Emma Epperly

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News >  Crime/Public Safety

Amid ongoing series of violence, Eastern State Hospital gets new CEO

Tue., July 5, 2022

Eric Carpenter, 65, started early last month. That's nearly a year after the previous CEO, Mark Kettner, resigned when an investigation found his administration mishandled domestic violence allegations against a former nurse now charged with murder.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Lifelong Spokanite Jacquelyn High-Edward gets high marks from peers as she replaces retiring Judge Maryann Moreno

Sun., July 3, 2022

Jacquelyn High-Edward has spent her legal career dedicated to ensuring equal access to justice, something she'll be tasked with doing on a larger scale when she becomes a Spokane County Superior Court Judge this month. 

A&E >  Books

Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell case featured at upcoming Northwest Passages talk with author Leah Sottile

UPDATED: Thu., July 14, 2022

Leah Sottile likes to fall down rabbit holes. It’s where she digs out facts and captures the context that makes her reporting stand out.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Spokane leaders blame recent violence on county’s ‘850-1,500’ gang members and soft-on-crime laws

UPDATED: Thu., June 30, 2022

Officials on Thursday tied the increase in crime to gang activity. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich estimates there are between 850 and 1,500 "gang members" in the county. That estimate was based on his experience and investigative work by deputies, the Sheriff's Office said. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

“It’s watching life unfold in front of you:” Judge Maryann Moreno to retire after nearly 20 years on bench

Wed., June 29, 2022

In her nearly four-decade legal career, Maryann Moreno practiced the law from multiple perspectives – first as a public defender and defense attorney, and later as a Spokane County Superior Court judge.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Police officer out of hospital; suspects named in Sunday’s shooting

UPDATED: Mon., June 27, 2022

A Spokane police officer shot in the head and the leg during a drive-by shooting spree Sunday afternoon has been released from the hospital. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Latah man pleads guilty to child molestation, 9 related charges dropped

UPDATED: Mon., June 27, 2022

Paul A. Sloniker, 34, was arrested in 2019 after a parent found explicit text messages from Sloniker to their son, according to court documents. Once the text messages were discovered the boy broke down and told his parents that Sloniker, a family member, had been assaulting him for the past three years, according to court documents. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘We’re just going to be back to the dark ages,’ Spokane OB-GYN at center of 1980’s abortion controversy warns of Roe reversal

Sun., June 26, 2022

In 1982, Bering was the second female OB-GYN to start practicing in Spokane following her partner Dr. Pamela Silverstein, who arrived a year prior. The pair set up their practice in the Sixth Avenue Medical Building on Spokane's South Hill. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘It’s a war against women’: Hundreds gather in downtown Spokane to protest overturning of Roe v. Wade

UPDATED: Sat., June 25, 2022

Hundreds of people gathered to protest the Supreme Court opinion restricting abortions by overturning Roe v. Wade Friday, chanting “not the church, not the state, people must decide their fate” in downtown Spokane.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Blame abounds after culture audit of Spokane County Sheriff’s Office fails

UPDATED: Tue., June 21, 2022

An academic study designed to measure attitudes on racial diversity and workplace culture within the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office fell apart last year amid a lack of participation from deputies.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘The day I was miserably forced to grow up’: Student shot, injured at Freeman High School shares affect of shooting ahead of sentencing

UPDATED: Sat., June 18, 2022

In an ambulance speeding away from Freeman High School on Sept. 13, 2017, Liz Goldsmith asked her daughter if she knew who shot her.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Judge sentences robber to 30 years, reduction from life sentence under ‘three strike’ law

UPDATED: Thu., June 16, 2022

On Wednesday afternoon, Thomas Butler, 39, looked Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay in the eye and told her how much he has changed in his 13 years in prison.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Judge denies motion to remove Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell from case based in part on wife’s racist comments

UPDATED: Thu., June 16, 2022

A Spokane attorney’s attempt to remove Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell from a case because of his wife’s racist comments as well as racial disparities in charging was blocked by a judge on Wednesday.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Matt Shea claimed U-Haul in CdA was filled with Antifa. But among those arrested was man who attended Shea’s church

UPDATED: Tue., June 14, 2022

Of the 31 men police say are members of a white supremacist group arrested in Coeur d’Alene and accused of conspiring to riot, several live in Washington and Idaho.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Trial for man whose life sentence had been reversed delayed until December

UPDATED: Thu., June 16, 2022

A man who was released from prison when his life sentence was reversed in 2016 was set to go back on trial this week on a domestic violence charge before the case was delayed.

News >  Pacific NW

‘A safe place to stay’: Ukrainian refugees move into hotel run by local nonprofit, Slavic community

Sun., June 12, 2022

Blue and yellow balloons flapping in the wind Wednesday afternoon were the first sign that a recently closed Spokane hotel is coming to life again.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Judge seals psychiatric evaluations of Freeman school shooter, sentencing pushed back to August

UPDATED: Sat., June 11, 2022

Forensic psychiatric evaluations of Caleb Sharpe won’t be available to the public ahead of his August sentencing.

News >  Pacific NW

Longtime Spokane collector Don Pearson’s estate sale spreads his legacy through the community, one baby grand and antique chandelier at a time

UPDATED: Fri., June 10, 2022

Shoppers gasped and gawked as they wove their way through giant Chinese vases, Italian carved wood statues, Victorian settees and chandeliers Thursday morning at the first of many sales of Don Pearson’s massive antique collection after his death in February. He was 77.

News >  Military

‘Connecting with my sisters’: Eastern Washington to celebrate first in-person Women’s Veterans Day

UPDATED: Wed., June 8, 2022

Eastern Washington veterans will gather for the first time to celebrate Women Veterans Day on Sunday, more than 70 years after women were first allowed to serve as permanent members of the U.S.Armed Forces.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Mudslide in Okanogan County damages three homes

UPDATED: Mon., June 6, 2022

Flash flooding in Okanogan County led to a mudslide that damaged three homes near Bonaparte Lake Road Friday.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Man who killed pharmacy clerk in 1986 may be released later this year after being resentenced to 40 years

UPDATED: Fri., June 3, 2022

Clad in his yellow Spokane Jail jumpsuit Friday morning, Christopher Blystone broke into a large smile and vigorously shook hands with his attorney after he was resentenced to 40 years in prison for killing a Halpin’s Pharmacy clerk 36 years ago.

News >  Local Government

Spokane Superior Court commissioner appointed to fill judge position when Maryann Moreno retires

UPDATED: Thu., June 2, 2022

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed a Spokane County Superior Court commissioner to fill the judicial seat left open by Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno’s retirement this month.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Court documents: Resident unearthed Glover Middle School student’s plan to shoot principal, staff

UPDATED: Sun., June 5, 2022

A curious resident unearthed a 13-year-old suspended Glover Middle School student’s plan to shoot staff, according to court documents filed Thursday.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

South Hill death ruled suicide by medical examiner

UPDATED: Thu., June 2, 2022

The death police investigated Saturday near Lincoln Park on the South Hill was ruled a suicide Wednesday by the Spokane County Medical Examiner.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Man serving life without parole for 1986 killing of pharmacy clerk to be resentenced

Thu., June 2, 2022

It was 36 years ago when Christopher Blystone kidnapped a Halpin’s Pharmacy clerk with an accomplice, drove him up to Mica Peak and shot him in the back of the head numerous times.