Region in brief: Council raises property taxes

Even though inflation is in negative territory, city property taxes will increase by 1 percent next year in Spokane.

The Spokane City Council voted unanimously Monday to raise the amount it collects in property taxes by 1 percent.

State law limits property tax increases to whatever is less: 1 percent or the inflation rate. Because inflation is nearly negative 1 percent, the city had to declare a “substantial need” to qualify for the increase.

The council made its “substantial need” declaration in a 6-1 vote. Councilman Bob Apple voted against the declaration.

Spokane, like Spokane County and many other local governments, typically has increased property taxes by 1 percent annually since voters in 2001 approved a law that limited property tax increases to 1 percent.

The 1 percent increase adds about $350,000 to the city budget.

Jonathan Brunt

Geocacher dies in fall from cliff

A 56-year-old Spokane Valley man died Monday after slipping on wet pine needles and falling over a cliff in the Dishman Hills Natural Area, authorities said.

The man, whose identity was being withheld by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office pending release by the medical examiner, had been hiking with his wife, who summoned deputies to the scene shortly after the 1:20 p.m. incident.

The man was found at the base of a sheer rock wall popular among rock climbers, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The couple had been “geocaching,” authorities said, an outdoor activity in which participants search for hidden prizes using navigational coordinates, location clues posted on the Internet, and handheld GPS devices.

The natural area features numerous geocache sites, according to the sport’s official Web site.

David Wasson

Suspect robbed banks in past

A man accused of robbing a Spokane Valley bank last week served time in federal prison for robbing five banks on the West Side in 2005.

Christopher J. Cook, 42, drove his mother’s car to AmericanWest Bank, 15606 E. Sprague Ave., on Thursday and left with cash he demanded from an employee, authorities allege in court documents.

Cook appeared in Spokane County Superior Court via video Monday after police recognized the Suzuki he was in as the car used in the robbery and arrested him on Friday.

The personalized license plate was PC, Cook’s mother’s initials.

Cook’s mother, Phyllis Cook, of Bothell, told detectives her son had been “on a three-day drug binge” and identified him through surveillance video from the bank, according to court documents.

Cook’s federal probation officer and wife also identified him as the robber, according to the documents.

Cook is in Spokane County Jail on $10,000 bond and a federal probation hold.

Meghann M. Cuniff