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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Jonathan Brunt

Jonathan Brunt

Current Position: Asst. Managing Editor (Govt)

Jonathan Brunt joined The Spokesman-Review in 2004. He is the government editor. He previously was a reporter who covered Spokane City Hall, Spokane County government and public safety.

Email
jonathanb@spokesman.com
Phone
(509) 459-5442

All Stories

News >  Spokane

For leaders, fire district idea gaining economic appeal

Spokane leaders have a new idea for solving their budget woes: Give up the Spokane Fire Department. Mayor Mary Verner has formed a committee to study the creation of a fire district to replace the fire department, which has served the city since 1884. The district would mirror the city’s borders and have its own taxing authority and governing board.
News

City asks residents to comply with snow parking rules

Spokane is asking residents to move their cars off of arterial streets to make way for plows. The city declared a Stage 2 snow emergency, which means that crews will begin plowing residential streets after arterials are cleared. City spokeswoman Marlene Feist said the city has executed its contracts with private graders and are starting to join the clearing effort.
News >  Spokane

Convention center expansion hinges on tax vote

Five years after opening a new convention center, the Spokane Public Facilities District is readying plans to ask voters for a $65 million expansion. The proposal would add more than 90,000 square feet to the Spokane Convention Center, including meeting space that was cut from the 2006 expansion because of budget cuts.
News >  Spokane

Mayor promises to change business permitting process

Mayor Mary Verner is promising to change the city’s permitting process in a new initiative unveiled last week in her State of the City address last week. Business concerns over permitting were highlighted last year after the owners of a bed and breakfast in the West Central Neighborhood said they were forced to close because the city’s “change of use” process became a nightmare of miscommunication and bureaucracy. City officials said they were simply following fire code and other laws but acknowledged a need to streamline the process.
News >  Spokane

Old fire dispatch center not eligible for historic list

Spokane’s former fire dispatch center likely will meet the same fate as its next-door neighbor – the YMCA in Riverfront Park. The Spokane City-County Historic Landmarks Commission decided Wednesday that the building is not eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, clearing the way for the city to demolish it.
News >  Spokane

Council approves tab tax

The Spokane City Council on Monday approved one new tax and delayed a decision on another. The council voted 4-3 for a $20-a-year tax on vehicles registered in Spokane, capping months of debate and reversing its 4-3 vote opposing the tax last month.
News >  Spokane

Verner urges council to reject library-only tax

A proposal to ask voters for a library tax appears unlikely to make the ballot after Mayor Mary Verner and her staff urged council members last week to consider a broader property tax that could also boost the police and fire budgets. “We don’t want to be faced with potential closures of branches again next year,” Verner told the City Council. “But we also don’t want to be faced with additional layoffs.”
News >  Spokane

Spokane officials looking ahead to bond for next round of street fixing

With only three summers worth of projects left on the city’s 10-year street bond project, Spokane officials are starting to draw up plans for another round of road reconstruction for the next potential street property tax. The 2004 street bond will have paid for $110 million worth of projects when work is completed. It’s been deemed by most political leaders as one of the city’s greatest successes of the past decade. Administrators say they expect work to be completed on time and on or under budget.
News >  Spokane

March organizer urges dialogue

An organizer of Spokane’s annual march commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. criticized community leaders Tuesday for not opening an honest dialogue about race issues after last month’s march was targeted with a bomb. “What do we say to our kids?” said Ivan Bush, a longtime civil rights leader in Spokane. “What do we say to them about that day when a community stood up with a hump in the back and didn’t make a real statement? What do we say to them? How do we go back and face them and talk about the greatness of a community? We can’t in a legitimate way. We did not when the time was there. I’m hurt. I’m pained, and I’m full of rage.”
News >  Spokane

Bemiss neighborhood losing a landmark

Until recently, the Olive It Cafe was a source of pride for many in the Bemiss neighborhood.  The restaurant and coffee house – located in a remodeled historic grocery where the founder of Yoke’s got his start – was affordable but had an upscale feel that gave the neighborhood a needed boost, many nearby residents say. It also supported local artists and musicians.
News >  Spokane

A boost for books

Hoping to head off a new round of library closure talks or further cuts to branch hours, the Spokane Public Library is asking city leaders to sponsor a property tax boost on the April 26 ballot. The Spokane City Council will decide Feb. 14 if it will ask voters for an extra 15 cents for each $1,000 of taxable property value. If successful, the tax would generate an extra $2.3 million a year.
News >  Spokane

Travel way narrowed on park span

Riverfront Park officials have blocked the sidewalks along the powder blue bridge overlooking Spokane Falls after engineers determined the edges of the span no longer can be assured of holding pedestrians. However, bridge engineers have determined that the main portion of the bridge – which used to handle vehicle traffic of Howard Street – remains strong enough to hold pedestrians and light vehicles.
News >  Spokane

Property tax hike proposed to fund city libraries

Hoping to head off a new round of library closure talks or further cuts to branch hours, the Spokane Public Library is asking city leaders to sponsor a property tax boost on the April 26 ballot. The Spokane City Council will decide Feb. 14 if it will ask voters for an extra 15 cents for each $1,000 of taxable property value.
News >  Spokane

Demolition of old YMCA set to begin this month

The former downtown YMCA will begin to fall this month after more than five years of debate on the building’s fate. The Spokane Park Board this week approved a $574,700 contract with Rob’s Demolition of Spokane to start dismantling the old Y.
News >  Spokane

Spokane council curbs plan to raise parking fines

A proposed 67 percent boost in parking fines downtown was spiked Monday night by the Spokane City Council. Parking tickets, however, likely will return to the council later this year along with other parking fees and policies as leaders examine results of a new parking study.