The city's plan commission recommended three names for the new plaza next to City Hall to the City Council this week, and the names reflect recent history and Native culture. The commission, which has been discussing the names since July, suggested naming the plaza after…
Out of the $13 million in federal grant assistance the city of Spokane doles out every year, about $3.6 million comes from a type of grant aimed at homelessness referred to as McKinney funding. Today, we wrote about some difficulties the city's Community, Housing and…
Earlier this week, local public broadcasting affiliate KSPS hosted televised debates between Spokane County Commissioner Al French, a Republican, and his challenger, Democrat Mary Lou Johnson, as well as one between Republican state Sen. Michael Baumgartner and his Democratic opponent, Rich Cowan. Topics ranged from…
As we wrote in today’s paper, Spokane Mayor David Condon won’t take the $7,000 pay increase he proposed in his 2015 budget, which would have brought his pay to nearly $180,000. Part of the reason he made such an abrupt about-face had to do with…
Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan said today he will host a public forum to talk about the proposed pay increases for Mayor David Condon and members of his administrative cabinet. The mayor is poised to receive a $7,000 raise, bringing his annual pay to nearly…
Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart said today that Mayor David Condon’s budget proposal did not have enough votes for approval. Flanked by four other council members at COPS West in West Central, Stuckart said he couldn’t “in good conscience” vote for a budget that…
If a skywalk staircase comes down and no one's around to see it, does it make a sound? Okay, there were plenty of people to see it slowly get dismantled at the corner of Main Avenue and Howard Street, but we were a little disappointed…
Another Monday, another Spokane City Council meeting at which Councilman Mike Fagan speaks eloquently on the injustice of domestic violence. Okay, so not every council meeting has Fagan on the dais, detailing the horrors of "Spokane's ugly, dirty little secret," telling attendees and viewers that…
The Spokane City Council is preparing to change city law to allow "for-hire" drivers to do business in town. The law is aimed at new taxi-like services springing up around the country, namely Lyft and Uber. Read the draft operating agreement between the city and…
Steve Salvatori was a fiscal conservative from California. Karen Stratton is a political unknown and lifelong Spokanite. Together, they will complete one term on the Spokane City Council. Stranger things have happened in Spokane. Like when Stratton was named Lilac Queen in 1977 and posed…
Last night, Karen Stratton was appointed to the Spokane City Council. We have a story in today's paper all about her, but here's a photo we ran 37 years ago, when she was the Lilac Festival Queen.
Today, Spin Control is releasing throughout the day the answers to a Q&A we received from the five finalists to fill the Spokane City Council vacancy created by the resignation of Steve Salvatori. The council is scheduled to pick one of the finalists on Monday.…
Today, Spin Control is releasing throughout the day the answers to a Q&A we received from the five finalists to fill the Spokane City Council vacancy created by the resignation of Steve Salvatori. The council is scheduled to pick one of the finalists on Monday.…
Today, Spin Control is releasing throughout the day the answers to a Q&A we received from the five finalists to fill the Spokane City Council vacancy created by the resignation of Steve Salvatori. The council is scheduled to pick one of the finalists on Monday.…
Today, Spin Control is releasing throughout the day the answers to a Q&A we received from the five finalists to fill the Spokane City Council vacancy created by the resignation of Steve Salvatori. The council is scheduled to pick one of the finalists on Monday.…
Today, Spin Control is releasing throughout the day the answers to a Q&A we received from the five finalists to fill the Spokane City Council vacancy created by the resignation of Steve Salvatori. The council is scheduled to pick one of the finalists on Monday.…
The gavel pounded not even 30 minutes into last night's Spokane City Council meeting, and Council President Ben Stuckart erupted at attendees for cheering and applauding. He called for a five-minute recess and warned the crowd that another "outburst" would send the rest of the…
The recent conduct of police in Ferguson, Mo., has made many call into question the militarization of police departments, notably today by Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a potential presidential candidate come 2016. But more surprisingly, Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan, easily the most conservative…
The Spokane Transit Authority is its own government entity, but it got a good going over at last night's Spokane City Council meeting. Two items passed by the council dealt with public conveyance: a resolution supporting the $5.8 million renovation of the STA Plaza, the…
Yesterday, at a press conference to release his 2015 budget proposal, Spokane Mayor David Condon stood in front of a Hillyard warehouse that will soon be home to the city's second police precinct. The idea is, by decentralizing the police force into a precinct model,…
A second police precinct, a steady stream of newly trained cops, and a race to the deadline for a cleaner Spokane River dominates Mayor David Condon’s 2015 budget proposal, which he released earlier today. The $585 million budget plan is in many ways a continuation…
Spokane police and fire departments will be getting $26 million worth of new cars, trucks and equipment, Mayor David Condon said this morning in front of Fire Station No. 4 in Browne's Addition. The money will come partly from raising property taxes by 1 percent…
Only two people actually sat at today's protest against Spokane's sit-lie ordinance, though one was in a wheelchair. The only other two protesters stood outside downtown's Spokane Regional Business Center to talk about why they believed the law targets the homeless. The law in question,…
Over the last month or so, high tech "smart" parking meters have appeared in downtown Spokane, equipped with coin slots and credit card readers. But yesterday, workers began installing sensors that will detect when a car comes and goes, zeroing out the meter when it…
At last week’s Planning, Community and Economic Development committee meeting, Spokane city planning director Scott Chesney was discussing the Larry H. Miller empire and its request to temporarily shut down some streets while the car dealer did some re-arrangement. Not exciting stuff. Then, off-handedly, Chesney…
