Emma Epperly

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News >  Crime/Public Safety

Electrical issue discovered after evacuation of Safeway on South Hill on Sunday

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 31, 2021

The Safeway on 29th Avenue on Spokane's South Hill was evacuated at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after customers and employees smelled an unknown chemical in the store. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Snowy footprints lead deputies to suspects after north Spokane gas station robbery

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 27, 2021

After two men broke into a North Side gas station early Tuesday morning, Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies said they followed the suspects’ footprints in the freshly fallen snow to a nearby apartment and arrested them.

News >  Pacific NW

Nonprofits get $1.3 million donation to address mental health in rural Idaho

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 2, 2021

A group of nonprofits received $1.3 million this week to meet the urgent mental and behavioral health needs in rural Idaho.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Woman left with serious burns after running into burning house in East Central Spokane to save dogs

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 26, 2021

A woman sustained serious burns Tuesday morning after running back into her burning East Central home in an attempt to save her two dogs that later died in the fire.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Charles Barbee, last of the 1996 Spokane-area bombers, resentenced; receives 55 years

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 25, 2021

The last of the four white supremacists who in 1996 bombed The Spokesman-Review’s Spokane Valley office and a Planned Parenthood clinic was resentenced Monday.

News >  Pacific NW

131 new cases of COVID-19, no new deaths in Spokane County on Sunday

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 24, 2021

A total of 32,902 people in Spokane County have contracted COVID-19 and 472 people have died since the pandemic began, according to the health district. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Overnight snow flurries in Spokane expected to end Monday morning

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 24, 2021

January snowfall totals are well below normal in Spokane, and the light flurries that will last through the night aren't expected to change that much, according to the National Weather Service.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Spokane Valley man dies in Post Falls car crash Saturday night

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 24, 2021

Just after 8 p.m., Kootenai County first responders arrived at West Seltice Way and Wellesley Avenue after receiving reports of a two-car crash, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich files complaint against Washington State over rejection of training proposal

Sat., Jan. 23, 2021

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has filed a complaint against a state commission for rejecting his proposal to run a new law enforcement training academy.

News >  WA Government

‘It will be different from this day forward’: Spokane residents react to inauguration of first female VP

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 20, 2021

Like millions of people around the world, Spokane City Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson woke up Wednesday morning and turned on her television to watch a moment more than two centuries in the making as Kamala Harris became the first female vice president of the United States.

News >  Pacific NW

Fewer than 300 households still without power after windstorm in the Inland Northwest

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

Fewer than 300 households remain without power in the Inland Northwest nearly a week after a windstorm toppled hundreds of trees and left one Spokane woman dead.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Court documents: Drug deal gone wrong led to New Year’s Eve killing in Spokane Valley; second suspect arrested

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

A dispute over drugs was behind a fatal New Year’s Eve shooting outside a Spokane Valley nursing home, according to court records filed Tuesday in conjunction with a second suspect’s arrest.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Woman, 68, dies after being hit by car in Spokane Valley last week

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

After being hit by a car while crossing the street during a run last week, a Spokane Valley woman succumbed to her injuries in the hospital, the Washington State Patrol said late Monday night.

News

New state Rep. Rob Chase hires former Spokane County GOP chairwoman who resigned after defending white nationalist

Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

Newly elected state Rep. Rob Chase, R-Liberty Lake, has hired former Spokane County Republican Party Chair Cecily Wright as his legislative assistant. Wright resigned from her position at the Spokane County Republican Party in 2018 after a video surfaced of her defending a white nationalist.

News >  Pacific NW

More than 4,500 in Spokane still without power five days after windstorm

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 17, 2021

Avista finished its fifth day of round-the-clock power work on Sunday, with a little more than 4,500 customers still waiting for the lights to come back on. Other utilities reported several dozen customers still without power after Wednesday's windstorm. 

News >  Pacific NW

248 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Spokane on Sunday

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 17, 2021

Due to technical difficulties, the health district was unable to report new data on COVID-19 related deaths, and the Spokane County data section of their website was down as of 3 p.m. Sunday.

News >  Pacific NW

Trump is blocking aid to Malden, Pine City fire victims over beef with Inslee, McMorris Rodgers aide says

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 2, 2021

More than four months after a wildfire tore through Malden and Pine City, President Donald Trump is withholding federal aid to help residents rebuild their lives because of his personal animosity toward Gov. Jay Inslee, an aide to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Woman killed in windstorm was ‘tireless’ and ‘beloved’ Spokane pediatrician

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 14, 2021

Dr. Melanie Sanborn, the mother of a young daughter, was a “remarkable” woman dedicated to healing children, her friends said Thursday.

News >  Pacific NW

Miners all successfully evacuated after spending night in Galena mine near Wallace

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 14, 2021

A group of miners was stuck inside the Galena mine overnight after the mine near Wallace lost power Wednesday morning.

News >  Education

More than 60,000 without power, schools canceled the day after windstorm

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 14, 2021

The effects of Wednesday’s windstorm continued Thursday, with schools from Cheney to Coeur d’Alene canceled and thousands still without power.

News >  Spokane

Woman killed, 100K without power in aftermath of brutal windstorm

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 13, 2021

High winds toppled trees across the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene region Wednesday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of people as meteorologists reported the second-highest gusts recorded at Spokane International Airport.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Spokane County Prosecutor: Deputies justified in March 2020 shooting of domestic violence suspect

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 12, 2021

The four deputies who shot and injured a man accused of domestic violence in March were justified in using lethal force, according the Spokane County Prosecutor’s office, which announced its decision Tuesday.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Post Falls Police arrest Spokane man they say had child pornography

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 12, 2021

A 36-year-old Spokane man was arrested in Post Falls Monday on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor. During their investigation, Post Falls police officers say they discovered pornographic images of infants and toddlers on his electronic devices.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

New Kootenai County sheriff latest law enforcement leader to refuse to enforce mask mandate as cases and deaths mount

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 12, 2021

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris announced his department would not enforce the Panhandle Health District mask mandate despite significant community transmission of COVID-19 and a hospital that has been near or at capacity for months.

News >  Education

Gonzaga University professor finds friendship, fame and community on TikTok

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 17, 2021

As a teacher, principal and now Gonzaga University assistant professor, Dr. Catherine Zeisner has always stayed up to date on the latest games and social media platforms her students are using so she can better relate to them.