Jonathan Brunt

Donavin Stapert’s body was stuffed in a safe for a day before it was taken 60 miles from a small Whitman County town and buried on wooded state land in north Spokane County, officials say. A Medical Lake man accused of helping two others hide Stapert’s body and sealing the safe with caulk pleaded not guilty Friday to two charges in Whitman County Superior Court. James Larry Ramson, 30, was arrested last Saturday and faces charges related to the cover-up of Stapert’s death.

A body found buried in north Spokane County on Wednesday has been confirmed by the Medical Examiner’s Office as 17-year-old Donavin Stapert of Malden, Wash.

Investigators digging in the woods of north Spokane County have found a body, a Spokane County Sheriff's Office spokesman said. Though the body has not been positively identified, authorities have been searching for a missing teenager last seen at a home in the farming town of Malden.

Whitman County investigators are accusing three adults of providing a Spokane teen half their age with meth, then disposing of his body after he died. Donavin Stapert, 17, who lived most recently in the small farming community of Malden, Wash., was reported missing on March 8. The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office reported in a news release Monday that investigators believe he died March 7 at a home in Malden.

As the innards of Spokane’s Southside Landfill continue to break down, it is producing less methane. That’s a positive and expected development. It’s also a problem as city officials try to maintain a flame that destroys the methane as well as other, potentially more harmful substances released by the landfill.

During Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris’ 12 years in office, all three of his kids got county jobs – including one who worked in economic development despite filing for bankruptcy three times. That probably wouldn’t have happened at Spokane City Hall, where a voter-approved, century-old Civil Service system examines the abilities of applicants for nearly all city jobs.

The Spokane Public Library will get new leadership just as its funding stabilizes after years of uncertainty. Pat Partovi, who has led the library since 2003, will retire May 10.

A federal judge rejected demands that former Spokane police Officer Karl Thompson Jr. pay $825,000 in restitution to taxpayers and the family of Otto Zehm. Thompson is imprisoned in Safford, Ariz. A jury convicted him of using excessive force and lying to investigators about the death of Zehm, an unarmed janitor.

The decision to place Spokane police Assistant Chief Scott Stephens on paid administrative leave more than two months ago was based on erroneous assertions that he’d become so upset over his demotion that he was threatening workplace violence, an attorney said Tuesday. Stephens’ attorney, Bob Dunn, of Spokane, said the assertions are false but that Chief Frank Straub and Mayor David Condon are using the allegation to ruin the veteran officer’s reputation in an attempt to force him out of the department. The alleged threats were relayed to city officials by a member of the police department who claimed the assistant chief told her that he “was going home to get his weapon,” Dunn said.

The decision to place Assistant Spokane Police Chief Scott Stephens on paid administrative leave more than two months ago was based on erroneous assertions that he’d become so upset over his demotion he was threatening workplace violence, an attorney said today.

Ten weeks after placing assistant Spokane police Chief Scott Stephens on paid leave, city leaders say they will start an investigation into the “circumstances” that led to his removal from duty. Chief Frank Straub placed Stephens, a 27-year veteran of the force and former interim chief, on leave on Dec. 20. Officials have never publicly explained why.

The Spokane Fire Department has quietly made a dramatic shift in how it responds to medical emergencies. After years of insisting that it was best to respond to medical calls with fire engines and ladder trucks so firefighters are ready for the next call immediately after they finish work at a scene, this year the department began responding to some medical calls with ambulances or pickups.

A candidate for Spokane City Council who already has the backing of two other elected leaders may be ineligible to run. Mark Hamilton, the pastor of the former Spokane Christian Fellowship and a real estate broker for Soleil Real Estate, was registered to vote at an address outside city limits when he cast a ballot in November’s general election, which could complicate his efforts to assert he meets residency requirements.