Spokesman-Review Search: Results for 'cocaine' page 1

John Forté dead at 50: How a musical prodigy went from poverty to Fugees to prison to Martha’s Vineyard

Thu., Jan. 15, 2026

As a child, John Forté was a violin prodigy from a bad part of Brooklyn who earned a scholarship to an exclusive private high school in the Northeast. His life took him from working as an A&R executive at an indie label to out-of-nowhere commercial success with the Fugees and then to disappointment as a solo artist.

Reel Rundown: Memorable movie moments in journalism

Tue., Jan. 13, 2026

Credit the people who make movies for doing what they can to portray journalism in all its shades of black and white.

A construction worker’s death by suicide highlights a wider crisis

Sun., Jan. 11, 2026

RAYNHAM, Mass. – A stack of paint buckets. Trowels nestled along the wall. A hard hat. These items remain, untouched since March 15, in Timothy J. Kimball’s backyard work shed.

What does it mean when Trump says U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela? Northwest lawmakers split after classified briefings

Sun., Jan. 11, 2026

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s plan to “run” Venezuela after capturing the South American nation’s president Jan. 3 came into slightly clearer focus over the past week, but Northwest lawmakers still have questions about his administration’s intentions.

Tommy Lee Jones daughter was slated for plea deal response before death

Mon., Jan. 5, 2026

Actor Tommy Lee Jones’ late daughter Victoria Kafka Jones was due in court later this month to respond to a plea deal that would have required her to get sober, according to a report.

Ousted Maduro pleads not guilty to U.S. narcotics charges

Sun., Jan. 4, 2026

Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges after President Donald Trump's stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to respond.

Rubio Stresses U.S. Plan to Coerce Venezuela Rather Than Govern It

Sun., Jan. 4, 2026

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday appeared to pivot away from President Donald Trump's assertion a day earlier that the United States would "run" Venezuela, emphasizing instead that the administration would keep a military "quarantine" in place on the country's oil exports to exert leverage on the new leadership there.

Intentional focus: An invitation for contemplation

Sun., Jan. 4, 2026

Greetings Spokane and The Black Lens family.

Congressmen Michael Baumgartner, Adam Smith react after U.S. military attacks Venezuela, captures its president

Sat., Jan. 3, 2026

Baumgartner, of Spokane, praised Trump for toppling an "anti-American, communist, narco-terrorism, narco-trafficking regime." Smith, of Bellevue, said the unintended consequences of Nicolás Maduro's ouster could spark years of American military involvement, increased violence and instability.

Washington, Idaho Republicans, Democrats share mixed reactions to Venezuelan strikes, capture

Sat., Jan. 3, 2026

An overnight U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife drew harsh criticism from Democrats questioning the justification and lack of notification of military action while Republicans applauded the move, referring to Maduro as a “narcoterrorist” responsible for flooding the United States with drugs.

Trump says U.S. will run Venezuela, won’t rule out U.S. boots on the ground

Sat., Jan. 3, 2026

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Donald Trump said Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago Club that the United States will control Venezuela for an unspecified period after a U.S. operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Evidence mounts of U.S. strike inside Venezuela amid rising tensions

Fri., Jan. 2, 2026

Venezuelans awoke Friday to mounting reports that a narrow stretch of coastline near its border with Colombia may have been the target of a U.S. military strike — a move that would mark a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against the Nicolás Maduro regime. The suspected strike occurred in the western reaches of the Gulf of Venezuela, between Puerto López in Colombia’s La ...

Nicholas Kristof: Let’s go beyond Trump’s vile words about Rob Reiner

Sun., Dec. 21, 2025

After Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were stabbed to death, President Donald Trump went off on a social media tear denouncing Rob Reiner for supposedly having a “mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” Asked about the comment, Trump doubled down, saying that Reiner was “a deranged person” who “was very bad for our country.”

Letters for Tuesday, Dec. 16

Tue., Dec. 16, 2025

Why don’t Baumgartner and Risch object to killing of people in boats?

