Spokane County commissioners got a small measure of financial cheer this week. Chief Executive Officer Marshall Farnell reported that sales tax receipts are up slightly and that he may not need to borrow money to make payroll.
White knights are converging on distressed Spokane County parks. Parks Director Doug Chase said this week that three or four organizations and a like number of individuals have expressed interest in helping maintain parks this summer.
A light snowplowing season is helping local governments recover from the previous, financially punishing winter. “We really needed the break,” said Neil Kersten, Spokane Valley’s public works director. “We’ve done a lot of de-icing, but it’s still been pretty mild.”
Spokane County officials are looking for ways to improve security in their Human Resources building after an incident in which an angry man walked past the reception desk. County commissioners on Tuesday directed facilities manager Ron Oscarson to look for ways to make the building more secure without adding guards and metal detectors.
Liberty Lake residents will have to wait a little longer to find out whether parking will be permanently banned on many narrow lakeside roads. After a second public hearing Tuesday, Spokane County commissioners decided to deliberate the issue on March 24 and make a decision at their regular 2 p.m. meeting on April 6.
County Commissioner Mark Richard’s “state of the county” speech Friday wasn’t written in red ink, even though the county has plenty of it. He delivered his remarks to a breakfast meeting of some 300 Greater Spokane Incorporated members and guests at Spokane Valley’s CenterPlace Regional Event Center.
A two-year-old whistle-blower investigation in the Spokane County assessor’s office is getting new attention. Assessor Ralph Baker plans to say in a newspaper advertisement Friday that several recent KREM television reports about failure to appraise new construction from 2001 to 2004 “hurt our community by misrepresenting the true facts.”
Spokane County and Spokane Valley began climbing out Monday from the diplomatic hole elected officials dug for themselves. County commissioners and the new City Council charted a way forward on several controversial issues in a cordial three-hour joint meeting at City Hall.
A new plan for reducing algae-feeding pollution in the Spokane River is a mixed blessing for Spokane County’s $167 million sewage treatment project. The plan should enable the county to get a river discharge permit for its new 8 million-gallons-per-day treatment plant. A supplemental $42 million project to dispose of treated effluent in a wetland probably wouldn’t be needed.
Fairchild Air Force Base needs civilian protection to survive, local government officials were told this week. Spokane County officials asked leaders in Airway Heights, Spokane and Medical Lake to join them in implementing recommendations from a two-year land-use study.
Spokane County parks will be a little browner this summer because of budget cuts. Garbage cans may be fuller or gone, and restrooms may be locked. County officials hope, though, that a new three-tier maintenance policy will put the Park Department’s money where it does the most good.
Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Jerry Martin had his own cheering squad when he returned home Thursday from six months of guarding the Baghdad airport. “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry,” Debbie Nadeau chanted as she and four co-workers pumped one-letter signs that spelled “J-E-R-R-Y.”
Airway Heights will help develop Spokane County Raceway Park under a tentative agreement city and county officials hammered out Wednesday. The deal calls for Airway Heights to contribute half its new admission tax to a fund for projects that benefit the raceway. A city-county committee is to review and approve expenditures.
A pair of veteran speedway operators got the green flag Tuesday to take over operation of Spokane County Raceway Park. County commissioners unanimously accepted the recommendation of a selection committee to begin negotiations with Ronald Hodgson and Charles Allen for a 10-year contract.
Retired Spokane County auditor Bill Donahue, who died Monday night, was recalled by colleagues as a gentleman. “That sounds kind of old-fashioned today,” said Spokane County Clerk Tom Fallquist, a longtime friend.
Going to the fair would cost more this summer under a proposal Spokane County commissioners will consider at 2 p.m. today. The commissioners also plan to act on Assessor Ralph Baker’s request for $560,000 worth of aerial photography.
A Wandermere-area megachurch got permission Tuesday to supersize its sign. But the Turning Point Open Bible Church at 11911 N. Division St. can’t sell french fries like other owners of land zoned for mixed use.
Four operators want to take over Spokane County Raceway Park, and a committee has narrowed the field to two, county commissioners learned Tuesday. Purchasing Director Bela Kovacs identified the finalists as J-Mar Racing Inc. of Woodburn, Ore., and the St. Albert, Alberta, partnership of Donald G. Hodgson and Charles M. Allen.
Spokane County and Airway Heights officials will meet this month to discuss a regional sports park on the Spokane County Raceway Park grounds. It’s a goal the two governments have shared since then-Mayor Matthew Pederson encouraged county commissioners to buy the raceway in 2008.
Families of some 50 Afghanistan-bound Navy Seabees will be offered a variety of assistance at a daylong event Feb. 21 in Spokane. Speakers and service provider booths will have information about a host of issues spouses and children will face March 28 when Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 18 reservists begin a nine-month deployment.
