Jonathan Brunt

Spokane taxpayers would pay Assistant Police Chief Scott Stephens $190,000 under a settlement announced Friday in which he would leave the department after he was singled out for demotion and then investigated for an alleged threat. Stephens, a former interim chief and 27-year veteran of the force, was placed on paid leave Dec. 20, the day after being advised that he would be demoted as part of a departmental reorganization. On Dec. 19 he allegedly told a friend in the department that “he did not think anyone would blame him if he took action” in response, according to a two-page investigative report about the incident prepared by a retired U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan, of Oregon.

The gate to Huntington Park is often closed, even when the park is open. It’s just one of the access problems to a park that’s mainly a series of steps offering dramatic views of lower Spokane Falls and the spillway of the Monroe Street Dam.

A Spokane police officer will resign and plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of lying during the investigation of the fatal 2006 police confrontation with Otto Zehm, authorities said Wednesday. Senior Officer Timothy Moses, 52, was quietly charged last week in Spokane Municipal Court with making a false statement to a public servant, a gross misdemeanor. He’s been ordered to appear in court for arraignment by May 3.

Another Spokane police officer is facing a criminal charge in connection with the fatal 2006 confrontation with Otto Zehm. Officer Timothy Moses, 52, was quietly charged last week in Spokane Municipal Court with making a false statement to a public servant, which is a gross misdemeanor. He’s been ordered to appear in court for arraignment by May 3.

More doubts are being raised about a Spokane City Council candidate’s eligibility to hold the seat he’s seeking even as he continues to run an active campaign and collect contributions, including from a former state Supreme Court justice. Mark Hamilton, a pastor and real estate agent, says he’s been living since May at a dilapidated Spokane house he bought that month and declared his official home to meet city residency requirements, even though he voted outside the city in November. Now, utility records and the recollections of a handyman who helped Hamilton fix up the home at 217 E. Pacific Ave. raise additional questions about whether the candidate who still owns a home south of Spokane was actually living inside the city.

The extension of the Centennial Trail through Kendall Yards matches the century-old goal of city leaders to showcase the Spokane River Gorge. But it also highlights the tight budget of Spokane’s park system.

Envision Spokane hopes the third time is a charm. The group was one of two that filed signatures this week with Spokane City Clerk Teri Pfister to place initiatives on the city’s November ballot. Both turned in significantly more signatures than needed to qualify – though they still need to be verified by the Spokane County Elections Office.

The most significant expansion of the Centennial Trail in two decades will stretch the prized bike path and walkway from Riverfront Park west along the Spokane River gorge near Kendall Yards. Most of the trail follows the course of the river until the route becomes a puzzle as it leaves Riverfront Park and joins city streets for 3.5 miles until restarting as a scenic asphalt ribbon near the T.J. Meenach Bridge.

The woman who has overseen Spokane’s public art program for the past 15 years is returning to her studio. Karen Mobley, who spent most of that time as head of the city’s arts department before it was dismantled last year and outsourced, decided to step down last Sunday as interim director of the nonprofit group that took over those responsibilities.

Mobley won't lead revamped arts agency

Councilman Mike Fagan’s description of Gov. Jay Inslee as a “lying whore” was provocative and controversial but apparently doesn’t violate the city’s ethics code. The Spokane Ethics Committee unanimously ruled Wednesday that the slur, which was included in a February letter signed by Fagan and two others, didn’t violate ethics rules because it’s unclear whether the comment harmed the city. Committee members also say Fagan’s free-speech rights likely trump the city ethics code.