Letters for Sunday, Dec. 14

Sun., Dec. 14, 2025

Resign, councilwoman

20-year-old man pleads guilty to killing his alleged rapist while maintaining his mom was killer

Thu., Dec. 11, 2025

A woman and her then-17-year-old son, both accused of murdering the son’s alleged rapist at the man’s South Hill apartment, pleaded guilty to lesser crimes and avoided prison time.

Kristi Noem grilled at hearing, asked to explain veteran’s deportation

Thu., Dec. 11, 2025

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was grilled on Capitol Hill, facing questions related to her department’s immigration efforts, including whether United States military veterans have been deported under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Letters for Wednesday, Dec. 10

Wed., Dec. 10, 2025

Asleep at the wheel

Honduras issues arrest warrant for ex-president pardoned by Trump

Tue., Dec. 9, 2025

Honduras’s attorney general said his country had issued an international arrest warrant for former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking charges until he was released last week after a full pardon from President Donald Trump.

Hooked on worms: Spokane couple casts new vermiculture business

Tue., Dec. 9, 2025

In a small Spangle workshop, immediately off of Highway 195, thousands of worms are slowly burrowing into their new home, nestled cozily under heated blankets and as much food as they could ever want.

Letters to the Editor for Tuesday, Dec. 9

Tue., Dec. 9, 2025

Don’t blame Baumgartner

Hegseth says he would have ordered second strike on Caribbean vessel

Sat., Dec. 6, 2025

WASHINGTON – U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday that he backs a Sept. 2 decision to launch a second strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean.

Inland NW Republicans defend Caribbean boat strikes amid bipartisan scrutiny of potential war crimes

Thu., Dec. 4, 2025

WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans from the Inland Northwest have largely stood by the Trump administration this week amid bipartisan scrutiny of U.S. military strikes on small boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean, after the Pentagon acknowledged launching a second missile to kill two survivors of an attack in September.

Trump pardons cocaine kingpin who ruled Honduras

Tue., Dec. 2, 2025

President Donald Trump pardoned a former Honduran leader sentenced to prison on cocaine distribution charges, a move the White House says doesn't undermine Trump's anti-drug campaign that includes military strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela.

Trump says Hegseth denied issuing order to kill boat crew

Mon., Dec. 1, 2025

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has “great confidence” that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give a spoken order to kill all crew members aboard a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea in September.

Analysis: How could Venezuela’s military respond to a U.S. attack?

Sat., Nov. 29, 2025

President Donald Trump said on Saturday the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety”, without giving details, as Washington continues to ramp up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

President to pardon ex-Honduras leader serving U.S. sentence after drug trafficking conviction

Fri., Nov. 28, 2025

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he will grant a pardon to former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the U.S. after his conviction on drug trafficking and firearms charges, even as the Republican leader casts himself as being tough on combating drug problems.

Is the US invading Venezuela? Or trying to make a deal?

Tue., Nov. 25, 2025

On the face of it, the United States appears closer than ever to mounting a military campaign to remove President Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela.

Letters to the Editor for Sunday, Nov. 23

Sun., Nov. 23, 2025

Clarifying misstatements about hydro and salmon

Sheinbaum cites Mexican-American War as she rejects Trump’s cartel strike threats

Tue., Nov. 18, 2025

MEXICO CITY — It may be "OK" with President Trump, but Mexico rejects any U.S. strikes against cartels in its territory. That was the message reiterated Tuesday by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has repeatedly said that her nation would not accept U.S. attacks or troops on Mexican soil. "It's not going to happen," Sheinbaum told reporters at her daily news conference. "We cannot ...

With U.S. warships massing offshore, new terror label seen as final deadline for Maduro

Mon., Nov. 17, 2025

The United States will designate Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on Nov. 24, a dramatic escalation in Washington’s confrontation with strongman Nicolás Maduro and his closest allies.

Spencer Haywood is an NBA legend who still feels underrecognized. His solution is complicated.

Thu., Nov. 6, 2025

As a 21-year-old, Haywood sued the NBA for the right to join the league despite its rule requiring players be four years removed from high school. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, with Haywood arguing the NBA’s stance violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Senate readies war powers vote to oppose Trump’s Venezuela threats

Thu., Nov. 6, 2025

The Senate will vote Thursday on a bipartisan measure to block President Donald Trump from attacking Venezuelan territory in a new test of Republicans’ willingness to oppose his use of military force in Latin America.

