Adam Shanks

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News >  Spokane

Final fight: Condon, City Council spar over city salaries

Sat., Jan. 25, 2020

On Dec. 30, Condon vetoed the City Council’s changes to the law that governs the Salary Review Commission – a board that sets the salaries of the mayor and city council members –dismayed it did not broaden the scope of the commission’s oversight.

News >  Spokane

Texas woman’s erroneous Spokane parking charge reveals processing error affecting hundreds

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 24, 2020

When a Texas woman visited her daughter last September, she paid for parking several times in Spokane. Four months later, she was charged again. Apparently, the city’s parking services vendor lost its records of transactions on Sept. 24 and charged customers nearly four months later.

News >  Spokane

City, county now require open union negotiations, but they haven’t happened – and may never

Thu., Jan. 23, 2020

Though Spokane County and the city of Spokane have both required their unions to negotiate with them in public, some union leaders aren’t ready to back down as they wait for the outcome of a court case.

News >  Spokane

Spokane’s new flag design will be a community effort

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 23, 2020

Over the coming months, the newly formed Spokane Flag Commission will undoubtedly review a deluge of designs for a new city flag. But one thing almost everyone appears to agree on is that Spokane’s current banner, adopted in the 1970s, should be neatly folded and stuffed into the city history books.

News >  Spokane

New Councilman Cathcart wants community policing in his district

Tue., Jan. 21, 2020

Mayor Nadine Woodward is moving quickly to identify and open a new downtown police precinct focused on community-oriented law enforcement, with more officers patrolling on foot and bike. New City Councilman Michael Cathcart likes that plan so much he wants to mirror it in northeast Spokane, the district he represents.

News >  Spokane

Betsy Wilkerson aims to bring inclusion, compromise to Spokane City Council

Mon., Jan. 20, 2020

With a résumé boasting 20-plus years as a business owner and leadership roles in several nonprofits, Wilkerson was appointed to a vacant seat on the Spokane City Council last week as she called on a city that is 85% white to consider and value a different perspective.

News >  Spokane

No longer leading Spokane City Council, Ben Stuckart starts consulting business

Mon., Jan. 20, 2020

Ben Stuckart formally created a consulting business, Forward Principle Consulting, this month, but isn’t ruling out taking his career in a different direction in the future.

News >  Spokane

Mayor Nadine Woodward asks for patience as she works with providers to tackle homelessness

Sun., Jan. 19, 2020

As both candidate and mayor, Nadine Woodward has signaled that “a hand up, not a hand out,” will be her guiding philosophy. But how Woodward will translate that slogan into actual policy remains to be seen.

News >  Spokane

Goat meal? Spokane could deploy goats to tame wildfire fuel

Tue., Jan. 14, 2020

Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer and Councilwoman Lori Kinnear are proposing that the city of Spokane pilot a program that would see trips of goats chow down through brush in the city’s forested areas, all in the hope of reducing the risk of a wildfire.

News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council appoints Betsy Wilkerson to replace Beggs

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 14, 2020

Heeding her offer of a “different perspective,” the Spokane City Council unanimously appointed Betsy Wilkerson to the vacant seat in District 2. Upon her swearing-in, Wilkerson will become the first African-American member on the council in nearly 20 years, and the only nonwhite member of the current council.

News >  Spokane

Woodward taps former city spokesman Brian Coddington, county budget director Tonya Wallace

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 14, 2020

If confirmed by the City Council, Brian Coddington, who worked for more than five years under Mayor David Condon, will return as the city’s director of communications and marketing, and Tonya Wallace will become the city’s chief financial officer.

News >  Local Government

Spokane City Council to choose from seven finalists for open seat on Monday

Sun., Jan. 12, 2020

From nonprofit leaders to independent business owners, the Spokane City Council will weigh a diverse set of seven finalists for a vacant seat and select a winner on Monday.

