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

Developer plans to buy sidewalk space

The Spokesman-Review

A developer will pay the city of Spokane about $159,000 to buy a 9-foot-wide strip of sidewalk for a wheelchair ramp and several stairwells if the City Council approves a deal Monday, city Director of Engineering Services Tom Arnold said.

The sidewalk space is part of a redevelopment project at the former J.C. Penney building downtown, between Post and Lincoln streets on Main Avenue. Centennial Properties, a subsidiary of the Cowles Co., owns the building and is redeveloping it into condominiums and retail space. The Cowles Co. also owns The Spokesman-Review.

Because the street level slopes down toward Lincoln Street, builders needed 9 feet of the 20-foot sidewalk to install a landing and ramp and stairway space, Arnold said. The improvements, which were built several months ago, make the building handicapped-accessible and safer when people exit during an emergency, Arnold said. The city has already given an initial thumbs up for the changes.

The proceeds of the sidewalk purchase will go into a city streets budget, Arnold said.

– Jared Paben

Man arrested in trail flashings

A 32-year-old man suspected of exposing himself to women and children on the Centennial Trail was arrested Friday afternoon, Spokane police said.

Vernon “Eric” Moeller was booked on five counts of indecent exposure after Officers Dean Draper and Traci Douglas saw him at the STA Plaza, 701 W. Riverside Ave., and recognized him from detailed descriptions provided by victims, said police spokeswoman Jennifer DeRuwe. Police had received numerous complaints of Moeller’s activities, she added.

The crimes occurred as Moeller allegedly rode his BMX bicycle along the Centennial Trail between Upriver Drive and Division Street over the past few weeks.

“At times, Moeller would ride past his targeted victims several times before unzipping his pants and pulling out his penis,” DeRuwe said.

Staff reports

SANDPOINT

Mine wouldn’t cause sinkholes, report says

A controversial mine that would extract silver and copper from underneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area does not appear to increase the risk of above-ground sinkholes, a geotechnical report prepared for the U.S. Forest Service concluded.

Kootenai National Forest Supervisor Bob Castenada ordered the study after an elliptical-shaped sinkhole, about 100 feet long, developed above the workings of the Troy Mine. The mine is operated by Revett Minerals, the same firm that wants to develop the Rock Creek Mine in northwestern Montana by tunneling underneath the wilderness.

Tetra Tech of Helena investigated the sinkhole that appeared in March, along with a similar sinkhole that developed in 2005. A report issued by the firm pointed to a pre-1993 mine as the cause of the sinkholes. According to the report, the previous mine operator, Asarco Inc., didn’t leave sufficient buffer zones between excavations and fault zones – fractures in rock formations caused by shifting in the earth’s surface.

If the Rock Creek Mine is properly designed, the risk of sinkholes occurring is minimal, Tetra Tech concluded.

– Becky Kramer