Oxford House Inc. began in Silver Spring, Md., in 1975 when attorney Paul Molloy and 12 other men bought a halfway house that was about to be sold out from under them. They couldn’t afford a supervisor and found the responsibility of running the house was good for them.
Spokane Valley fire investigator Clifton Mehaffey solved a weeklong spate of grass fires Aug. 14 while driving home. Mehaffey saw another fire in the vicinity of 14812 E. Second Ave. about 6 p.m. Bystanders pointed out the home of two boys, ages 7 and 10, they had seen playing with matches.
A new Rite Aid store planned at Sprague and Pines may be halted by the proposed zoning code city officials hope will revitalize the Sprague-Appleway corridor. The Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan calls for buildings to be built close to the street with parking in back, a lot like the buildings to be demolished.
The planned demolition of some of Spokane Valley’s oldest buildings for a new Rite Aid store at Sprague Avenue and Pines Road is an unavoidable tragedy for Jayne Singleton. She’s the director of the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum, located in the same block as the buildings to be razed.
Tuesday’s final public hearing on the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan wasn’t the “sweat box” some critics had hoped to create for the Spokane Valley City Council. Only about 85 people turned out, compared with nearly 110 at a July 29 hearing.
Mitch Jay Short, husband of 7th Legislative District candidate Shelly Short, has been charged with aggravated first-degree theft. Mitch Short, 46, faces arraignment Aug. 26 in Stevens County Superior Court on allegations that he stole $3,318 from a volunteer fair organization.
Putting eight recovering alcoholics and drug addicts into a house without a supervisor doesn’t sound like a formula for success to residents of a small Spokane Valley enclave. In fact, that’s exactly what works, according to veterans of the Oxford House program that’s come to the 200 block of South Sargent Road.
Mark Henderson spoke for 45 property owners and business people affected by the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan: “How do we stop it.” The answer he and others got from two land-use professionals Wednesday night at Chester Elementary School wasn’t encouraging.
Oxford House Inc. began in Silver Spring, Md., in 1975 when attorney Paul Molloy and 12 other men bought a halfway house that was about to be sold out from under them. They couldn’t afford a supervisor and found the responsibility of running the house was good for them.
Among 237 calls in the seven days that ended Wednesday, Spokane Valley firefighters rescued a couple of people who got locked in their garage. Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said a woman and child were trapped Aug. 8 when they entered their garage through a kitchen door that accidentally locked behind them.
Spokane Valley residents will begin paying a 6 percent telephone utility tax in January to maintain their streets. The tax will raise $3 million to $4 million a year to help offset an estimated $8 million annual need for street maintenance.
Groups that fear a devil in details of Spokane Valley’s Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan have scheduled meetings this week. On Tuesday, used-car dealers will talk about the part of the plan that would freeze them out of the Sprague-Appleway corridor.
A judge has tossed out a lawsuit against a Liberty Lake couple who built a house that was too tall because of a mistake by Spokane County planners. For Paul Shields, and his wife, Heather Amity, beating back their neighbors in court was a hollow victory. Their lakefront “dream house” is awash in legal bills.
The husband of 7th Legislative District candidate Shelly Short may face criminal charges in the alleged theft of $3,318 from a volunteer fair organization. Colville Police Chief Damond Meshishnek said his department is nearing completion of an investigation into financial irregularities reported June 16 by the Northeast Washington Fair Association.
Once again on Tuesday, Spokane Valley residents told city officials there’s much about the proposed Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan they don’t like. More than 100 people attended the City Council’s first formal public hearing on the wide-ranging plan, a two-hour session at the CenterPlace Great Hall.
A recently divorced, childless family values advocate is one of four Republicans who want to replace retiring 4th District state Rep. Lynn Schindler. Matt T. Shea’s wife, Lisa, was granted a divorce in January after complaining that he treated her “as a possession,” and was physically and emotionally abusive.
Five candidates would like to replace retiring state Rep. Lynn Schindler in the legislative district that straddles Spokane Valley. The best known is Spokane Valley City Councilwoman and former mayor Diana Wilhite. The most financially well-heeled is Matt Shea, a novice attorney and recently divorced family-values advocate.
Falling sales and gambling tax revenue next year will largely offset a gain in property tax receipts, the Spokane Valley City Council was told Tuesday. Finance Director Ken Thompson predicted in the first of three public hearings on next year’s city budget that available property taxes will rise $631,060.
Anyone with an opinion about Spokane Valley’s proposed Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan is invited to share it Tuesday. The City Council will conduct a public hearing on the plan in the Great Room at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place.
Spokane Valley residents may soon be paying a 6 percent telephone utility tax to plow and patch their streets. The City Council Tuesday agreed unanimously to proceed with an ordinance that would establish the city’s first utility tax.
Spokane Valley firefighters dealt with a double-fatal home fire and a wildfire that destroyed 11 houses in the two weeks that ended Wednesday. There was no fire roundup in last Saturday’s Valley Voice because Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford, the Spokane Valley Fire Department spokesman, was working on the Valley View wildfire.
Twice-kicked Spokane Valley officials must decide whether to keep looking a gift horse in the mouth. A second court ruled Tuesday that Spokane County isn’t required to hand over land for Appleway Boulevard without strings, as the city demanded.
A Spokane Valley janitor says he doesn’t understand why he’s being sued for failure to pay state-required “prevailing wages.” State officials are suing Vyacheslav Annenkov along with the Spokane County Library District and the National Maintenance Contractors janitorial service.
A City Council boot scoot will allow Spokane Valley firefighters to dance with traffic again next month for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The city attorney’s office had determined that firefighters couldn’t legally enter traffic for their annual Fill the Boot charity drive, but the council hastily changed the law Tuesday.
A recreational fire was responsible for the blaze that destroyed 13 homes in the Ponderosa area of Spokane Valley, officials said Saturday. A fire in a backyard pit “got away” in high winds Thursday afternoon, according to Dale Warrnier, information officer for the state interagency team that relieved local firefighters.
