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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Jim Camden

Jim Camden

Current Position: correspondent

Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

Email
jimc@spokesman.com
Phone
(509) 879-7461

All Stories

News >  Spokane

Small-government backers rally

The people who gathered in the breezeway of the Spokane Center got a smorgasbord of national and local issues to cheer or jeer Thursday afternoon, and they clearly knew what they were in favor of, and what they were against. The Constitution, the Second Amendment, veterans, smaller and more accountable government and state Initiative 1033 all went in the “for” category. President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ACORN, health care reform, the Federal Reserve and Spokane City Proposition 4 definitely went in the “against.”
News >  Spokane

Urban designs honored

Sixteen buildings, projects and organizations received recognition in the second Mayor’s Urban Design Awards. The awards, presented every two years after consideration by the Spokane Design Review Committee, went to projects as diverse as the restored Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox and the city’s new pools, a skate park in Hillyard and the Riverpoint campus of Washington State University and Eastern Washington University near downtown.
News >  Spokane

Four will be returned to Mexico

Four Mexican nationals who were rescued by helicopter last week from a remote region near the border of Washington state and British Columbia entered the country illegally and will be sent back to their home country. Two men, a woman and a 5-year-old boy were rescued after calling 911 and reporting they were lost, Danielle Suarez of the U.S. Border Patrol said. They were found the next day, evacuated by a search and rescue helicopter, and hospitalized briefly in Tonasket for dehydration and exposure before being taken to Seattle in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
News >  Spokane

‘High-test’ beer targeted

The sale of “high-test” beer on a section of East Sprague is being restricted by the Spokane City Council in an effort to curb some of the consequences of alcohol abuse. The council voted unanimously Monday night to place voluntary restrictions on the sale of beer fortified with a higher alcohol content. Business owners in the recently created “International District” said the alcohol impact area would be one more tool in their efforts to clean up the area.
News >  Spokane

Street will be named for King

A new street that will go from Riverside Avenue in downtown Spokane through the Riverpoint campus will be named for Martin Luther King Jr. The Spokane City Council voted unanimously Monday night to rename a street generally referred to as the “Riverside Extension” in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
News >  Spokane

Airport may sue over work on runway

A dispute over specifications for a Spokane International Airport runway that was refurbished in 2004 could lead to a lawsuit with a local engineering firm. The problems don’t create a hazard that could lead to the shutdown of the runway, airport officials said. But the airport says the firm, Taylor Engineering Inc., failed to meet some FAA standards on the project, which cost $3.6 million. The firm disagrees.
News >  Spokane

Outburst a moneymaker for both sides

It didn’t take long for the left and the right to grab on to a two-word outburst during President Barack Obama’s speech Wednesday night and try spinning it to their respective benefits. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., called the White House Thursday morning to apologize for shouting “You lie” when Obama was talking about health care and illegal immigrants. But even as he was making an act of contrition to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, some right-wing blogs defended his outburst, saying dissent is as acceptable at a presidential address as standing and clapping, and is protected free speech.
News >  Spokane

Maggie Hurley joins ranks of centenarians

Margaret Hurley, who served more than 30 years in the Washington Legislature and was the grande dame of the Spokane delegation when she retired in 1984, turned 100 on Thursday. That may surprise some people for a couple of reasons. For one, she looks and acts like someone 20 years younger, friends say. For another, many folks didn’t know how old Hurley – whom almost everyone just called “Maggie” – really was while she was in public life. She didn’t list her age in official legislative biographies and resisted telling reporters who covered her.
News >  Spokane

County leaders considering higher taxes, fees

Spokane County drivers may be required to pay an extra $20 per year to register their vehicles and voters may be asked to approve an extra 3.75 cents per gallon in fuel taxes, starting in 2011.
News >  Spokane

Spokane could come out ahead

If the city of Spokane annexes a portion of the West Plains in 2012 as planned, the city could collect about $750,000 more a year in taxes and fees than it pays out for services, a consultant’s report suggests. Its largest expenses will include police and fire services, said consultant John Ostrowski, who estimated in May what that could cost. But city officials don’t agree with all his estimates and have refused to release some of his figures or his discussion about providing police protection to the area, contending he made some bad assumptions and some mistakes.
News >  Spokane

3 adults, child rescued in wilderness search

Four Mexican nationals, including one child, were rescued from a mountain near the Pasayten Wilderness in north-central Washington and hospitalized Monday after a search by local, state, U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officials. An investigation is trying to determine whether they are illegal immigrants. Rescue units searched for the four by air, all-terrain vehicle, horseback and on foot after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police received a 911 call Sunday evening from someone who spoke only Spanish.
News >  Spokane

