Dan Hansen

A West Medical Lake resort owner is suing the state over sewage spills that temporarily shut down fishing and permanently tarnished the lake's image. Ken Lewis says his business was damaged by the 1992 spills, when bacteria levels in the lake rose to 32 times the level considered safe. The lake was closed for three months, and became the topic of numerous reports by television and print media.

From For the record (Friday, December 8, 1995): Larry Stapleton was convicted in July of second-degree robbery, his third serious offense. While he has not yet been sentenced, the courts have no choice but to send him to prison for life under the state's Three Strikes, You're Out law. A Thursday article reported he had already been sentenced.

Convicted of murdering his estranged wife on Monday, Thomas "Rick" Birnel was told Tuesday he can go home for the holidays - if he posts $100,000 bail. His voice cracking, Birnel told Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O'Connor, "I'd like to be with my kids."

Thomas "Rick" Birnel is led from court Monday evening after being convicted in the death of his wife. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Any of 17 wounds in Mary "Cookie" Birnel's body could have killed her, a Spokane County prosecutor told a jury Wednesday. "Eight of the stab wounds were to the target area, (near) the heart," Deputy Prosecutor Dannette Allen said during opening arguments in the second-degree murder trial of Birnel's estranged husband. In all, Cookie Birnel - a mother of four who was so hooked on methamphetamines that she ate and slept little - was stabbed 31 times with a butcher knife while fighting with Thomas "Rick" Birnel.

A Mead man whose drinking and drug use led to a car accident that killed a 14-year-old girl was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 3-1/2 years in prison. Bradley Roadruck, 25, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in October. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O'Connor sentenced him to serve 41 months in prison and pay $20,000 restitution for the death of Nichole Oman. The accident occurred April 1 after Roadruck drove Oman and two of her friends to a store, where he bought them cigarettes, authorities said. The foursome spent the next five hours together, with Roadruck buying beer and marijuana to use himself and offer to the teens.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O'Connor decided Monday not to close her courtroom while three girls testify in their father's murder trial this week. Thomas "Rick" Birnel, 39, is accused of killing his estranged wife, Mary "Cookie" Birnel. The couple's 10-year-old daughter, Lisa Birnel, was the only witness to the stabbing.

Speed may have more to do with a driver's testosterone level than a car's horsepower. Forty of the 72 men who responded Sunday and Monday morning to The Spokesman-Review's request for comments said they favor a plan to let states set speed limits as high as they like. Many said they would raise the speed limit on Interstate 90 to 70 mph or 80 mph - or even higher. Some would do away with the limit altogether.

Drivers soon may have a chance to cut a few minutes off trips across Washington and Idaho. Or, they could drive the same speed most of them do now, but without risk of a ticket.

Getting to grandma's house should be safer this holiday season if the trip requires driving between Ritzville, Wash., and the Tri-Cities. Crews working for the state Department of Transportation cut a ceremonial ribbon near here Tuesday, opening 15 miles of northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 395. Traffic now has two lanes in both directions instead of only one.

Eight-year-old Cierra Smith sat through nearly four hours of budgetary mumbo jumbo to make a 30-second appeal to the grown-ups who control Spokane's money. "If DARE leaves, more kids will die," Smith told the City Council on Monday.

"I'll never be uninvolved again," says ex-freeholder Ann Prideaux. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

In a defeat for government reformers, voters said no Tuesday to a proposal to merge Spokane city and county governments. The vote caps an effort that started 30 years ago, long before voters elected freeholders to write a charter in 1992.

Four days before today's election, 43,000 voters received a campaign mailing sprinkled with gross inaccuracies about Spokane city-county government consolidation. The flier, addressed to "Mr. & Mrs. Taxpayer," warns that the charter voters are being asked to approve never has been made available to the public and won't be until after today's election.

A consolidated government would make Spokane a better place to live, but it wouldn't necessarily mean lower taxes, say government experts. "The big thing that drives growth in government has to do with what people want government to do and how much (the services) cost," said David Nice, who teaches political science at Washington State University. "Government structure ... doesn't usually make a big difference."

Supporters of the unified charter are outspending opponents more than 20 to 1, according to county election records updated last week. With strong backing from businesses, the pro-consolidation group We The People has raised $206,538. One contributor alone, the economic development group Momentum, gave $100,000. Other large donors include Washington Trust Bank, Washington Water Power Co. and The Spokesman-Review, each of which gave $10,000 or more.

On the surface, it's the simplest of proposals: Take a map of Spokane County, erase the dotted line that designates the city limits and call the whole thing one community. Formalize the change by combining city and county departments, and replacing the Spokane City Council and county commission with a single legislative body. Make those changes, supporters say, and local government will be more efficient, more responsive and better prepared to handle regional issues like land-use planning.

Don't be surprised if the people who print campaign signs aren't too enthused about consolidating Spokane city and county governments. The proposal, if passed by voters on Nov. 7, could cut into their business. The charter written by freeholders would eliminate the elected offices of sheriff, coroner, treasurer, assessor, auditor and clerk. They would all be replaced by appointed positions.

Alina Morse, 2, of Spokane, asks Corny the clown to make a balloon mouse at the Christmas Memories show at the Spokane Convention Center on Friday. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Here are some questions and answers about the city-county government consolidation proposal facing voters Tuesday. Question: Does the charter propose a merger or a consolidation? Are those two terms exactly the same, or are there some differences? Answer: Campaigners and reporters use both words, which are synonyms. In fact, neither is completely accurate.

A study released Tuesday says taxpayers could save at least $5.5 million in annual management costs by merging Spokane city and county governments. Consultants hired by the business group Momentum spent two weeks finding management positions in the city and the county that duplicate each other, and deciding which could be cut if voters approve consolidation next Tuesday. After adding an independent auditor and staff for that office, the merged government still could cut 110 managers, secretaries and other management support positions, the consultants said.

FOR THE RECORD: Wednesday, November 1, 1995 CORRECTION: Mike Patterson is city administrator in Airway Heights. A story in Tuesday's Spokesman-Review placed him in the wrong city.

It was "the taxpayers" versus "the people" Monday at the Ridpath Hotel. In one corner, wearing "Vote No" buttons, the anti-consolidation group, We The Taxpayers, started its news conference at 10 a.m. The group came out swinging, with a respected constitutional law professor claiming Spokane residents might pay an income tax if consolidation passes.

Here are some questions and answers regarding the city-county consolidation proposal facing voters Nov. 7: Question: What would happen to the fire districts? Answer: The charter leaves the districts independent, but creates a commission of fire officials and others to consider whether some services, or some entire districts, should be merged.