Reel Rundown: ‘Mr. Scorsese’ documentary examines filmmaker’s work life and his impression on cinema

Wed., Nov. 5, 2025

If your average film fan were to describe the movies of Martin Scorsese in one word, that word likely would be “violent.”

Trump administration tells Congress war law doesn’t apply to cartel strikes

Sat., Nov. 1, 2025

A top Justice Department lawyer has told lawmakers that the Trump administration can continue its lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America – and is not bound by a decades-old law requiring Congress to give approval for ongoing hostilities.

US poised to strike military targets in Venezuela in escalation against Maduro regime

Fri., Oct. 31, 2025

The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald, as the U.S. prepares to initiate the next stage of its campaign against the Soles drug cartel.

U.S. strikes kill 14 in eastern Pacific as Trump expands campaign against drug cartels

Tue., Oct. 28, 2025

The United States launched three new lethal strikes against four vessels suspected of carrying drugs off the eastern Pacific coast of Latin America, killing 14 alleged “narco-terrorists” aboard vessels said to be linked to designated terrorist groups, according to a statement by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

U.S. Treasury sanctions Colombian president over alleged role in drug trafficking

Fri., Oct. 24, 2025

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Friday on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, following a spat with President Donald Trump over military strikes in the Caribbean and drug trafficking in the South American nation. The sanctions marked an unprecedented escalation in tensions with a country that has been for decades one of Washington’s key Latin American allies and a top recipient ...

Supreme Court will decide if ‘habitual drug users’ lose their gun rights under Second Amendment

Mon., Oct. 20, 2025

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide if "habitual drug users" lose their gun rights under the Second Amendment.

Ace Frehley, hard-rocking Kiss guitarist, dies at 74

Thu., Oct. 16, 2025

Ace Frehley, the galvanizing guitarist who helped make Kiss one of the biggest rock groups of the 1970s and ’80s, died Oct. 16 in Morristown, New Jersey. He was 74.

This day in history: Health concerns were growing over the Bunker Hill smelter, particularly for children living nearby

Wed., Oct. 15, 2025

From 1975: Idaho health officials had grown so concerned about lead contamination around the Bunker Hill Co. smelter near Kellogg, they were contemplating banning children from living within a mile of the smokestacks.

Inside NW ICE Processing Center, where detainees may be held for years, sometimes in poor living conditions

Mon., Oct. 13, 2025

Not long into his confinement at the sprawling immigrant detention center in Tacoma, Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino heard swearing as dinner was served. Hey, look at this," said the man swearing as he brought his tray over for Juarez to see. On it was chicken, normally the best food the Northwest ICE Processing Center has to offer, the Skagit Valley farmworker and labor organizer had been ...

This day in history: Local chapter of National Organization for Women protest city over firefighter application; Montana woman accused of running smuggling ring

Mon., Oct. 13, 2025

From 1975: The Spokane Chapter of the National Organization for Women charged the city of Spokane with failing to meet federal guidelines in accepting firefighter trainee applications.

As GOP senators block effort to halt U.S. strikes in Caribbean, Baumgartner says war authorization should go through Congress

Wed., Oct. 8, 2025

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked an effort by Democrats, joined by two GOP senators, to stop President Donald Trump from launching additional military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea suspected of carrying drugs.

U.S. forces in Caribbean sink a fifth suspected drug vessel off Venezuelan coast

Fri., Oct. 3, 2025

The Trump administration escalated its campaign against Venezuelan drug cartels on Friday, announcing a U.S. military strike that destroyed another alleged narco-trafficking vessel off the coast of the South American nation. According to Pentagon officials, four men aboard the boat were killed, and a significant shipment of narcotics was prevented from reaching the United States. Defense ...

Review: Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ is an immaculate act of damage control

Fri., Oct. 3, 2025

After the mess, the mop-up. That's one way to understand Taylor Swift's new album, "The Life of a Showgirl," on which music's biggest star offers up a dozen precision-cut pop songs just 18 months removed from last year's sprawling and emotionally unstable "The Tortured Poets Department."