A controversial zone change to allow an assisted-living center in a single-family residential area will go before the Spokane Valley City Council Tuesday for action. The issue was delayed a week so Councilman Bill Gothmann, who has opposed the change, could participate in the decision.
Some Spokane Valley Fire Department administrators and workers are saving gasoline with a new work schedule. Fifteen of them began working nine hours a day on June 30 so they can have an extra day off every other week.
The Spokane Valley City Council agreed Tuesday to move ahead rapidly on a plan to allow firefighters to continue filling their boots for charity. First, though, the council took a backward glance at a bad week.
Newman Lake Fire and Rescue volunteers can work on water. A new jet-propulsion fireboat allows firefighters to zoom across the lake at 40 mph and attack fires with as much water as any of their pumper trucks can deliver.
A special election filing period will open July 16 for commissioners of the proposed Lake Spokane Park and Recreation District in southern Stevens County. Candidates for the district's five-member board of commissioners must file at the Stevens County Auditor's Office in Colville on July 16 through July 18.
Newman Lake Fire and Rescue commissioners will ask voters on Aug. 19 for a six-year reprieve from a levy lid that has slashed the district's tax rate. Commissioner Bob Neu said the organization, also known as Spokane County Fire District 13, has depleted its reserves but not its list of needs.
Healthy eating isn't easy when you're looking out for everyone else. Even during firefighters' annual Safety, Health and Survival Week, it's easy to view a balanced diet as something for other people.
Spokane Valley firefighters encountered heroism and humor in 247 calls during the seven days that ended Wednesday. Jon Higginson stood tall in the heroism column. The 29-year-old Marine reservist, recently returned from a second tour in Iraq, crawled through a smoke-filled apartment Tuesday night to rescue two toddlers.
Newman Lake Fire and Rescue is getting a leg up on Spokane County's plans for a new digital emergency communications network. The small volunteer force is getting five handheld and two vehicle-mounted radios that will allow it to tap into the new network Kootenai County is building.
Don't tinker with police service, a group of Spokane Valley residents told the City Council on Tuesday. A proposed study of the city's law enforcement contract with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office would be a waste of money in hard economic times, residents said.
The Spokane Valley Planning Commission may make its final recommendations tonight on the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization plan. If the commission completes its work in the 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague Ave., the plan will advance to the City Council for another public hearing and final action.
Spokane Valley has finally gotten enough summer to give firefighters some barbecue fires. There were a couple of them among the 216 calls to which the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded in the seven days that ended Wednesday.
Newman Lake Fire and Rescue is getting a leg up on Spokane County's plans for a new digital emergency communications network. The small volunteer force is getting five handheld and two vehicle-mounted radios that will allow it to tap into the new network Kootenai County is building.
A major Spokane Valley developer and businessman has backed away from a threat to lead a third drive to disincorporate the city. Rob Gragg, of Crown West Realty, said he was persuaded in meetings with Mayor Rich Munson and city Community Development Director Kathy McClung to work with them on his goal of making the city more "business friendly."
In 224 calls in the seven days that ended Wednesday, the Spokane Valley Fire Department did it all – from a mid-June furnace fire to a T-bone crash. Even a couple of arsons. To a certain 2-year-old boy, none of it was more important than the June 5 call that ended in the removal of a plastic kitchen utensil from his index finger.
Fire districts and departments throughout Spokane County want to find out whether there's strength in numbers when it comes to ambulance service. They're forming a consortium to negotiate an ambulance contract that would set prices and service levels everywhere in the county except in Deer Park and Fire Districts 2, 11 and 12 in the Rockford, Waverly and Fairfield areas, which are served by volunteer ambulance groups.
Spokane Valley's compliance with state public disclosure laws was among the best in secret test, a state performance audit manager told the City Council Tuesday. City officials not only got it right, but got it fast in a statewide audit of how government agencies respond to requests for public information.
Fire District 8 commissioners have decided to spend up to $290,000 to put a pitched roof on their flagship station in Valleyford, where the original flat roof collapsed Feb. 6 under a snow load. After a May 13 public hearing, commissioners authorized use of money from a bond measure voters approved in 2000. However, Fire Chief Bill Walkup said no final decision has been made to tap the bond fund.
Spokane Valley residents James and Mary Pollard are suing the city for allegedly ruining their driveway and stifling discussion of their complaint. The Pollards seek unspecified damages and an order prohibiting what they say is an unconstitutional policy of directing City Council members and city employees not to talk to them.
The Spokane Valley City Council learned this week it will have to bridge more than the Spokane River at Barker Road. The lowest of three bids to replace the Barker Road Bridge came in $1.05 million higher than city officials had estimated. However, allowing for various nonconstruction costs, the project shortfall was nearly $1.27 million.
The Spokane Valley Fire Department is investigating what might be called "The Case of the Missing Chimney." Among the 202 calls in the seven days that ended Wednesday, firefighters responded to an attic fire caused by a fireplace without a chimney.
Fire District 8 commissioners have decided to spend up to $290,000 to put a pitched roof on their flagship station in Valleyford, where the original flat roof collapsed Feb. 6 under a snow load. After a May 13 public hearing, commissioners authorized use of money from a bond measure voters approved in 2000. However, Fire Chief Bill Walkup said no final decision has been made to tap the bond fund.
Spokane Valley's Splash Down Family Water Park and nearby Interstate 90 will soon have something in common: a radar gun waiting to clock you. The difference is that a high score is good at Splash Down.
Avista Corp. followed its own advice about calling before digging, but still ruptured one of its own natural gas mains Tuesday, creating one of the Spokane Valley Fire Department's bigger challenges in the past two weeks. Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said firefighters were called to 11504 E. Frederick Ave. shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday when an Avista backhoe operator broke a small stub line protruding from an 8-inch, high-pressure gas main.
Spokane Valley's Splash Down Family Water Park and nearby Interstate 90 will soon have something in common: a radar gun waiting to clock you. The difference is that a high score is good at Splash Down.
