Jonathan Brunt

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ignoring a plea from school officials, the Spokane City Council on Monday decided to ask voters in March for $18.5 million.

The Spokane City Council on Monday barely gathered the votes to override Mayor Mary Verner’s first veto.

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.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner has nixed part of the city’s extensive new shoreline law over an amendment that would make an exception for a section of land owned by the city’s former CEO. Next week, the Spokane City Council will decide if it will override Verner’s veto of development rules along Latah Creek. The council voted last month to enlarge the zone where no construction is allowed from 100 feet to 200 feet along most of the waterway. But along a 900-foot section owned by former Spokane CEO John Pilcher, council members changed the proposal to keep the 100-foot buffer.

It’s a question facing homeowners: Is it time to shovel the roof? For Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, the answer became clear when water found its way into her home.

It’s a question facing homeowners: Is it time to shovel the roof? For Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, the answer became clear when water found its way into her home. “My kitchen wall was just a sheet of water,” she said. “The roof isn’t collapsing, but it’s definitely leaking.”