Column

If you’re looking to linger above the Spokane River, watching spectacular and imposing waterfalls crash up- and downstream of you in the middle of downtown, without a single car buzzing by, you might want to hurry down to the Post Street Bridge now, before it’s too late.

What if we cannot predict, let alone control, the spirit of God any more than meteorology can control the weather on, say, Easter Sunday?

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been harsh in many parts of the community, and especially so for many arts organizations. Across the board, large stalwarts like the Spokane Symphony and Civic Theatre, the smaller operations and performing arts venues, and individual artists are changing how they’re doing business and worried about the future.

People have picked apart and criticized the governor’s approach, but Inslee’s aggressive, health-first standards seem likely to look wiser and wiser in the rearview mirror, especially when set against the national response.

The governor’s Tuesday speech was not the speech the governor needed to give to maintain the good will of the people. Saying Washingtonian eight times in 10 minutes is not enough to coach Washingtonians into playing as a team.

Some $90 million in federal emergency funds with almost no strings attached are headed toward Spokane County – and with it are coming criticisms of County Commissioner Al French’s initial signals that he wants to use the money not to offset financial emergencies such as rent or child care, but to develop a longer-view plan to boost the economy and support businesses.

Today, we hear the phrase “fake news” all the time, but it’s oddly been turned into something that seems charged and political, whether something is factual or not. And if it is true, there are now “alternate facts” you should believe are truer, despite facts not actually working that way.

One day a widened and redesigned Bigelow Gulch Road will smooth and speed traffic from north Spokane to the northeast side of Spokane Valley, passing through what’s now the mostly rolling agricultural land of Orchard Prairie.

It’s 7 p.m., and the line of weary men trails back from the front door, along the fence that surrounds the House of Charity and down the sidewalk lining Pacific Avenue. Five at a time, the men enter the shelter with their backpacks and walkers, their suitcases and overcoats. At the entrance, health district workers check every man’s temperature and ask a series of questions.

When the coronavirus hit and people were told to limit their movement to prevent the spread of COVID-19, government officials searched for the right term for their order.

We grew up in a small-town where 50 people in your graduating class was considered huge. Our extended family all lived nearby and we were a fairly tight-knit bunch. Even a little gregarious – okay maybe a lot gregarious – which often made it a little overwhelming for those who married into the Curley family.

Restlessness may turn to revolt without a plan for reopening Washington for business. For Washington families who were living paycheck to paycheck, the economic pandemic is as real a threat as COVID-19.

Amy McColm is a family resource coordinator assigned to Lidgerwood Elementary for The Zone Project. She’s also just someone who, when hearing that a family needs food, works whatever angle she can to get it to them.

I don’t normally write a three-dot column – which is newspaper slang for a column that talks about mostly unrelated things separated by a whole bunch of ellipses – but we have a lot of ground to cover today.

The coronavirus is creating a real-time experiment in Spokane jail reform.

When a lieutenant governor retires, as Cyrus Habib has announced he will do after a single term, it sets off a scramble in Washington’s political ponds.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries has put out posters, checklists and record-keeping forms. Construction workers are accustomed to complying with safety rules governing nearly every action on site, even if they sometimes roll their eyes. They’re ready. And under Gov. Inslee’s order, construction is shut down unless the project serves some activity on the list of essential services. That’s where the debate starts.

In the era of the coronavirus, journalism has never felt more important. That’s what makes what is currently happening to local newspapers across the country, both dailies and weeklies, so cruel.

Many people have been and continue to be dismissive of the coronavirus without bothering to pretend to be smart about it.