Mon., May 7, 2012
Among the elected leaders and politicians running for office, it should be no surprise that John Roskelley won the race. Roskelley, a candidate for Spokane County Commission, had the best Bloomsday time among all elected Spokane and Spokane Valley city leaders; state House and state…
Fri., May 4, 2012
A Republican has entered the expanding field of candidates to replace state Rep. Andy Billig. Tim Benn, who co-owns a child day care with his wife in North Spokane, filed paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission announcing his run earlier this week, even before…
Fri., May 4, 2012
John Waite, who has run several campaigns for state Legislature and City Council as an independent, announced Friday that he will run for the House seat that will be vacated by Andy Billig. And this time, he'll run as a Democrat. Waite, 47, is fiscally…
Fri., May 4, 2012
A third Republican candidate has entered the race to replace state Rep. John Ahern. Ben Oakley, the legislative aide for state Rep. Kevin Parker, filed paperwork earlier this week announcing his bid with the state Public Disclosure Commission. Oakley joins Republicans Larry Keller, the superintendent…
Thu., May 3, 2012
Late this afternoon Spokane City Councilman Jon Snyder tweeted: "Dear friends: Tomorrow I will be making an announcement regarding Andy Billig's vacated 3rd District House seat. Stay tuned." He hasn't returned calls seeking comment, which means he's either running for Billig's seat, or playing a…
Thu., May 3, 2012
Even before Lisa Brown became state Senate majority leader, Spokane enjoyed influence in the state Legislature with Jim West, who served as majority leader until becoming Spokane's mayor in 2004. Asked today if Spokane will lose power without Brown leading the Senate, Gov. Chris Gregoire…
Thu., May 3, 2012
State Rep. Andy Billig said this morning that he will be making an announcement today. Other sources are indicating that he will jump into the race for state Sen. Lisa Brown's seat. Brown's decision, so close to the candidate filing deadline, has shocked many local…
Thu., May 3, 2012
A few weeks ago I wrote a story about the reemergence of the City of Spokane's flag. I heard soon after from the flag designer's son, who shed more light on the flag. Here is his note: I'm Lloyd Carlson's son, and it was a…
Wed., April 25, 2012
Former City Councilman Bob Apple and former KREM-TV weatherman Daryl Romeyn are contemplating bids for Spokane County Commission. Both would run for the seat held by Republican Commissioner Mark Richard. He announced last weekthat he would not seek a third term. Republican Shelly O'Quinn, who…
Tue., April 17, 2012
Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart said Tuesday that he's unlikely to propose a new resolution in support of gay marriage until opponents earn enough signatures to force the issue on the ballot. At Monday's council meeting, Stuckart warned that he might repeatedly bring a…
Fri., April 13, 2012
Envision Spokane on Thursday filed its Community Bill of Rights initiative with the Spokane City Clerk's office. This is the third time the group has filed a Community Bill of Rights. It succeeded the previous two times in collecting the needed signatures to place the…
Tue., April 10, 2012
Another year, another multimillion dollar deficit at Spokane City Hall. Spokane Mayor David Condon pledged that his 2013 general fund budget proposal will not include higher taxes despite a forecasted deficit of up to $10 million. "Our citizens expects us to live within our means…
Tue., April 10, 2012
Spokane Mayor David Condon said Monday that he still is considering what his position will be on the two hottest topics for next week's City Council meeting. Those issues are Councilman Jon Snyder's resolution in support of the state's gay marriage law and Councilman Mike…
Tue., April 10, 2012
Another year, another deficit. Spokane Mayor David Condon is holding a news conference this morning to discuss the city's forecasted deficit for 2013. As of a couple weeks ago, administrators were forecasting a gap of about $10 million between the revenue the city expects to…
Thu., April 5, 2012
Spokane Mayor David Condon will present his plan to revamp the city's water rates today. Condon highlighted the city's restructured water rates in his campaign last year. The change, approved in 2010, lowered rates on those who use less and increased rates on those who…
Wed., April 4, 2012
Former Spokane Mayor Mary Verner won't challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers this year. Verner emailed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Jan. 30 revealing her decision not to run, said Dwight Pelz, chairman of the Washington State Democratic Party. Verner had talked to…
Tue., March 27, 2012
The campaign to extend two taxes to pay for the expansion of the Spokane Convention Center and Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena has pulled a TV ad featuring Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin. Citizens for Jobs Now has developed a series of commercials each featuring two…
Mon., March 26, 2012
Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin confirmed this evening that she will run against state Senate Democratic Majority Leader Lisa Brown. She plans to make her official announcement at a press conference on Tuesday. McLaughlin has been on the record as considering a run against Brown for months.…
Mon., March 26, 2012
Spokane Mayor David Condon has added his name to the list of local leaders opposed to the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ proposal for a casino on the West Plains. Condon joins Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and state Senate Democratic Majority Leader Lisa Brown…
Fri., March 23, 2012
... At least according to Inlander readers. Former Mayor Mary Verner took second place in the Inlander's annual reader survey in the category, "best local villain." That's a tumble for a woman who usually polled well when the Inlander asked readers for their favorite politician.…
Mon., March 19, 2012
The Spokane City Council will wait until next week to consider opposing a Spokane Tribe of Indians casino project proposed for the West Plains. Councilman Mike Fagan is sponsoring a resolution opposing the casino. He requested last week that the council suspend normal public notice…
Fri., March 16, 2012
The Spokane City Council on Monday will consider rushing its normal voting procedure to condemn the proposed Spokane Tribe of Indians casino on the West Plains. Councilman Mike Fagan is sponsoring the resolution to put the city on record as opposing the casino and has…
Mon., March 12, 2012
Most Spokane City Council members said Monday that they don’t like the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision that prevents lawmakers from limiting some forms of political spending by corporations. But there wasn’t a majority who supported asking lawmakers to do anything about it. The council…
Mon., March 12, 2012
Democrats will give voters a choice in at least one race in the 6th Legislative District. Former state Democratic state Rep. Dennis Dellwo filed paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission last month announcing a bid to challenge Republican state Rep. John Ahern. Democrats had…
Mon., March 5, 2012
Spokane City Council members next week will tackle an issue that goes beyond city limits. They will consider a nonbinding resolution asking Congress and state legislatures to amend the Constitution to give lawmakers the authority to limit corporate political spending in campaigns. The U.S. Supreme…
