Chad Sokol

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News >  Crime/Public Safety

Contraband drugs may have claimed second life in Spokane County Jail

UPDATED: Sat., June 22, 2019

The county medical examiner’s office won’t officially determine how Sharona Carroll died until it receives toxicology results from a state forensic lab.

News >  Spokane

Unitarian Universalists, local activists denounce talk of new Spokane County Jail

UPDATED: Thu., June 20, 2019

“Jails have become a way of criminalizing poverty, mental illness and addiction,” said the Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. “And, in the absence of investing in people and programs that lift communities up, we are investing in a system that is fundamentally dehumanizing, violent and cruel.”

News >  Spokane

Undercover police arrest 38 suspected drug dealers at Paradiso Festival in central Washington

UPDATED: Tue., June 18, 2019

Kyle Foreman, a spokesman for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said undercover investigators seized LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, cocaine, steroids, ketamine, the party drug known as Molly, thousands of dollars in cash and one handgun.

News >  Spokane

Appellate judges require full disclosure of records from SFCC sexual harassment probe

UPDATED: Tue., June 18, 2019

“The people do not give public servants the right to decide what is good and what is not good for the people to know,” the judges ruled. “Free and open examination of public records serves the public interest, even though such examination causes inconvenience or embarrassment to public officials or others.”

News >  Spokane

Post Falls police searching for missing 15-year-old

UPDATED: Mon., June 17, 2019

Post Falls police said Monday they were searching for a 15-year-old girl who went missing more than three weeks ago.

News >  Spokane

Suspicious package found near Kootenai County Courthouse contained no explosives

UPDATED: Mon., June 17, 2019

A bomb squad from Spokane was deployed to Coeur d’Alene on Monday afternoon after a suspicious device was found near the Kootenai County Courthouse. The package was later found to contain no explosives.

News >  Spokane

Loans forgiven for thousands of former ITT Tech students, including some in Spokane Valley

UPDATED: Fri., June 14, 2019

Debt relief is coming for thousands of former students of ITT Technical Institute, a private for-profit college that abruptly closed all of its branches in 2016, including ones in Spokane Valley, Seattle and Everett.

News >  Spokane

Medical examiner names woman who died in Spokane County Jail

UPDATED: Fri., June 14, 2019

The woman who died in the Spokane County Jail early Tuesday was Sharona Marie Carroll-Camps, 39, according to the county medical examiner’s office. She was the ninth person to die in the jail since June 2017.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Spokane County sheriff’s sergeant fired for racial slur, sexual harassment, talk of killing black people

UPDATED: Thu., June 13, 2019

Sgt. Jeff Thurman, an 18-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who worked in Spokane Valley, was accused of starting a phone conversation with another deputy by asking: “You ready to kill some (racial slur) tonight or what?”

News >  Spokane

Five West Central ‘zombie homes’ placed in receivership as part of affordable housing push

UPDATED: Thu., June 13, 2019

More than three years ago, activists hatched a plan to save five Victorian houses from demolition and turn them into much-needed affordable apartments in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood. But the project stalled for reasons that remain in dispute, and the houses fell into disrepair after they were moved to new locations.

News >  Spokane

Woman, 50, dies in ATV crash near Hayden

UPDATED: Wed., June 12, 2019

Christina L. Mathews, of Rathdrum, was riding along U.S. Forest Service roads in the Hayden Creek area when she crashed, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

News >  Spokane

Yakima County coroner names fifth victim in reservation killings

UPDATED: Wed., June 12, 2019

John Cagle, 59, was among those slain early Saturday at a property in White Swan, a remote unincorporated area at the center of the Yakama Indian Reservation that has a reputation for property crime and drug-related violence.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Sisters remember brother slain along with four others in violent area of Yakama reservation

UPDATED: Wed., June 12, 2019

In the days since their brother was killed, Karen Overacker and Sharon Keeth said they heard a lot of conflicting stories about how it happened.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

2 charged in killings on Yakama reservation

UPDATED: Mon., June 10, 2019

Two men are accused of killing five people, stealing a vehicle and holding a gun to a child’s head on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Central Washington.

News >  Spokane

WSU regents approve 2.4% tuition hikes, athletic budget, purchase of Monsanto property near Othello

UPDATED: Wed., June 12, 2019

Washington State University’s board of regents approved 2.4% tuition increases for most students on Friday. The hikes mean undergraduates from Washington will pay $9,953 in tuition for the 2019-20 academic year, while out-of-state undergrads will pay $24,531.

News >  Spokane

WSU to research crumbling roads and bridges with $7.5 million federal grant

Sat., June 8, 2019

Washington State University has been chosen to receive a $7.5 million federal grant for research and education programs dedicated to improving the nation’s roads and bridges.

News >  Spokane

Felts Field open house event to feature World War II bombers

Fri., June 7, 2019

Visitors will have the opportunity to see rare vintage aircraft up close, including a B-25 Mitchell and a TBM Avenger – two American bombers introduced and flown during World War II.

News >  Education

Out of her shell, set to soar: Maddy Christiansen launches her future from St. George’s

UPDATED: Thu., June 6, 2019

When Maddy Christiansen talks about coming out of her shell, she looks all the way back to second grade, when she was so shy she would do almost anything to avoid talking to classmates.

News >  Spokane

Ecology Department seeking comment on cleanup plan for oil-contaminated Black Tank Property in Hillyard

Tue., June 4, 2019

The public has until June 11 to submit comments on a cleanup plan for the oil-contaminated site known as the Black Tank Property in Spokane’s Hillyard neighborhood.

News >  Spokane

Behind the divide on bail reform, frustration over ‘revolving door’

Sun., June 2, 2019

Some activists say cash bail creates a two-tiered justice system in which poor defendants remain locked up before trial, while rich ones can pay to get out. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and others argue it’s a necessary tool for protecting the community and ensuring defendants show up to court.

News >  Spokane

Officers, volunteers welcome kids to Junior Police Academy in downtown Spokane

UPDATED: Sat., June 1, 2019

The Spokane Police Department and the Downtown Spokane Partnership hosted the Junior Police Academy on Saturday to introduce kids to the world of law enforcement.

News >  Spokane

Men arrested after owner follows stolen truck in downtown Spokane

UPDATED: Sat., June 1, 2019

Spokane police say they found drugs, a stolen gun and counterfeit money inside a stolen truck after the owner reported he spotted the vehicle on Division Street.

News >  Spokane

‘Gigantic expansion’ of Washington’s State Need Grant means free college for poorest students

UPDATED: Fri., May 31, 2019

Under a new system that raises taxes on about one-fifth of Washington businesses, many more low-income students will benefit from the State Need Grant – rebranded as the Washington College Grant – starting in 2020.

News >  Spokane

Spokane County adds 230 acres to Antoine Peak Conservation Area

UPDATED: Wed., May 29, 2019

The county said the acquisition “preserves critical winter habitat for white-tailed deer while also creating the opportunity to develop a ‘valley-to-peak’ trail experience.”

News >  Spokane

Prosecutor says two Spokane officers were justified in fatal January shooting

UPDATED: Tue., May 28, 2019

The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office says two Spokane police officers were justified when they shot and killed a 46-year-old man who approached them while holding two knives.