Stories by Emry Dinman for the Spokesman-Review

News > Local Government

Spokane’s trees provide more than aesthetic benefits to residents

UPDATED: Fri., April 28, 2023

More than 150 years have passed since the first Arbor Day, and Spokane is celebrating 20 years as a Tree City USA, a designation from the Arbor Day Foundation given to cities that make certain commitments to maintain and support their urban canopies.

News > Local Government

What kind of trees should Spokane property owners plant?

UPDATED: Thu., April 27, 2023

The city of Spokane maintains an approved street tree list with dozens of options that consider all of these factors, as well as a species expected ability to survive in a changing climate. These range from the 15-foot-tall Fringe Tree, which gets its name from the silky, threadlike flowers, to the 120-foot-tall Tuliptree.

News > Crime/Public Safety

‘I am not obligated to do so’: Woodward refuses to investigate Spokane police chief’s communications

UPDATED: Mon., April 24, 2023

Calling herself a “law and order mayor,” Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward proclaimed Monday she would not authorize an investigation into Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl, in defiance of a City Council supermajority that insists she is required to do so by city law.

News > Pacific NW

Getting There: Spokane’s City Line will be free for more than eight weeks after July 15 launch

Mon., April 24, 2023

Free fare will continue from the City Line’s July 15 launch until Labor Day, Sept. 4, in order to attract riders who might not otherwise use transit, as well as to teach seasoned riders how to use the unique all-door boarding system.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Citing public drug usage, Spokane Transit Authority restricts access to plaza bathrooms

UPDATED: Fri., April 21, 2023

For more than a month now, access to the bathrooms at the Spokane Transit Authority plaza has been significantly limited during a controversial pilot program agency officials say is meant to combat drug use.

News > Agriculture

Spokane receives $6.7 million from Monsanto suit, looks to continue work cleaning river

UPDATED: Wed., April 19, 2023

The city of Spokane received $6.7 million this week as part of a settlement with the parent company of Monsanto for the decadeslong production of chemicals that have polluted the Spokane River.

News > Local Government

Spokane City Council considers independent investigation of police chief’s communications

UPDATED: Tue., April 18, 2023

The Spokane police chief’s communications with local business leaders, which some activists say amounted to a shadow effort to undermine police reforms and hurt political opponents, are likely to be the subject of an independent investigation launched by the City Council.

News > Crime/Public Safety

As City Council declines to take action, local business leader wants voters to criminalize public drug use

UPDATED: Thu., April 20, 2023

A downtown Spokane business leader will have to collect signatures in order to have a measure criminalizing public illegal drug use appear on the November ballot.

News > Education

Spokane schools’ use of restraints, isolation, violated civil rights of special needs students, DOJ says

Tue., April 18, 2023

Spokane Public Schools for years used physical restraints and isolation in a way that violated state law, district policy and the civil rights of its special needs students, according to a U.S. Department of Justice review published Monday.

News > Local Government

Getting There: Spokane Transit Authority finishing kicking the tires before City Line rollout

Mon., April 17, 2023

There’s a lot to work out, including teaching the new route and how to handle the unique prepaid boarding through all five doors. Drivers also have to practice lining the electric bus up to top-down rapid charging stations, while system administrators need to choreograph the complicated dance of getting buses quickly to their next destination with adequately full batteries.

News > Local Government

In 2018, voters approved a $77 million library bond. The work touched every corner of Spokane

UPDATED: Sun., April 16, 2023

On a drizzly Friday afternoon, Amber Nilles sits back in her chair as her two small children, Paige and Clay, run and climb over a midsized play area.

News > Local Government

Spokane City Council delays hearing mayor’s proposed public drug use measure

UPDATED: Thu., April 13, 2023

The Spokane City Council will delay a vote on one of Mayor Nadine Woodward’s biggest policy goals of the year: combating public drug use.

News > Local Government

Cathcart proposes limiting Spokane City Council’s ability to draw its own districts

UPDATED: Wed., April 12, 2023

Pointing to concerns that last year’s process was improperly influenced by politics, Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart is proposing an amendment to the city’s charter that would limit the power of the council to determine how district boundaries are drawn.

News > Health

Spokane City Council proposes replacing Cannon Street Shelter with respite facility for medically fragile homeless

UPDATED: Mon., April 10, 2023

Spokane’s Cannon Street homeless shelter will close at the end of May, giving the city an opportunity to perhaps help the roughly 60 people remaining at Camp Hope.

News > Spokane

Getting There: Disruptions expected this summer during Maple Street Bridge work

Mon., April 10, 2023

Replacement of the Maple Street Bridge’s concrete surface is expected to start Aug. 1 and last roughly two months, with a call for bids expected June 1. For most of the project, one lane will be open in either direction, though the bridge will have to close completely for a few weeks during work on the bridge’s southern end, said Public Works Director Marlene Feist.

News > Health

Spokane expects findings of fluoridation study in June

Sat., April 8, 2023

Supporters of fluoridation say the study will help inform voters, city residents and local leaders before they decide whether to commit to the costly infrastructure investment. Opponents worry completion of the study will be a formality.

News > Local Government

Judge rules Spokane City Council district map is legal, but questions whether some rules were followed

UPDATED: Fri., April 7, 2023

Spokane's City Council district map approved last year was not illegally gerrymandered and can stand in this year’s election, a judge ruled Friday.

News > Local Government

Messages made public as judge prepares to weigh new Spokane City Council maps amid gerrymandering accusations

UPDATED: Thu., April 6, 2023

Messages made public as part of a court case over Spokane’s new City Council district map shed light on how the councilman at the center of the controversy tried to shape public perception of the redrawn boundaries.

News > WA Government

Gov. Jay Inslee meets with Ukrainian refugees at Spokane’s Thrive Center

UPDATED: Fri., April 7, 2023

Gov. Jay Inslee briefly stopped by Spokane Wednesday to visit local Ukrainian refugees living in the Thrive Center and see firsthand a local program that launched with the help of state funds.

A&E > Movies

Campaign to ‘Save the Garland’ once again seeks to reimagine Spokane’s historic movie theater

UPDATED: Mon., April 3, 2023

Spokane’s historic Garland Theater could be dying a slow death, not for the first time in its nearly 78-year history.

News > Local Government

Report: Spokane’s greenhouse gas emissions changed little from 2017 to 2019

Mon., April 3, 2023

While this compares favorably to statewide emissions, which rose 7% during the same period, some climate experts worry it doesn’t show enough progress to meet ambitious reduction goals by the end of this decade.

News > Health

As opioid settlement money begins to trickle in, Spokane and the county consider best use

Sun., April 2, 2023

Spokane and Spokane County will received tens of millions of dollars over the next two decades as its part of settlements between the state of Washington and opioid distributors and the pharmacies that sold the addictive pills.

News > Local Government

Spokane’s golf season gets underway. After a pandemic bump, it’s likely to be busy

UPDATED: Thu., March 30, 2023

Though temperatures have refused to climb above 60 degrees this month, the 2023 golf season is underway.

Three candidates announce campaigns to represent northwest Spokane on City Council

UPDATED: Wed., March 29, 2023

At least three people are running this year to represent northwest Spokane on the City Council, and at least two of them may be familiar to local voters.

News > Local Government

Katey Treloar announces run to represent south Spokane on City Council

UPDATED: Wed., March 29, 2023

Educator Katey Treloar is the third candidate to announce she is running to represent the south district on the Spokane City Council.

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