News >  Spokane

City, county prepare for days of plowing ahead of weekend snowstorm in Spokane

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 10, 2020

Due to the back-to-back nature of snow events expected over the weekend, city officials predicted it could take days to fully plow the 2,200 lane miles of city road.

News >  Spokane

The Falls, McKinley School projects win city backing

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 7, 2020

The City Council signed off Monday on incentives for the developers behind the McKinley School renovation in East Spokane and The Falls, a high-rise planned on the north bank of the Spokane River.

News >  Spokane

Getting There: Spokane plans to extend mobile phone payment at parking meters

Mon., Jan. 6, 2020

Spokanites are learning to leave the quarters behind. The city continues to see robust usage of the Passport parking app through mobile phones, and on Monday the City Council is set to vote on a renewal of its contract with the company that operates the service.

News >  Spokane

Mike Fagan earns high praise, even from political opposites, for approach on City Council

Sun., Jan. 5, 2020

In two terms on the Spokane City Council, Mike Fagan stood alone in warning of the potential perils of 5G wireless connectivity, an influx of illegal immigrants across the Canadian border, and the existence of chemtrails, a long-debunked conspiracy theory. But when a constituent called, Fagan answered.

News >  Spokane

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward to join City Council as both pledge harmony

Sun., Jan. 5, 2020

Incoming Councilman Michael Cathcart won’t be the only fresh face on the dais when the Spokane City Council holds its first meeting of the new year on Monday.

News >  Spokane

Library prepares pop-up space in NorthTown Mall in wake of Shadle branch’s temporary closure

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 1, 2020

Patrons will be able to check out the Spokane Public Library’s newest location at the NorthtTown Mall starting Thursday. It’s the first of two temporary branches that will open in the face of the closures of two branches, Shadle and downtown, for major renovations.

News >  Spokane

Nadine Woodward sworn in as Spokane’s mayor

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 30, 2019

Longtime Spokane television news anchor Nadine Woodward was sworn in as the city’s 45th mayor on Monday in a ceremony at the U.S. Pavilion at Riverfront Park, its netting illuminated in her campaign colors of blue and purple and pierced by the white streaks of dancing snowflakes.

News >  Spokane

As he leaves office, Spokane Mayor David Condon remains a pragmatist

Sun., Dec. 29, 2019

From sewer tanks to utility rates, outgoing Mayor David Condon spent two terms in office unrelentingly tackling the meat-and-potatoes matters of city government.

News >  Spokane

Condon’s final days as mayor marked by clashes with City Council over homeless shelter, division of power

Sun., Dec. 29, 2019

A dispute over where to operate a warming shelter for the city’s homeless opened old wounds with the Spokane City Council, even as Mayor David Condon celebrated the beginning or completion of major initiatives.

News >  Spokane

Passion defined Ben Stuckart’s two terms as Spokane City Council president

Fri., Dec. 27, 2019

As he leaves office, Stuckart’s former council colleagues described his leadership style in interviews with The Spokesman-Review as unrelentingly passionate, at times to a fault, but always politically skillful and rooted in his dedication to serve Spokane residents.

News >  Spokane

Final warming center in city’s winter homeless plan opens

Thu., Dec. 26, 2019

With the addition of a warming center for families coming online last week, the city’s comprehensive plan to expand shelter capacity through the winter is now complete.

News >  Spokane

Pipefitters pitch in on Christmas to support Meals on Wheels

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 25, 2019

A family gathered in the kitchen around hot turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables and stuffing Wednesday morning but no one was eating. The family – members of the Local 44 Plumbers and Pipefitters Union – were helping prepare and package Christmas dinner for nearly 200 seniors in need, to be delivered by the volunteer drivers of Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels.

News >  Spokane

Calling for counters: Help wanted for annual homeless survey in Spokane

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 23, 2019

The city of Spokane is soliciting volunteers for the annual “Everybody Counts Campaign” point-in-time count, the yearly survey of the region’s homeless population mandated by the federal government and used to track community trends in homelessness.