Adam Shanks

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News >  Local Government

Spokane drops requirement for paramedics to ride with patients in AMR ambulances

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 12, 2021

Facing an increase in call volume and shortage of staff, the city of Spokane’s ambulance service will now be allowed to give patients a ride without a paramedic on board.

News >  Local Government

On Indigenous Peoples Day, Spokane City Council hears report on urban Native American population

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 12, 2021

The city of Spokane’s Native American population is rapidly growing, and its needs remain serious.

News >  Local Government

Woodward touts successes, treads cautiously ahead in annual address

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 11, 2021

Mayor Nadine Woodward touted her administration’s successes while warning of a financially uncertain future in an address to the Spokane City Council on Monday.

News >  Local Government

‘A big problem for the city’: Dearth of traffic cops troubles Spokane city leaders

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 7, 2021

From her bedroom window, Mary Winkes watches as cars speed past the radar sign on Grand Boulevard.

News >  Local Government

Beggs returns to running Spokane City Council meetings after cancer treatment

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 5, 2021

In a Spokane City Council meeting chock full of public debate and legislative wrangling, one substantial change could have gone unnoticed to anyone who tuned in a minute late.

News >  Spokane

Salvation Army, again, will wait for shelter funding

Tue., Oct. 5, 2021

As its members pushed for the Salvation Army to negotiate a “good neighbor agreement” with the city, the Spokane City Council Monday again held off on committing to fund a new homeless shelter on West Mission Avenue.

News >  Local Government

With hesitation, council approved Spokane Police Department’s PepperBall purchase

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 4, 2021

After tense debate among city lawmakers, the Spokane Police Department will be allowed to purchase 100 new PepperBall launchers and ammunition.

News

Woodward introduces preliminary city budget; includes funding for new homeless shelter

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 4, 2021

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward introduced an early draft of her $1.08 billion city budget on Monday that calls for increased funding of city libraries, cybersecurity, and additional staffing in her office.

News >  Local Government

Spokane has eviction programs in place, but is it ready for Washington’s moratorium to end?

Mon., Oct. 4, 2021

Landlords and their representatives are eager to return to some level of normalcy, while advocates for tenants are pressing local and state leaders to extend protections at least until rental assistance funds are entirely distributed.

News >  Local Government

Zappone, Lish square off in Northwest race for Spokane City Council

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 24, 2021

The race for Spokane City Council in Northwest features two newcomers to city politics.

News >  Local Government

Some 50 Spokane Fire Department employees stand to be fired next month over COVID-19 vaccine objections

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 29, 2021

Nearly 50 unvaccinated Spokane firefighters will be fired next month if they do not receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

News >  Local Government

Spokane police plead for ‘PepperBall’ launchers, but council questions request

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 29, 2021

The Spokane Police Department wants to purchase dozens of new “less lethal” weapons, but elected leaders have questions.

News >  Local Government

Spokane outlines plan to prevent Peaceful Valley landslide

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 28, 2021

Months after a landslide forced the closure of Clarke Avenue, city officials are ready to implement a permanent fix.

News

Spokane City Council picks Guardians Foundation to run Cannon Street shelter and delays decision on another

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 27, 2021

The city locked down its operator for its shelter west of downtown , tapping the Guardians Foundation to continue operating the 24/7 shelter.

News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council finalizes American Rescue Plan process

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 29, 2021

Spokane is nearly prepared to begin spending its $81 million chunk of pandemic relief approved by Congress in March.

News >  Health

Spokane-area firefighters helped meet early demand for COVID-19 vaccine in rural areas

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 27, 2021

Thanks to the same emergency mobilization system that allows a city like Spokane to send its firefighters to a wildfire burning halfway across the state, area firefighters were sent north this spring to help meet the surge of demand for the COVID-19 vaccine in rural communities.

News >  Local Government

Spokane City Council announces public forum, nears American Rescue Plan plan

Mon., Sept. 27, 2021

The City Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution that codifies the system by which it will decide how the unprecedented windfall of federal support is distributed in Spokane.

News >  Local Government

Woodward to propose six-month transition period for utility payments in Spokane

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 24, 2021

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward on Monday will propose six more months of a pause on city utility shutoffs.

News >  Spokane

Church at Planned Parenthood permanently ordered away from clinic

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 23, 2021

A Spokane County Superior Court judge has permanently barred anti-abortion protesters from loudly demonstrating just outside the doors of Planned Parenthood’s Spokane clinic.

News >  Local Government

Spokane City Council rejects lease for Spokane Resource Center with no plan B

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 23, 2021

Less than three years after it launched, the future of a center aimed at connecting people with social services, like housing and job training, was muddied this week.

News >  Local Government

City hires school board President Jerrall Haynes as Spokane’s first civil rights coordinator

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 24, 2021

Jerrall Haynes will serve as the city of Spokane’s first civil rights coordinator.

News

What’s in a name? Spokane changes probation department to ‘Community Justice Services Department’

Tue., Sept. 21, 2021

Spokane Municipal Court is rebranding its Probation Department.

News >  Washington

Homelessness a top issue in race between Bingle and Sherazi for Spokane City Council

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 13, 2021

The two candidates for City Council in northeast Spokane are bringing different focuses and perspectives to the race.

News >  Spokane

Coeur d’Alene Tribe buys Latah Creek property, spares it from housing development

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 16, 2021

Develop or conserve?

News >  Health

Spokane health leaders pivot on spot of COVID isolation center for homeless people and others

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 17, 2021

Spokane leaders have scrapped plans to operate a COVID-19 isolation center at a Spokane Valley hotel, but they’re working to build an alternative option at Union Gospel Mission’s Student Impact Center.