working with the Spokane Police Department to determine the source of a bomb threat that cleared the Spokane campus for several hours Thursday morning. Police said in a news release that they received a call just before 7 a.m. from a “male” stating there was a bomb on the Gonzaga campus. School officials said the threat was called in from an off-campus telephone number.
News >  Spokane

EWU requiring freshmen to live on campus

A new requirement that first-year students live on campus at Eastern Washington University has put a record 2,100 students in the dorms there. The first day of classes began Wednesday at EWU, making it the last local college to start the 2014-15 school year.
News >  Spokane

Census shows decline in teen pregnancies in Spokane

As teen pregnancies decline nationally, new data suggests the dip may be even steeper in Spokane. While this is encouraging to local school and health officials, there seems to be little consensus as to what is causing the drop.
News >  Spokane

Spokane triple stabbing investigation moves forward

Police have interviewed the man suspected of stabbing three men Wednesday night in the 1400 block of East Broad, but no arrest has been made. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” Spokane police spokeswoman Monique Cotton said.
News >  Spokane

Churches use religious marketing to draw young members

One billboard stands out among the rest on the elevated train tracks at Post Street downtown: It features a young woman holding a cellphone and looking toward the sky. It reads, “Have you tweeted Jesus lately?” Pictures of other young faces on dozens of billboards around the city feature messages such as “Jesus – the call that never drops” or “Jesus – you’re on his mind.”
News >  Spokane

Ferris modernization goes into celebration mode

In the middle of a courtyard surrounded by new fields and a renovated building, one Ferris High School tradition still remains — a victory bell that rings after every Saxon achievement. It may be appropriate to ring the Ferris Victory Bell again.
News >  Spokane

Local universities screen students who traveled to Ebola-plagued countries

As students return to colleges and universities, school officials locally say they’ve followed federal guidelines to prevent the spread of Ebola and believe there’s little risk on campus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released recommendations more than a week ago on how to prevent the virus from spreading in colleges. They include identifying people who have been in countries where Ebola outbreaks have occurred, conducting a risk assessment and giving each person instructions for health monitoring.
News >  Spokane

Getting the word out

Lilly Frantzich sits at a table and speaks to her speech therapist as best she can, but for the 4-year-old it feels like play time. “What’s next, a giraffe or a zebra?” said RiteCare clinic director Kerri Baldwin, drawing out the “z” sound and holding a plastic animal.
News >  Spokane

It’s wild, it’s woolly, it’s fair time

Smoky haze and the scent of deep-fried cuisine drifted through the fairgrounds early Friday afternoon, signaling the first day of the Spokane County Interstate Fair. It’s a familiar scene for vendors who travel to fairs across the country, and for locals who come to pet the animals, eat the food and attempt to keep it in their stomachs while being whipped upside down and from side to side on one of the many rides. But asked why they come to the fair year after year, many say the same thing: It provides entertainment for the whole family.
News >  Spokane

North Central’s Institute of Science and Technology opens with fanfare

Students at North Central High School received a special welcome on their first day of school. Elected officials and school administrators joined students before classes Wednesday to unveil a three-story science building designed for the school’s Institute of Science and Technology. It contains six biology labs in addition to a third-floor lab for the institute.
News >  Spokane

Car impounded after hit-and-run kills bicyclist in Spokane Valley

A bicyclist killed in a hit-and-run crash early Tuesday morning was the father of a baby less than a month old. Robert R. Royer, 47, was hit by a car on the Interstate 90 overpass at Park Road around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Spokane County Sheriff Cpl. Brett Hubbell said. Royer’s home was blocks away.
News >  Spokane

GU freshmen start life on campus

Mini fridges, microwave ovens and printers collected in the grass outside of St. Catherine-St. Monica Hall on Friday ready to be hauled into dorms by incoming Gonzaga freshmen and their parents. For the estimated 1,055 freshmen moving into dorms Friday morning, the buzz of a new adventure permeated the campus. Parents often described a mixture of pride and nostalgia. For the upperclassmen in charge of welcoming the new students, it was “organized chaos,” said Meghan Montelibano, public relations manager for orientation.
News >  Spokane

Western Washington tribe brings protest against planned coal export terminal to Spokane

Members of a Western Washington tribe stopped Tuesday near the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, part of a “totem pole journey” to protest plans to build a coal export terminal north of Bellingham. The proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal would be located at Cherry Point. According to the project’s website, it would be the largest shipping and warehouse facility on the West Coast, sending dry bulk commodities such as coal, grain and potash to Asian markets.
News >  Features

Tiny house trend leaves stuff behind

More than 150 people gathered at Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane recently to hear from minimalists Josh Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who talked about a lifestyle free of control from material things. The two are part of a growing community, locally and nationally, of people who are choosing to live smaller – they’re in tiny homes or apartments, they’ve pared their belongings to only essential possessions, or both.
News >  Spokane

Storm-felled trees still keeping cleanup workers busy

Several weeks after storms hit, local arborists continue cleaning up toppled trees for homeowners across the Inland Northwest. Homeowners who had a tree blown over in their yard can pay as much as $1,000 for removal, said Lewis Harm, a licensed arborist with A1 Stump Removal and Tree Service. Unless the tree fell onto a home or garage, insurance companies are unlikely to cover any costs, he said. And many commercial arborists are falling behind with their work.
News >  Spokane

Robber, upset he only got pizza, rats on alleged accomplice

A man convicted of robbing a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint last December helped police find his alleged accomplice after expressing frustration that he only got pizza from the crime. Tredone Winborne, 19, told police he was angry that he got no money – only pizza and jail time – while Eugene McVay, allegedly the other robber, wasn’t held accountable for coming up with the idea to rob a Domino’s delivery driver and getting the money, according to court documents.

Robber angry he only got pizza

A man convicted of robbing a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint last December helped police find his alleged accomplice after expressing frustration that he only got pizza from the crime.

Deputy resigns to avoid termination

Facing termination, a detective who had been with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office for 25 years has resigned following an internal investigation into accusations of poaching and lying to investigators.