Jared Brown

As thunderstorms rolled up from the Palouse and through Spokane on Tuesday night, lightning contributed to more than 20 fires in Spokane County alone, Spokane Fire Department Chief Brian Schaeffer said.

Power outages on the South Hill left more than 5,300 homes without electricity Tuesday evening.

Spokane police asked the public for help Tuesday afternoon locating a missing 13-year-old boy.

Bryce J. Thompson, 19, confessed to a Spokane police detective that he planned the killing of Alyssa Dodd on July 17 but didn’t go through with a plan to kill her sister after forcing her to transfer $20,000 to his bank account, according to court documents.

Starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, a fire weather watch is in effect until 5 a.m. Wednesday. Cities and unincorporated areas in Spokane County will have outdoor burning restrictions in place starting Wednesday as fire danger increases.

The Globe Bar & Kitchen posted a news release to its Facebook page to announce it is creating new policies to guard against drink tampering after claims on social media. Police have no evidence of an increase in incidents.

Three candidates filed for the Nine Mile Falls School Board position No. 2 vacated by Debbie Williams, who is moving out of the district. Incumbents Mac Mikkelsen and Bill McBride are running unopposed for director positions No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.

More than 700 Vietnam-era veterans are in Spokane this week for the Vietnam Veterans of America’s 19th biennial convention, but only a couple hundred made it up the hill for the wreath laying ceremony at the Riverfront Park memorial on Tuesday.

The Spokane Parks Foundation will recognize Riverfront Park campaign benefactors by awarding naming rights and putting plaques with donor names on some of its new features. The foundation launched the capital campaign with a goal of $3 million in 2018 to supplement the $64 million redevelopment bond approved by voters in 2014.

The new Spokatopia SUP Cup at Boulder Beach this weekend was the first paddleboard race on the Spokane River.

Spokane area’s smaller school districts seem to be weathering the budgeting storm created by the “McCleary fix” and the School Employees Benefits Board insurance program.

Gonzaga Prep cross country and track coach Joe Feryn died July 5, after battling blood and bone-marrow cancer since 2016.

Although the clothing may feel freeing, serving up coffee in a bikini – or less – at a business isn’t free expression protected by the First Amendment, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week. The ruling relates to the “Dress Code Ordinance” created by the city of Everett requiring employees to wear at least a tank top and shorts at “quick service facilities” because of a “proliferation of crimes of a sexual nature” occurring at local bikini barista stands. The owner of a local bikini barista chain and seven employees responded with a lawsuit in 2017.

“The neighbors are upset, whether they’re golfers or not,” said one neighbor of the old golf course. “To have that green space on your back fence is special.”

Coeur d’Alene police officers chasing a man they believed had fired a gun within a crowd watching the city’s annual fireworks display shot and injured the suspect late Thursday.

The Spokane Indians honored longtime Albertsons employee and Special Olympian Andrew Vathis, who died in January, by having 30 members of his Special Olympics team, the Wolfpack, and 80 other Special Olympians on the field while his brother Michael threw out the first pitch.

Fireworks are banned in most of Spokane County, including Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Liberty Lake and all unincorporated areas.

It’s official: Hoopfest is here for its 30th year. And the excitement around the “greatest basketball weekend on Earth” hasn’t dwindled a bit.