Chad Sokol

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News >  Spokane

Former assistant to developer Harlan Douglass gets two days in jail for theft

UPDATED: Tue., May 28, 2019

Bryan J. Reilly is expected to check himself into the Spokane County Jail on Wednesday as punishment for stealing jewelry, watches and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from his former boss – real estate developer Harlan Douglass.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Two hospitalized after crash in Pend Oreille County

UPDATED: Wed., May 29, 2019

A 56-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man were hospitalized Tuesday morning after the teen failed to yield at a highway intersection near Cusick in Pend Oreille County.

News >  Spokane

Councilman Mike Fagan, Prosecutor Larry Haskell downplay attendance at Liberty State fundraiser

Sat., May 25, 2019

Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan pumped his fist while leading his audience in an enthusiastic chant Thursday evening, seemingly offering full-throated support to a conservative secessionist movement that would turn Eastern Washington into a 51st state called Liberty. But on Friday, Fagan, who’s running for council president, said he’s not necessarily a supporter of the movement.

News >  Spokane

Liberty State supporters raise funds at event after tense ‘silent protest’ by ex-Matt Shea backers

UPDATED: Fri., May 24, 2019

A fundraising event for the proposed creation of a 51st state called Liberty started on a tense note Thursday evening as onetime loyalists of state Rep. Matt Shea held what they called a “silent protest” and stood toe-to-toe with armed security guards.

News >  Spokane

Law firm counts 210 deaths in Washington jails; Spokane County has fourth-highest death toll

Thu., May 23, 2019

A nonprofit law firm has identified more than 200 people who died in Washington jails over the course of nearly 12 years, finding lapses in supervision, medical and mental health care, suicide prevention and protocols for treating drug withdrawal and overdoses.

News >  Spokane

Spokane County Fair names Erin Gurtel as new director

UPDATED: Wed., May 22, 2019

The Spokane County Fair and Expo Center has a new director.

News >  Spokane

Developer Harlan Douglass seeks to nullify plea deal for former assistant who stole jewelry, cash

UPDATED: Wed., May 22, 2019

One of Spokane County’s richest men is asking a judge to throw out a plea deal and order stiffer punishment for a former assistant accused of stealing jewelry, watches and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.

News >  Spokane

Racist podcaster still sending hateful robocalls, this time in Georgia

Tue., May 21, 2019

A racist robocall that circulated last week in the Atlanta, Georgia, area appears to be the work of a white supremacist who recently moved from Sandpoint to Libby, Montana.

News >  Spokane

City closes Post Street bridge to motor vehicles after structural analysis; bikes and pedestrians OK

Fri., May 17, 2019

The city of Spokane on Friday closed the Post Street bridge to all motor vehicles, citing a structural analysis which found the aging span can’t safely hold that much weight. Pedestrians and bicyclists can continue to use the center of the bridge, though the sidewalks are off-limits.

News >  Spokane

Armed Forces Torchlight Parade happening Saturday in downtown Spokane

Fri., May 17, 2019

The 81st annual Armed Forces Torchlight Parade will close out the Spokane Lilac Festival with a celebration of military veterans and active service members.

News >  Spokane

Waste Management employee fired after West Plains landfill fire

UPDATED: Thu., May 16, 2019

At the end of a shift on a Friday afternoon, Waste Management employees failed to fill up a water truck and didn’t put enough soil over a layer of industrial waste at a landfill near Fairchild Air Force Base. Less than 48 hours later, that section of the Graham Road Landfill caught fire, sending a pillar of a black smoke into the air.

News >  Spokane

Man surrenders to Spokane County SWAT team after standoff at West Plains home

UPDATED: Tue., May 14, 2019

A 55-year-old man accused of domestic violence was arrested Tuesday after an hourslong standoff with negotiators and SWAT personnel from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

News >  Spokane

Navy pilot tried to ‘scribble out’ contrails depicting phallus in sky

Tue., May 14, 2019

If you ever wanted to know what two Navy aviators were thinking when they drew a giant penis in the sky over northeast Washington, well, the answer is probably what you would expect.

News >  Spokane

Two public forums planned to discuss Spokane County Jail

UPDATED: Mon., May 13, 2019

Some local officials have mulled whether the county needs additional jail space, while some argue jail crowding should be alleviated by curbing or eliminating the use of cash bail to keep people incarcerated before trial.

News >  Spokane

Former Mead High School teacher pleads guilty to sexual misconduct with student

UPDATED: Mon., May 13, 2019

Wesley Perez, a former Mead High School teacher who had a sexual relationship with one of his students, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘They should have taken him to the hospital’: Records detail Spokane County inmate’s overdose death

Sat., May 11, 2019

Shane Carson, 31, overdosed on methamphetamine and some type of opioid. But at the time, corrections officers believed he was “detoxing” or experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and they dismissed the concerns of his cellmate, who tried to get him help.

News >  Spokane

Sacred Heart nurses hold second rally as contract talks with Providence drag on

UPDATED: Thu., May 9, 2019

Nurses at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center held a second demonstration Thursday afternoon to keep pressure on the hospital system amid drawn-out contract negotiations.

News >  Spokane

Whistleblower who leaked Rep. Matt Shea’s chat logs accuses lawmaker of Christian domination agenda

Thu., May 9, 2019

The man who leaked private messages involving state Rep. Matt Shea wrote a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday, publicly acknowledging his own role in the chat and accusing the Spokane Valley lawmaker of promoting a dangerous theocratic worldview.

News >  Spokane

Suspicious device reported in Moscow; Spokane bomb squad deployed for third time in a week

UPDATED: Tue., May 7, 2019

A Spokane bomb squad was dispatched to Moscow on Tuesday after a suspicious device was found near a hospital and a Baptist church. Experts determined the device was not an explosive, but it was the third time in the span of a week that the Spokane Explosive Disposal Unit was dispatched to the Palouse.

News >  Spokane

Stevens County militia leader wanted on extortion charges arrested in West Virginia

UPDATED: Tue., May 7, 2019

James “Russell” Bolton was arrested late Monday at his father’s house in Princeton, West Virginia, a U.S. Marshals Service official said.

News >  Education

WSU names new provost, executive vice president

UPDATED: Tue., May 7, 2019

Mitzi Montoya, an administrator at Oregon State University, will start her new job at Washington State University on Aug. 1.

News >  Spokane

Central Valley High School grad among three Navy corpsmen dead after Virginia shooting

UPDATED: Tue., May 7, 2019

A 19-year-old woman who graduated from Central Valley High School and enlisted in the U.S. Navy last year was shot and killed over the weekend in Portsmouth, Virginia.

News >  Spokane

Colbert man sentenced for killing, mutilating horse to spite ex-girlfriend

Mon., May 6, 2019

A Colbert man who killed and mutilated a horse to spite his ex-girlfriend was sentenced Monday to the 53 days he already served in jail. A Spokane County judge also banned Clinton P. Burrill, 46, from owning horses and contacting his ex-girlfriend.

News >  Spokane

Police investigating improvised bombs and an arson fire in Pullman, Moscow

UPDATED: Mon., May 6, 2019

Pullman police began searching for an arsonist after a fire destroyed a laser tag arena on Sunday, the same day a device resembling a pipe bomb was discovered in a city park. Days earlier, another improvised explosive was found in a mobile home just across the state line in Moscow.

News >  Spokane

Medical examiner identifies man killed by deputy in Spokane Valley

UPDATED: Mon., May 6, 2019

The man killed by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy on Saturday was 25-year-old Ethan A. Murray. The county medical examiner’s office released Murray’s identity on Monday and said he died of multiple gunshot wounds.