Jonathan Brunt

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner accentuated the positive Monday in her annual state of the city speech to City Council. But the mayor choked up briefly when her speech hit on the gloomy news that has dominated city hall in recent weeks – the 120 pink slips recently distributed to city employees.

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City leaders on Monday agreed to spend a federal grant on a firing range rather than divert it to prevent officer layoffs. Police officials have long argued that the city’s outdoor shooting range near Felts Field is in serious need of safety and other upgrades. Voters in March 2009 rejected a public safety property tax that would have included money for a new range. Assistant Chief Jim Nicks said that since that vote, the department has decided to make “piecemeal” improvements as money becomes available through grants and other sources.

Downtown construction headaches that have frustrated motorists and business owners could extend into next year. City Engineer Mike Taylor said the Second Avenue project has run into complications partly because old, mostly unused vaults – sidewalk entrances into the basements of buildings – are unstable and must be torn out.

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Marr campaign warned to display party affiliation

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Spokane’s red light cameras will stay in operation at least three more years. The Spokane City Council on Monday voted unanimously to extend the law that authorizes the city to catch red light runners with cameras through Nov. 13, 2013. Otherwise it would have expired at the end of next month.

Spokane Police Guild leaders this week sent a strong message to Mayor Mary Verner: We dare you. In a letter received by Verner on Thursday, Guild President Ernie Wuthrich warned that if any guild members are laid off, the union will challenge those job losses with the state Public Employment Relations Commission.

Spokane Police Guild leaders this week sent a strong message to Mayor Mary Verner: We dare you. In a letter received by Verner on Thursday, Guild President Ernie Wuthrich warned that if any guild members are laid off, the union will challenge those job losses with the state Public Employment Relations Commission.

Knezovich says he wouldn't sign platform

The American Civil Liberties Union says the Spokane city attorney’s office violated the constitutional rights of a local attorney. In a letter to city officials last week, Michael Kipling, an attorney representing the ACLU, said that Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi violated Breean Beggs’ rights by telling Beggs he was prohibited from talking to City Council members about proposed changes to the city’s police oversight law.

Spokane administrators next week will inform about 120 workers that they will lose their jobs by the end of the year. Some could be demoted but remain on the city payroll.

Creation of an annual vehicle tab tax of $20 appears to be gaining support on the Spokane City Council. A letter signed by six of the seven Spokane City Council members said the city “wishes to consider” creation of the tax this year because of “plummeting tax revenues” and the city’s “commitment to provide adequate level of maintenance.”

Much of the county Republican Party’s platform reflects longtime GOP values: Limited government. Gun rights. Lower taxes. An end to abortion. But some of the platform’s 120 policy statements make more-surprising calls, for, among other things: An end to no-fault divorce. A return to the gold standard. Tax incentives for the shoe and textile industry. U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

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Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy Plant violated air pollution law during annual air testing in June. April Westby, an environmental engineer for the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, said the agency’s director, Bill Dameworth, will issue the city a notice of violation as a result of tests that showed that one of the plant’s two boilers exceeded standards for mercury.

Marr campaign exaggerates Baumgartner's absence from forum