Jonathan Brunt

Firefighters found a body in a burning mobile home Tuesday morning north of Spokane. Doug Bleeker, deputy chief of Spokane County Fire District 9, said the body was found in the living room.

A city parks instructor manual appears to ban city-sponsored kayak trips in the kind of weather that led to a chaotic and deadly excursion organized by Gonzaga University and sponsored by the Spokane parks department, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Christopher Gormley, 18, died from hypothermia after his kayak tipped in the frigid waters of Rock Lake during the trip on April 1. He was one of seven people on the trip organized by Gonzaga Outdoors, which contracted with the city parks department to provide the equipment and guide for the trip. Gormley, a freshman honors student, was majoring in political science and was a recent graduate of Henry M. Jackson High School in Everett.

Evidence is piling up at the new recycling center serving the Spokane region: More is being recycled. One of the biggest signs of the change is the increasing demand for smaller trash cans.

Library campaign promises to fix reporting violations

Amy Parrish knows a Lilac Queen when she sees one. Parrish, the 1985 Spokane Lilac Festival Queen, encouraged Central Valley High School senior Brett Rountree to try out for the Lilac princess court.

An inmate facing assault, eluding police and other charges escaped from the Geiger Corrections Center on Sunday, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported.

More than a month after the city’s new police chief placed the man he replaced on paid administrative leave, the public still has not been given an explanation for the decision. Scott Stephens, who was praised by city leaders for his management of the department while serving as interim chief, remains on paid administrative leave, city spokeswoman Marlene Feist said Friday. Police Chief Frank Straub placed Stephens on leave Dec. 20.

Seven people stood outside the Hillyard Library as they waited for its doors to open at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Several more were waiting in their cars. The wait to get into the Hillyard Library and Spokane’s two other neighborhood branches could be much shorter under a proposed tax voters will consider on the Feb. 12 ballot.

The new leader of the U.S. Senate’s budget committee said Tuesday that Republican threats to shut down the government are irresponsible. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Seattle-area Democrat, said there will be opportunities to negotiate budget cuts without crafting a deal around increasing the country’s borrowing limit.

For about four years, a pit surrounded by temporary chain-link fencing has greeted those entering downtown Spokane on one of the busiest exits from Interstate 90. Some city leaders say the site on the northwest corner of Third Avenue and Division Street has become an eyesore that hurts business owners and restaurateurs working to attract customers downtown.

Former Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard will lead downtown Spokane’s main business group. The Downtown Spokane Partnership announced Thursday that Richard started this week as the organization’s new president.