Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. – When lawmakers return to the Capitol from a two-week recess on Monday, one of their first orders of business will be supplementing the budget of the U.S. military, which has depleted its stockpiles of missiles and other materiel during five weeks of war with Iran.

Inland Northwest Catering will be filling the void left in CenterPlace by LeCatering, whose parent company is being sued by Spokane Valley.

Another pocket of wildland in a rapidly developing area of Spokane County may soon be spared from the steady spread of subdivisions.

The long arm of the law is twisting its fingers around the handlebars of electric bikes.

WASHINGTON – In a speech at a private lunch Wednesday billed as a celebration of Easter, President Donald Trump told the White House budget chief he wants the federal government to spend money on the military, not social services like child care and health care, which he said states should pay for by raising taxes.

OLYMPIA – Four Washington sheriffs are suing Gov. Bob Ferguson over a new law that gives an oversight board the authority to remove elected sheriffs from office.

Every year, the city of Spokane gets a bill from Spokane County Detention Services. According to the city, the bill for 2025 was $3 million more than anticipated.

The Spokane Valley Kiwanis Club is providing 17,000 Paw Patrol stuffed animals to the city’s police and fire departments to hand out to kids involved in 911 calls for the fourth consecutive year.

The Department of Health and Welfare would be required to report the immigration status of people using state HIV prevention services under a proposed public health budget. The move comes after Idaho lawmakers in 2025 passed a measure to prevent some immigrants from accessing services such as soup kitchens, prenatal care and crisis counseling. Just days before that law was set to take effect, ...

The city of Spokane Valley recently filed a lawsuit against Eat Good Group’s catering company, LeCatering, saying the popular restaurant company owes the city more than $157,000 and was in breach of contract for 10 months in 2025.

OLYMPIA – A statewide audit examining how nearly $24 billion in federal funding was spent in fiscal year 2025 estimated that Washington made $37 million in “questionable payments” for child care subsidies.

The Inland Northwest is closer to bolstering its services for mental health and drug addiction.

WASHINGTON – In an unprecedented scene at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, President Donald Trump sat in the audience while the nine justices considered his administration’s attempt to overturn the constitutional right to citizenship for children born in the United States.

OLYMPIA – The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has temporarily disabled its automated license plate readers following the recent passage of new state guidelines on how the technology can be used.

OLYMPIA – Gov. Bob Ferguson said Wednesday he has “some reservations” about legislation that establishes new standards for elected county sheriffs and gives an oversight board authority to remove them from office.

About 5,000 more seniors in Spokane will qualify for property tax breaks thanks to a state law signed this week. The county, however, won’t collect fewer taxes, so most taxpayers will pay slightly more in a tax shift.

The White House is urging Idaho lawmakers to pass legislation that would deputize local law enforcement to do work for ICE, but sheriffs across the state say the proposal would be at odds with the state’s longstanding stance against giving up local control.

OLYMPIA – Spokane’s longest-serving legislator, Timm Ormsby, told reporters Wednesday he will not seek re-election this fall.