Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Dan Hansen

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

All Stories

News >  Spokane

Shooting victim always wore smile, brother says

For Marcus Ridgely, it seems so random. His younger brother wasn’t a troublemaker and didn’t have enemies, Ridgely said. Yet 22-year-old Joshua Ridgely became a victim of violence early Saturday, dying in his girlfriend’s lap after being shot in the chest.
News >  Spokane

Taking physics out of the lab

RITZVILLE, Wash. – Weight. Trajectory. Wind direction and speed. Rate of ascent and descent. Physics students from Whitworth University planned for every contingency before launching a high-altitude balloon Thursday.

News >  Voices

Kids fill wetland with new plants

It’s not every day you find prairie dogs in a marsh. But there were nearly 400 of them Tuesday in the Ben Burr wetland project near Moran Prairie Elementary School.
News >  Spokane

WSU president releases e-mails on staff dispute

It was Yom Kippur when Federal Express dropped off a package at Steven Hoch’s home. Hoch was still provost at Washington State University, but he was on paid leave while university President Elson Floyd tried to sort out exactly what had happened during a meeting at which Hoch had exchanged heated words and had a minor physical altercation with university Vice President Greg Royer.
News >  Spokane

WSU dust-up details emerge

A Washington State University provost who contends he was assaulted after a meeting of senior university administrators had been behaving in a way that most witnesses described as “disrespectful, rude, condescending and arrogant,” according to an assistant attorney general’s report. That meeting, according to the vice presidents, executive directors, department heads and chancellors who were in attendance, degenerated into name-calling, profanity, hurt feelings and ultimately a minor physical confrontation in the hallway.
News >  Spokane

Cougars who swim

PULLMAN – Probably the men’s basketball team would have made it to the Sweet 16 anyway. But there are researchers at Washington State University who like to think that training like ducks helped boost the Cougars to their greatest success in more than 60 years. That’s ducks, as in water-loving birds. Not Ducks, like WSU’s Pac-10 rivals in Eugene, Ore.
News >  Spokane

Second bond issue ahead

With surveys showing the economy is the biggest concern among voters and financial news seeming to get worse daily, Spokane Public Schools officials are asking what the public thinks about a $288 million bond proposal that wouldn’t increase taxes but prevents them from going down. The proposal, expected to be on the March ballot, is the second phase of a four-part plan adopted by the school board in 2002 to pay for building projects and technology and security improvements.
News >  Spokane

Educators believe conversation can help to bridge cultural gaps

In a society that sometimes tries to ignore issues of race, educators say they’re trying to become more intentional about discussing it. Several years ago at Spokane Public Schools, a group of administrators began meeting regularly to talk frankly about their cultural experiences and discuss books like “Courageous Conversations about Race.”
News >  Spokane

In the minority

Meet Chantel Williams. She is 16 years old, reads Edgar Allan Poe and sings in her church choir. She’s in Honor Society and wants to be a pediatrician. Chantel considers herself shy, but she draws attention at Central Valley High School, where 88 percent of students are white and barely more than 1 percent are black.
News >  Spokane

Kids get early start on college

This is a feel-good story that will get better with age. Give it 11 years, and the kids who are now second-graders at Lidgerwood Elementary School will be starting college. And you can bet a lot of them will go, too, despite numbers that suggest otherwise. Numbers like 84 – the percentage of students at the north Spokane school who qualify for subsidized lunches, one indicator of poverty. Numbers like 9 – the percentage of children who go to college among families that earn less than $36,000 a year.
News >  Spokane

Interviews set for Spokane school board candidates

Anyone who’s paid attention to Spokane politics in recent years will find familiar names among the six finalists for a Spokane school board position. They include a one-time candidate for county commissioner, a former candidate for the Spokane City Council and an activist who’s been involved in various issues. Five of the six have graduate degrees, and all have children.
News >  Voices

Mead workers may picket

Local football fans may be greeted by picketing Mead School District employees at games Friday night. The 65 custodians and maintenance workers who are members of the Mead Classified Public Employees Association are working under an expired contract. The union accuses the district of bargaining in bad faith and is threatening to file an unfair labor practice complaint.
News >  Spokane

College enrollments on the rise

The poor economy has not meant fewer students this year at Inland Northwest colleges and universities. In fact, as fall quarter begins, most schools are reporting strong freshmen enrollments, including some records.
News >  Spokane

EWU changing housing locks

Eastern Washington University plans to change the locks to 3,500 dorm rooms and campus apartments because a key fitting all of them has been missing since spring. “It is the master key to all of our resident halls and campus apartments, which is 10 buildings,” said EWU spokesman Dave Meany.
News >  Voices

Accepting the challenge

Starting this school year, University High School students have accepted Rachel’s Challenge to eliminate prejudice and encourage compassion. More than 1,800 students heard about this challenge last week from Darrell Scott, father of Columbine High School shooting victim Rachel Scott. He spoke about kindness, compassion and tolerance based on his daughter’s writings and life.
News >  Voices

Open house, football game will mark NC centennial

North Central High School will host an open house to celebrate the school’s centennial, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. There will be a program in the gym at 10 a.m. Friday night’s home football game (against East Valley) has been declared the “centennial football game.” It starts at 5:30 p.m. at Albi Stadium.
News >  Spokane

Fast learners

In the newcomer center at Ferris High School, eight students from China, Ukraine and Burma are learning the English nouns and verbs necessary for basic navigation in an alien world. Teacher Tory Rouse has told them it’s OK to smile in class and to express opinions. She has told them that when an American gives them the thumbs up, it’s not a profane gesture.
News >  Voices

WASL takers get some time back

WASL news typically isn’t good news. But here’s something that’s sure to cheer kids in elementary and middle schools: Terry Bergeson feels your pain. Bergeson, the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, announced last week that the WASL will be shortened significantly, starting this school year. She said it’s been in the works for a couple of years, and that it would be done without “dumbing down” the test.
News >  Spokane

15 high schools fail new standards

As students headed back to class in many high schools Tuesday, educators faced a grim set of statistics. Fifteen of 18 traditional public high schools in Spokane County failed last year to meet new tougher standards set under the No Child Left Behind Act.
News >  Spokane

More schools miss mark

Tougher standards meant more Washington schools than ever failed to meet federal guidelines for “adequate yearly progress,” including four traditional high schools in Spokane County. State education officials Thursday reported that 628 public schools and 57 districts fell short in at least one category out of 37 monitored – double the number of schools that missed the mark in 2007. That means nearly one in five Washington districts is on the “improvement” list, so called because the schools need improvement.
News >  Voices

It’s back to school time

Never mind that the maple leaves haven’t begun to turn in Millwood or that zucchini is still coming on strong. It may still be warm enough to swim at Boulder Beach, but summer is over in the West Valley School District. That’s right, classes start today. So if you wear black and orange, put down your game controllers and start packing lunches.