Emry Dinman

All Stories

Spokane council, mayor’s office look for urgent fix to homeless laws they passed three months ago

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 7, 2025

Three months ago, the Spokane City Council approved a new law backed by Mayor Lisa Brown outlawing the homeless from camping anywhere within city limits, though with numerous exceptions and an emphasis on outreach that opponents believed was toothless and would be ineffective.

Policy disagreements and personal attacks: Northwest Spokane council race pits incumbent against perennial challenger

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 6, 2025

The race to represent Northwest Spokane on the City Council pits a progressive incumbent against a conservative challenger who served alongside each other in student government in high school, and it has seen some of the most personal attacks of the local election season.

Together Spokane: Will voters support $440 million schools and parks proposals? Here’s what’s at stake

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 7, 2025

Voters in Spokane this November will be faced with many decisions, but perhaps the biggest question will be whether they are willing to pay taxes to fund $440 million in sweeping projects at the city’s schools and parks.

News >  Local Government

Downtown property owners let street trees die, ignored warnings. Now the public is footing the bill.

Sat., Oct. 4, 2025

A city program meant to plant trees in Spokane’s poorest neighborhoods is being used to subsidize downtown property owners who frequently delayed or ignored calls to replace the trees.

Broad, bipartisan task force hopes compromise criminal justice tax could succeed where jail tax failed

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 1, 2025

Nearly two years after Spokane County voters rejected a $1.7 billion criminal justice tax measure, supporters and opponents of that 2023 proposal have come together to try to draft a compromise plan to address public safety, homelessness, addiction and mental health, likely with a 2026 tax proposal.

News >  Transportation

Getting there: A Spokane group argues STA should install bus benches, so volunteers made and installed them over the weekend

Mon., Sept. 29, 2025

Ahead of a campaign this week to highlight the challenges faced by those who walk, bike and bus, a Spokane group over the weekend quietly tried to make it a little bit easier to sit.

In the race to represent south Spokane, two council candidates ask voters what kind of Democrat they want to represent them

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 1, 2025

Of the three elections for the Spokane City Council this year, the race to represent the southern district is the only one where both candidates are from the same party and have the most significant policy overlap.

News >  Washington

Washington ballots mailed on Election Day or even days in advance could be thrown out due to postmark delays

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 27, 2025

Washington voters who mail their ballots on Election Day this November, or even days in advance, could have their ballots thrown out as a result of compounding cost-cutting measures by the United States Postal Service leading to postmarking delays, local and state election officials are warning.

Spokane chooses Jewels Helping Hands to oversee the core of its homeless shelter system

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 24, 2025

Jewels Helping Hands will operate Spokane’s homeless “navigation center” – the central facility that homeless people can start at before they are sent to a shelter or housing service.

News >  Transportation

A tale of two speed signs: Spokane expands flashing speed signs while seeking funding for another, less proven design

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 24, 2025

As the city of Spokane continues to grapple with traffic fatalities and unsafe speeds, it has rolled out a myriad of measures to try to slow down drivers, including reinstating traffic patrol officers and criminalizing right turns at red lights in certain high-traffic intersections.

Spokane officials warn fire response will be delayed, lives put at risk after ‘chaos’ of SREC divorce

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 23, 2025

Come April, fires burning in or near Spokane may burn a little longer because of a void in the computer system for the regional 911 dispatch service, slowing mutual aid between jurisdictions that blame each other for the flaw.

Je Suis Charlie Kirk: Slain commentator’s legacy lives on at Spokane council meeting

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 16, 2025

Christian conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed a week ago, but his legacy was on display Monday night at the Spokane City Council meeting, where several speakers identified themselves as the deceased commentator, espoused his worldview and attacked the Democratic Party and its ideals.

Empathy, professionalism, and ADHD: Spokane Municipal Court election gets personal

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 3, 2025

A challenger seeking to unseat a Spokane Municipal Court judge believes the incumbent lacks professionalism or professional empathy for the defendants and victims that pass through her court, accusations the incumbent argues are misguided or confusing.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown issues first veto, striking parts of city’s new labor law, but with sponsor’s support

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 12, 2025

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has issued her first veto since taking office in 2024 – and the primary sponsor of the ordinance she vetoed believes it was the right move.

Head of Spokane County Democrats walks away, claiming infighting and personal attacks

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 12, 2025

Spokane County Democratic Party Chair Naida Spencer announced her immediate resignation on Wednesday evening, capping off weeks of rising tensions, accusations of backbiting and an intergenerational rift.

Numerica purchases naming rights to Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in $10 million, 10-year deal

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 10, 2025

Numerica Credit Union will pay $10 million for the naming rights of the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena during the next 10 years, including $1 million to be donated to veterans support programs, active-duty military personnel and their families.

News >  Spokane

Bronze plaques stolen from two historic Spokane bridges, nearly sold on Facebook, recovered

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 11, 2025

Antique bronze plaques stolen from two Spokane bridges were recovered by Spokane police after they were spotted being sold on Facebook, according to local officials.

Spokane City Council again considers shifting meetings away from Mondays

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 9, 2025

The Spokane City Council is once again eyeing an end to 112 years of tradition, considering moving its weekly legislative meetings from Mondays to some other day of the week, and possibly holding them every other week.

‘It’s just bad luck’: Rising pharmaceutical costs, especially for ‘orphan drugs,’ driving 36% increase in Spokane’s health premiums

Fri., Sept. 5, 2025

Spokane city employees face a 36% increase in health insurance premiums in the coming years as City Hall grapples with soaring pharmaceutical costs, particularly for a category of prescriptions called “orphan drugs” that treat rare conditions with few or no other treatments.

Judicial race reflects city’s broader fight over homelessness, public safety, accountability

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 7, 2025

A typically sleepy Spokane Municipal Court judge election has become a heated microcosm for the debate that has consumed city politics for years now: What should be done about downtown homelessness, and does the system provide enough “accountability” for those who commit low-level crimes?

Spokane mandates extra hiring rules on contractors for big city projects

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 3, 2025

Contractors bidding to build Spokane’s roads, sewage facilities and other public infrastructure projects of at least $5 million will soon have to show that a quarter of the project’s labor will come from underrepresented or impoverished communities living in the city, as well as provide health care and other benefits.

Icing out ICE: Spokane outlaws warrantless immigration enforcement at events on public property

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 25, 2025

Immigration officers must have a warrant to enter a permitted event on most public property in Spokane if organizers request protection and go through the proper steps to receive it, the city council voted Monday.

Spokane Fire Chief Julie O’Berg to retire, mayor appoints assistant chief as replacement

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 25, 2025

Julie O’Berg, a veteran firefighter who came out of retirement to assume a leadership role in the Spokane Fire Department, announced Monday that she will retire as fire chief effective Oct. 7.

Lime scooters now quickly fished out of Spokane River, but other promised improvements remain on hold

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 25, 2025

A little over a year ago, micro-mobility giant Neutron Holdings won a renewed, two-year contract to operate Lime scooters in Spokane after promising several improvements would be made to keep the scooters out of the way of pedestrians, off downtown sidewalks and out of the Spokane River.

Effort underway for Spokane, local governments to support Trump’s crackdown on homeless

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 19, 2025

The Trump administration is overturning the federal government’s decadelong approach to addressing homelessness, and some local officials and activists are hoping it will provide the momentum needed to enact those same reforms in Spokane and across the county.