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News >  Washington Voices

Appleway Toyota may get relief

Appleway Toyota may get some relief from a planning proposal it says would prevent the dealership from facing Appleway Boulevard as well as Sprague Avenue. An informal Spokane Valley City Council consensus Tuesday calls for reducing the frontage width for buildings in the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan’s Gateway Commercial Avenue zone – better known as Auto Row.
News >  Washington Voices

Traveling in circles

Spokane Valley’s first roundabout opened recently to mixed reviews. As city officials predicted, motorists seem to be negotiating the circular intersection of Mansfield Avenue, Wilbur Road and Montgomery Drive with few difficulties.
News >  Voices

Harsh weather bursts pipes

Spokane Valley firefighters probably spent more time getting water out of buildings than putting it on them in the past week. A flood of broken fire-sprinkler pipes and domestic water lines contributed to what Fire Marshal Kevin Miller described as “about as big a week as I’ve ever seen.”
News >  Voices

Council faces cold reality

Spokane Valley officials were still stinging Tuesday from last week’s surprise announcement that Spokane County won’t plow city streets next winter. An indignant City Council braced for a future in which the county may quit providing other contractual services to the 5-year-old city.
News >  Voices

Fire District to limit tax levy

Spokane Valley Fire Department commissioners have curtailed their regular tax levy next year, but hope voters will renew a special levy. The special levy for maintenance and operation supplements the base levy, and has long been a major component of the autonomous district’s budget.
News >  Voices

Dog escapes injury in house fire

A Spokane Valley dog house was destroyed by fire Dec. 4, but the occupant escaped. “No injuries, and I don’t have an estimate of value,” Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said.
News >  Voices

Flag raised at new Station 9

Spokane Valley firefighters moved into a new Station 9 Thursday after a midday ceremony. The landscaping won’t be completed until spring, but there was a flagpole for Thursday’s flag raising. Firefighters had to use a ladder truck to hoist the flag when the station was dedicated on Sept. 11.
News >  Spokane

Child killer to be resentenced

OLYMPIA – The state Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the extra-long sentence of a Spokane child killer, sending Robert Doney Jr. back to court for resentencing. The 35-year sentence was 7 1/4 years longer than Doney’s standard maximum for first-degree murder.
News >  Voices

Mann, Towey confirmed

The Spokane Valley City Council confirmed Mayor Rich Munson’s appointment of two new planning commissioners Tuesday. The vote was unanimous for Joe Mann III, who is an associate broker for the Windermere Valley real estate firm as well as chairman of the Spokane County Board of Equalization.
News >  Voices

Millwood to take on shortcut

Millwood city officials plan a special meeting next month to consider complaints about commuters using two residential streets as a shortcut. “We have to do something,” Mayor Dan Mork said. “There’re just too many complaints and safety issues.”
News >  Voices

Man buried up to thighs in cave-in

Spokane Valley firefighters were called Tuesday to help a man who wound up planted in the ground “just like a tree.” Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said the 43-year-old man was buried up to his thighs while standing in an excavation that caved in on him.
News >  Voices

Walls come tumbling down

Demolition of the abandoned senior center in Valley Mission Park began Tuesday and was nearing completion later in the week. By Wednesday, Larson’s Demolition already was removing the foundation and basement walls. The basement was to be filled with dirt.
News >  Voices

Fourteen apply for commission

Fourteen Spokane Valley residents have applied for two vacancies on the city Planning Commission. Mayor Rich Munson said he plans to select replacements for Planning Commission members Fred Beaulac and Gail Kogle for City Council confirmation on Tuesday.
News >  Voices

Jolly old elf about town

A seasonal mystery is again unfolding across the region: Santa Claus seems to be everywhere at once. In Spokane Valley, he’s driven the White Elephant store’s iconic pachyderm off the roof.
News >  Voices

Revitalization area reduced

The Sprague-Appleway Revitalization got a little smaller Tuesday, and a little nearer completion. Spokane Valley City Council members devoted nearly three hours to its ongoing review of the plan, and found several more points of agreement.
News >  Voices

Spokane Valley Fire Department putting freeze on tax rate

The Spokane Valley Fire Department will forgo a voter-authorized tax increase next year because of the plunging economy. Chief Mike Thompson said fire commissioners decided Nov. 24, at his recommendation, to freeze the autonomous district’s basic property tax rate at this year’s $1.43 per $1,000 of assessed value.
News >  Voices

Tourism money on agenda

The Spokane Valley City Council is to act Dec. 9 on a committee proposal for spending $520,000 in motel tax receipts anticipated next year. The total is roughly the same as $519,300 awarded this year for tourism promotion.
News >  Voices

Dead end gets new life

Spokane Valley doesn’t need another road to nowhere, the City Council decided Tuesday. The council unanimously rejected a Public Works staff recommendation to retain an undeveloped, dead-end section of Fifth Avenue right of way.
News >  Voices

Ready for the real deal

Their jokes aren’t as good, but firefighters have power tools to make television handyman “Tim the Toolman” drool. Spokane Valley firefighters got out the big hardware for recent classes on how to remove people from mangled cars.
News >  Voices

Smoke sets off school alarm

A smoke detector inside the McDonald Elementary gymnasium detected a fire outside the building last Saturday. Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said firefighters who responded about 12:45 a.m. found someone had ignited a pile of pine needles and branches outside the school at 1512 S. McDonald Road.
News >  Voices

Area cities to pay for police dispatch

Police departments in Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Liberty Lake will begin paying next year for dispatching service that previously has been free. Undersheriff Jeff Tower said the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said the change, effective Jan. 1, eliminates an unfair subsidy by taxpayers in unincorporated parts of the county.
News >  Voices

Dirt track permit denied

A proposed Elk-area dirt racetrack complex has been denied a necessary conditional use permit. Spokane County Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey last week rejected a request by Dwaine and Cheryl Dodd, 40115 N. Jackson Road, to operate a “commercial recreation area” in a “rural traditional” zone.
News >  Voices

Permit for dirt track denied

A proposed Elk-area dirt racetrack complex has been denied a necessary conditional use permit. Spokane County Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey last week rejected a request by Dwaine and Cheryl Dodd, 40115 N. Jackson Road, to operate a “commercial recreation area” in a “rural traditional” zone.
News >  Voices

Ready for the real deal

Their jokes aren’t as good, but firefighters have power tools to make television handyman “Tim the Toolman” drool. Spokane Valley firefighters got out the big hardware for recent classes on how to remove people from mangled cars.
News >  Voices

Small cities to pay for police dispatch services

Police departments in Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Liberty Lake will begin paying next year for dispatching service that previously has been free. Undersheriff Jeff Tower said the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said the change, effective Jan. 1, eliminates an unfair subsidy by taxpayers in unincorporated parts of the county.