Jim Camden

The foundation that sold nearly $31.5 million in bonds to buy the River Park Square garage will appeal a recent Internal Revenue Service ruling that the bonds aren't tax exempt. Meanwhile, former City Councilman Steve Eugster said last week's IRS ruling means the city should not loan money from its parking meter fund to cover some of the garage's debts. Eugster, a longtime critic of the city's involvement in the project, also asked city and state agencies for a special inquiry into "possible criminal activity by city officials and others who participated in the city's involvement" in the project.

The Spokane City Council will talk about making a loan to cover River Park Square garage expenses this week, but the amount and the terms of the loan – points that have generated court battles over the last four years – are still uncertain. City Attorney Mike Connelly said last week that the council is expected to have a first hearing on a loan proposal today, with a final vote likely scheduled for the following Monday.

Bonds sold to purchase the River Park Square garage are not tax-exempt because the groups involved in the deal did not follow federal law, paid an unreasonably high amount for the facility and gave too much money to the mall's private developer, an Internal Revenue Service report says. A final Proposed Adverse Determination report, received this week by the city of Spokane from an IRS supervisor in Denver, is scathingly critical of the deal that involved the city, affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co. that renovated the downtown mall, and a foundation that sold bonds to buy the garage for $26.5 million. It says one part of the project "raises troubling aspects of potential fraud" and refers to some of the complicated financing as "smoke and mirrors."

Supporters of Constitution Party presidential nominee Michael Peroutka acknowledge it will take a miracle for him to win the White House. But for a party that believes in recognizing God as the source of American government, that's not necessarily a criticism.

Another presidential candidate is coming to Spokane today but without the motorcade and Secret Service entourage. Constitution Party nominee Michael Peroutka will speak at 7 p.m. this evening at Shadle Park High School as part of a swing through Washington state.

President George W. Bush is expected to make a campaign stop in Spokane next Thursday, starting the summer campaign season with a bang for Washington state's U.S. Senate race. Bush is tentatively scheduled to speak at a $1,000-per-plate campaign dinner for U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, a Spokane Republican looking to challenge incumbent Sen. Patty Murray in the fall election.

The owners of River Park Square maneuvered to take control of the mall's parking garage and its revenue Monday, telling the city of Spokane it is replacing a city agency as the garage's landlord because of some $9 million in unpaid bills. City officials and the mall's developer, who have been locked in legal battles for more than four years, both said the move will not affect the general public that uses the garage.

Ronald Reagan touched lives in the Inland Northwest and shaped their political leadership as he was helping to reshape the world. On Saturday, some of those local residents and political leaders said they admired the former president for his commitment to conservative principles.

The city of Spokane appears to have lost its last chance to withhold a loan from its parking meter fund to pay some expenses for the River Park Square garage. The state Supreme Court refused this week to hear the city's appeal of lower courts' orders that the loan be made under a 1997 ordinance.

A company that investigated the Oklahoma City federal building bombing and the collapse of other large structures might be hired by the city of Spokane to examine last month's collapse of the roof of a wastewater treatment tank. Exponent, a "failure analysis expert" company based in California and Arizona, was awarded a no-bid contract worth at least $200,000 to analyze the failure of digester tank No. 3.

With U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, National Guard units being called up for war and the state's biggest employer struggling to secure a major new military contract, the two top candidates for Washington's Senate seat have plenty to discuss regarding defense. But that's not what Democratic incumbent Patty Murray and Republican challenger George Nethercutt have been arguing about in recent weeks as they question each other's stands on defense.

The developer of River Park Square does not have a right to records of political discussions between city officials and Metropolitan Mortgage in the ongoing dispute over the mall's garage, an appeals court ruled Thursday. The three-member appeals panel ruled that Superior Court Judge James Murphy correctly denied the mall developer's subpoena for records involving Met and four elected city officials. Granting the request would have violated the company's rights of free speech and political association.

The River Park Square garage bond trial is likely delayed until next year. U.S. District Judge Edward Shea told a gaggle of lawyers Thursday that he can give them five weeks for a trial starting in mid-August if all of them agree. Because some had already expressed concerns about that date as settlement discussions continue between the city of Spokane and other parties to the lawsuit, Shea said he'd put off the trial until Jan. 3 unless they were unanimous in wanting the earlier date.

A deal to buy or lease new Boeing air refueling tankers for the Air Force was put on hold Tuesday for at least six months as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered two more studies of the proposal. The reason: Problems with the aging KC-135s might not be as bad as advertised.

Ten days after a city employee died in an accident at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, Spokane Mayor Jim West said he would appoint a citizens panel to oversee its investigation of the tank collapse. "We've got to make sure that everybody has faith and confidence in the city's actions," West said Thursday.

Some residents of Washington would get a break on their income tax under a congressional plan that seems to be gathering steam after years on the back burner. Election-year politics may be providing some of the heat. U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt held a press conference by phone Tuesday to tout the plan, which he said was the result of behind-the-scenes lobbying of Republican leaders by himself and two GOP colleagues from Washington state.

In early 1996, the city of Spokane was thinking about buying a downtown parking garage and wanted to know how much money it would make over the next 20 years. The problem was: The garage didn't exist yet.