Chad Sokol

Local officials on Tuesday rolled out a new smartphone app and notification system that delivers real-time updates about local emergencies.

“Alright, who’s been drinking tonight?” Lewiston police Officer Rob Massey stood in the living room of a well-kempt ranch home surrounded by a forest. A group of teenagers sat on the floor – some trying not to smirk, others looking fearful of the impending consequences of their behavior. “You been drinking? You? Huh?” Massey asked with a stern expression. “Be honest with me.”

Airway Heights officials now say it could take until Thursday or later to finish flushing city pipes of contaminated drinking water. Previously they had expected to complete the process by Monday morning. They are expelling water that has been contaminated with chemical runoff from Fairchild Air Force Base.

Temperatures hovered in the 60s as parade floats and marching bands cruised through downtown Spokane on Saturday evening. The rain cleared hours before the 79th annual Armed Forces Torchlight Parade began, giving spectators ample time to claim viewing spots and toss footballs in the cordoned-off streets.

City officials in Airway Heights expect to finish flushing water lines of contaminants from Fairchild Air Force Base on Sunday night or Monday morning.

The Spokane area’s largest assisted-living facility is closing its doors to more than 100 residents with severe mental illness and complex medical problems, and social workers are scrambling to find them new homes.

Air Force and public health officials have repeatedly described the chemicals contaminating water in Airway Heights as an “emerging issue” – one that’s being handled proactively and transparently. But nowhere in public statements have Fairchild Air Force Base officials mentioned decades of research linking the perfluorinated chemicals with an array of health defects, from high cholesterol to thyroid disease to pregnancy-induced hypertension.

No-Li, the Spokane area’s largest brewery, is hosting a fund-raiser Thursday evening to pay for a new security system at the Salish School of Spokane, which was vandalized earlier this month.

Lutheran church in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood target of extensive vandalism

Airway Heights officials are advising residents not to drink or cook with water from city pipes, as it is likely contaminated with chemical runoff from Fairchild Air Force Base.

A jury acquitted Robert Barber, a former Washington State University football player, of second-degree assault on Tuesday, nearly 10 months after he was involved in a brawl at a backyard party in Pullman.

Kurtis Robinson was sworn in as president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP on Monday evening, replacing Phil Tyler, who announced his resignation a month ago.

A second man has been charged with homicide in connection with the disappearance and suspected killing of Bret R. Snow of Spokane Valley.

Janet Gullickson is stepping down as president of Spokane Falls Community College to lead another college in Virginia.

Tuesday’s collapse of an earthen tunnel at Hanford highlights long-standing concerns about the ways in which nuclear waste is stored.