Emry Dinman

Two months after the state Supreme Court overturned Spokane’s voter-approved anti-homeless camping law, the Spokane City Council is set to overhaul its suite of homelessness laws in a way supporters argue simplifies and streamlines the law, but that critics call either toothless or too sharp.

Street Music Week will be back for its 23rd year on Monday, filling streets with live music across Spokane and in Coeur d’Alene all week at the noon hour and celebrating everything busking while raising money for Second Harvest Food Bank.

Thousands will congregate in the Spokane Arena Saturday for the evangelical wealth building conference Life Surge, an all-day star-studded event that many describe as spiritually and fiscally fulfilling – but that also faces mounting accusations of leveraging faith and a megachurch atmosphere to lull attendees to buy $38,000 classes while even encouraging them to go into debt to do so.

A candidate has been recommended to be hired as Spokane Transit Authority’s new CEO, but the four-person committee that made the recommendation won’t officially tell anyone – even other board members – who it is for the next few weeks.

Spokane may soon outlaw kiosks that allow people to purchase cryptocurrencies without going to well-known digital marketplaces – and according to law enforcement, have become a tool for scammers.

Spokane has agreed to pay $400,000 to settle a lawsuit from a second woman who was raped by a Spokane Police Department officer in her own home while he was responding to a domestic violence call.

It’s not clear how many refugees in the Spokane area will now lose their legal status to be in the U.S. following a decision Friday by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow President Donald Trump to end parole for roughly 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.

Six months after Mayor Lisa Brown announced she would revive the city’s arts office, folding in much of the Spokane Arts nonprofit that spun off when that city office was closed by former Mayor David Condon, the Spokane Arts Commission has recommended against moving forward.

Spokane mailed a whopper of a utility bill this month: $57.4 million.

Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart will run for Spokane County Auditor in 2026, cutting his current term short if he were to win, he announced Wednesday evening.

Four months into a presidential administration that has sharply pivoted into a more aggressive stance with foreign nations, slashed foreign aid and proposed deep cuts to the State Department, Rep. Michael Baumgartner met in Spokane Wednesday with former ambassador Ryan Crocker and retired Vice Admiral Mike LeFever to argue America should not retreat from the world stage – though largely without any pointed criticism of the White House.

State Rep. Mike Volz, R-Spokane, has spent the last three months performing the roles of both legislator and Spokane County treasurer, but he announced Tuesday that he intends to make good on a pledge not to run for re-election to the Legislature so he can focus full time on the treasurer’s office.

Spokane residents and visitors from elsewhere in the county report feeling safer downtown today than they did six months ago, though widespread concerns remain, according to a recent survey.

One of two 1,000-home developments in the infrastructure-strained Latah Valley has cleared one regulatory hurdle, but it certainly won’t be the last.

The Spokane City Council is seeking applicants for a roughly four-month stint on the council to fill a seat being vacated by Councilwoman Lili Navarrete.

America’s globally dominant position in scientific research could be jeopardized by the White House’s drastic proposed cuts to the National Science Foundation’s funding and staff, Sen. Maria Cantwell warned Monday at a round table with sector experts and engineers, including a WSU researcher focused on the integration of artificial intelligence in agriculture.

A Spokane woman will receive up to $180,000 to settle a claim for damages three months after a city fire truck slid down an icy hill and struck her home.

Spokane City Councilwoman Lili Navarrete will resign effective June 30, she announced Monday.

Neighborhoods in Spokane will soon be able to more easily and cheaply close down their block for a party or community event between June and Halloween.

One-time opponents are coming together to try to draft a unity plan for a major investment in Spokane County’s criminal justice and behavioral health systems after a similar attempt flamed out in 2023.

A once-contentious bill to claw back Spokane’s share of taxes funding the regional 911 dispatch service was signed by Governor Bob Ferguson Thursday – and after some modifications, all sides appear pleased by the outcome.

Spokane City Councilwoman Lili Navarrete has introduced a law to prevent federal agents without arrest warrants within areas of city parks where groups are holding ticketed community events or other areas normally limited to park staff.

Spokane City Councilwoman Lili Navarrete, believed to be the first Hispanic or immigrant member of the Spokane City Council, will step down in the coming months, she said Thursday.

There’s been talk since 2018 of a downtown zip line that could take tourists and locals alike zooming along the Spokane River. After so long, it may have started to seem to some like a pipe dream.