A not-so-teary goodbye to politics’ summer flings

No matter what the weather people tell you, Monday is the end of summer. The kids are back in school and most adults have burned up their vacation. That should mean the start of serious political campaigning and the end of the summer crazies, which this year included an Idaho gubernatorial candidate talking about hunting tags for President Barack Obama, a referendum campaign trying to keep its donors names’ secret, Mayor Mary Verner getting a tattoo on television …
News >  Spokane

Disincorporation bid goes by the wayside

Groups seeking to have Spokane Valley voters get rid of the city they created earlier this decade ended their drive to put disincorporation on the ballot. Susan Scott, of Friends of Spokane Valley, said Friday that her organization and Citizens for Disincorporation are not giving up entirely. They will shift their focus to the City Council campaigns on the November ballot, Scott said. But she acknowledged that the petition drive is over.
News

Disincorporation drive ends

Groups seeking to ask voters to disband the city of Spokane Valley say they've run out of time to gather signatures.
News >  Spokane

Court upholds thousands of verdicts

The state Supreme Court may have saved the city of Spokane millions of dollars Thursday by ruling that district court judges had the authority to try city cases. But the court’s unanimous reinstatement of two drunken-driving convictions doesn’t mean the city will get rid of its new Municipal Court system.
News >  Spokane

Track pact in danger

Facing a possible $1 million lawsuit from local builders, Spokane County told the operator of its West Plains racetrack Wednesday he has 60 days to pay the builders or lose the contract he won just nine months ago. County commissioners approved a formal notice of default to Bucky Austin, of Austin Motorsports Management LLC, contending he is breaching four areas of his contract, including not paying for some renovations earlier this year at the Spokane County Raceway. Four contractors have filed liens against the county totaling more than $1 million, and two other contractors reportedly have not been paid.
News >  Spokane

Town hall talk often leaves constituents in the dark

Town hall meetings are under the microscope this August as some members of Congress find hostile constituents waiting on their return from Washington, D.C. Liberals and conservatives argue whether the town halls represent the general public mood or ginned-up outrage. In truth, they may be a little of both. Town halls are many things: participatory democracy, political theater and off-season campaigning.
News >  Spokane

Spokane County tax extension passes with ease

Spokane County residents overwhelmingly agreed to continue contributing an extra penny on each $10 purchase to help pay for law enforcement. A ballot measure to extend a sales tax collected since 2004 was approved by about 61 percent of the votes tallied Tuesday night. While thousands of ballots were likely still in the mail and won’t be counted before next week, the approval margin was so large that county officials could claim victory.
News >  Spokane

Voting deadline is today

Today is the last day for Washington voters to cast their ballots in local primary elections. Cities and towns as well as school, fire, water and sewer districts are whittling down any office on the November ballot with more than two candidates.
News >  Spokane

County’s top elections official discusses the vote-by-mail process

Voters around Washington have until Tuesday to get their ballots in the mail or into the drop box for a primary that whittles down choices for city and town councils, school and fire boards. All but one county in the state vote by mail, so the idea of going to the polls on “election day” has been replaced with a three-week period in which ballots are mailed out, received, marked, signed and returned. In Spokane County, voters also are being asked to extend a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax to help cover law enforcement costs. Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton, the county’s chief elections officer, talks about how the primary is shaping up. Q: What are you expecting for turnout?
News >  Spokane

Obama citizenship ‘settled’ for McMorris Rodgers

Bad news for “birthers,” those people who think Barack Obama isn’t legally president because he wasn’t born in the United States: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers isn’t on your side. Birthers may have briefly harbored hope – and people who think the whole idea is crazy may have arched an eyebrow – about two weeks ago when the Eastern Washington Republican gave a wishy-washy answer to a blogger from the Huffington Post while hurrying up the Capitol steps.
News >  Spokane

Testimony sought on zone change

Spokane County residents get a chance Tuesday to sound off on proposed changes to the zoning law that covers certain housing developments in rural areas. County commissioners will take public testimony on proposed changes on rural cluster development, a topic that pits residents who want to preserve the rural character of some areas such as Green Bluff and Peone Prairie against developers and their neighbors hoping to switch their land from agriculture to family homes.
News >  Spokane

County broke records law, court says

Spokane County didn’t look hard enough for documents sought by a citizens group when it alleged nepotism in county hiring, a state appeals court has said. Now the county faces thousands of dollars in fines for violating the state’s public records law. The state Court of Appeals recently overturned one of two rulings siding with the county in a 2005 public records dispute with the Neighborhood Alliance. The group sought records to bolster its contention that Steve Harris, the son of then-Commissioner Phil Harris, was illegally hired for a job in the Building and Planning Department.