Avista Corp. has

Spokane City Council members shouldn’t give up on a potential homeless shelter in East Central, especially without a solid alternative that can be quickly implemented. Another winter without more public shelter space should not be an option. Not so long ago, it seemed like the proposed shelter in a former Grocery Outlet store on East Sprague Avenue was heading toward reality. There were some kinks to work out and planning to do, but the end was in sight.

Overall, Spokane Public Schools is in a good place, but voters need to decide which candidates can best address the challenges the district currently faces and anticipate the next set coming down the pike.

Ballots went out at the end of last week for the Aug. 6 local primary election. Spokane City voters will find several competitive and crowded races for council. Mayor, council president and three council seats all are up for grabs. The most important and interesting race is for District 1, Position 1, which covers the northeast third of the city. It features seven candidates, and the winner has the potential to bring an important element of diversity to the council. But what sort of diversity? The seven candidates fall into three groups. Two (Michael Cathcart and Tim Benn) would bring policy diversity. Two (Jerrall Haynes and Naghmana Sherazi) would bring social diversity. And the remaining three are a hodge-podge who are well-intentioned but don’t match the other four’s appeal.

The Spokane Regional Emergency Communications system will go live on Monday without the city of Spokane. The City Council voted unanimously to keep the city’s own 911 dispatch center in operation. The council is rightly concerned that the regional board hasn’t been transparent enough with the city about what the new system will look like and how it will actually make emergency service response times faster. Caution when it comes to so important (and expensive) a public service is warranted.

While Spokane’s

Democrats’ push to give the Spokane Tribe a seat on the Spokane Regional Transportation Council goes too far, for now.

The Spokane Valley City Council will consider whether to write an exception that would allow a