In brief: Biviano one of nine seeking council seat

Former legislative candidate Amy Biviano is among nine people applying to fill a vacancy on the Spokane Valley City Council.

Biviano lost to Rep. Matt Shea in November.

City planning commission members Kevin Anderson and Rod Higgins, and former planning commissioner Rustin Hall, also applied. Others applying for the position include software engineer Jonathan Gibbs; Virtual Education Software CEO Mick Jackson; technical writer Paul Rieckers; Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council executive director Linda Thompson; and real estate appraiser Samuel Wood.

The open seat was created after Brenda Grassel resigned because she was moving outside the city limits. The council will decide today which candidates to interview.

Woman assaulted outside school

Police are investigating a Monday morning attack outside of Progress Elementary.

A woman said she was assaulted in the school’s parking lot after dropping off her niece.

She reported being “struck in the back of her neck with an unknown object,” according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The woman said her attacker knocked her to the ground, took her cellphone and purse from the car, and fled on foot south along Progress Road.

She said she thought the assailant was a white man in his late 20s wearing a dark jacket, jeans and a baseball cap.