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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

Mayor resolute in face of economy

Spokane, like the nation, faces hard economic times ahead, but that won’t stop city leaders from making progress on key issues, Mayor Mary Verner said Friday in her state of the city address. “Tough times take bold action,” Verner said at the end of her 40-minute speech. “I’m ready to take bold, deliberate steps, and I ask you to take them with me.”
News >  Spokane

State’s input on RPS sought

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker has asked for advice from the state attorney general’s office on an investigation into the death of a woman whose car fell from the River Park Square parking garage in 2006. Tucker said this week that he and Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll reviewed boxes of information on the case gathered by federal investigators and that the two of them came to similar but slightly different conclusions. He declined to elaborate.
News >  Spokane

Prosecutor seeks advice on RPS crash

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker has asked for advice from the state Attorney General’s office on an investigation into the death of a woman whose car fell from the River Park Square parking garage in 2006.
News >  Spokane

‘Murder’ e-mail meant as a joke, suspect says

The man accused of threatening to kill Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan listed seven others he wanted “to murder” in an e-mail to a group of people, according to court records released Wednesday. David H. Elton, 43, was arrested Tuesday on two felony counts of harassment.
News >  Spokane

Police say man threatened to kill City Council president

Former Spokane Valley City Council candidate David Elton was booked into the Spokane County Jail on Tuesday on charges that he threatened to kill Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan and one other person, whom police declined to identify.
News >  Spokane

Training comes with big cost

Another mayor, another plan to spend money to save money. The Spokane City Council agreed this week with Mayor Mary Verner’s proposal to spend up to $90,000 to train 16 employees in Lean Six Sigma, a business productivity program hailed by supporters as a way to improve service and reduce costs.
News >  Spokane

Garage manager said he marked wall for replacing

Thirteen years before a woman died when her car hit a wall that gave way at the River Park Square garage, the garage’s manager may have marked the panel to be replaced, according to a 2006 sworn declaration the manager gave about the incident. In the statement, which was obtained by The Spokesman-Review, former garage manager Rex Franklin said that during a meeting he attended in 1993, mall owners “clearly rejected” a suggestion from a structural engineer to erect cables in front of the walls.
News >  Spokane

Menke named Spokane solid waste manager

Spokane leaders have picked the person they hope will salvage the regional system for disposing of trash throughout Spokane County. The City Council on Monday voted unanimously to name Russ Menke director of the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System.
News >  Spokane

State may look into RPS garage death

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker said this week that he may ask the state attorney general’s office to help decide if manslaughter charges should be brought in the case of a woman who died when her car fell from the River Park Square mall’s parking garage. Tucker said he has reviewed the four boxes of evidence that were turned over to him in September by federal prosecutors, who investigated the 2006 incident as well as accusations of fraud connected to the redevelopment of the mall in the late 1990s.
News >  Spokane

City revamps human rights policy

Individual complaints regarding human rights violations no longer will be considered by the city’s Human Rights Commission. The Spokane City Council voted unanimously on Monday to prohibit the commission from investigating reports of specific abuse, largely because the volunteer group lacks training. The new rules approved by the council require that complaints received by the commission that name an “individual or entity from a specific incident” be forwarded to the state’s Human Rights Commission.
News >  Spokane

City to lay off nine as new building slows

A sharp decline in construction activity in Spokane has caused the loss of nine city jobs. The cuts announced Monday are the first layoffs at City Hall as a result of the economic downtown. Mayor Mary Verner and the City Council have relied on new utility tax revenue to prevent cuts and job losses. But an increase in utility taxes doesn’t help pay for jobs such as building inspectors, which are funded by permit and inspection fees.
News >  Spokane

City seeks Riverside extension

Spokane officials have submitted an application for the $15 million extension of Riverside Avenue in time to win approval before new environmental regulations take effect that would prohibit the project. Last month, the Spokane City Council approved extensive changes to the city’s shoreline rules aimed at protecting wildlife habitat along the Spokane River and Latah Creek. Separately, the council signed off on a new route for Riverside Avenue that will extend the street east of downtown to connect to Trent Avenue.
News >  Spokane

Load codes get new look after roof collapses

As the Inland Northwest dug out from record snow, Steve Noll was more focused on what was on the ground, hampering travel and business, than what was above. That changed Jan. 2, when part of his warehouse on Pittsburg Street collapsed under the weight of snow.
News >  Spokane

Spokane to pursue annexation

Spokane leaders agreed Tuesday to push forward with what would be the largest expansion of city boundaries since 1907. The Spokane and Airway Heights city councils Tuesday approved an agreement that divides much of the West Plains between the two cities. Under the proposal, Spokane will start to pursue the annexation of 10 square miles, including the Spokane International Airport, starting in March. If that’s successful, Spokane will cede a square half mile, including the Wal-Mart on Hayford Road, to Airway Heights.
News >  Spokane

City seeks to add West Plains land

Spokane borders could soon be extended by 10 square miles in what would be the city’s largest annexation in more than a century. The Spokane and Airway Heights city councils on Tuesday will consider an agreement that would divide much of the West Plains between the two cities. If the concept works as planned, Spokane would end up with most of the land, including Spokane International Airport, but Airway Heights would win the tax-rich Wal-Mart site.
News >  Spokane

Storms put curbside recycling on hold

Most of a week’s worth of recyclables picked up along Spokane’s curbs after heavy December snowstorms won’t be turned into other products. After the record snowfall, officials suspended most curbside recycling services for a week or two. The plastics, paper, glass, metal and other materials collected from recycling bins were taken to the Waste-to-Energy Plant with other garbage to be burned, Solid Waste Director Scott Windsor said.
News >  Spokane

Recycling burned because of snowstorms

Most of a week’s worth of recyclables picked up along Spokane’s curbs after heavy December snowstorms won’t be turned into other products. After the record snowfall, officials suspended most curbside recycling services for a week or two. The plastics, paper, glass, metal and other materials collected from recycling bins were taken to the Waste-to-Energy Plant with other garbage to be burned.
News >  Spokane

Census Bureau to hire hundreds in E. Washington

Several hundred jobs soon will be available in Eastern Washington to help the federal government meet its constitutional responsibilities. The U.S. Census Bureau opened a Spokane office in November to prepare for the 2010 population count.
News >  Spokane

Council OKs tax measure for ballot

Ignoring a plea from school officials, the Spokane City Council on Monday decided to ask voters in March for $18.5 million. The bulk of the property tax would pay for a new property evidence building to replace a Spokane County-owned building near the Spokane County Courthouse that police leaders say is deteriorating.
News >  Spokane

Council weighing tax vote in March

Six months after rejecting Mayor Mary Verner’s plan to raise property taxes for a police evidence building, animal shelter and other requests, the Spokane City Council appears headed to endorse Verner’s same conclusion: More taxes are needed. The City Council on Monday will consider whether to place an $18.5 million tax measure on the March 10 ballot. The council’s plan is similar to one proposed by Verner in August. One major difference, however, is that it would be placed on the same ballot as two multimillion-dollar tax proposals for Spokane Public Schools.
News >  Spokane

Cold, wet, sloppy mess

After a month of record-breaking wintry weather, Wednesday’s big thaw busted up a few layers of snow and ice that have choked thoroughfares and threatened roofs with collapse. But the disruption brought by weather wasn’t over: Spokane Public Schools planned to close today for more snow and ice removal.