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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

Bill would delay phosphate ban in two counties

With just four months until strict limits on phosphates in dishwasher detergents take effect in three Washington counties, legislation is on the move in Olympia that some fear could delay the groundbreaking environmental agreement. A bill that would make Spokane County the only one required to meet the near-ban on phosphates this year has passed the state House of Representatives. It seeks to remove Clark and Whatcom counties from an early start to limits that will apply statewide in 2010.
News >  Spokane

Jail sales tax hits the ballots

When Spokane County voters passed a sales tax increase for jails in 1995, officials were shocked. "It's a huge surprise," the juvenile jail's manager at the time said. The tax, which pays for dozens of jobs at the county jail, Geiger Corrections Center and the juvenile detention center, was approved after voters repeatedly rejected property tax increases for jails. But the county had only preliminary or vague plans for how the money would be used, and three years later most of the new revenue was still unspent, creating a surplus. Some questioned why county commissioners were sitting on it.
News >  Spokane

Verner fires director of solid waste disposal

Spokane's solid waste director was fired this month after barely a year on the job. Mollie Mangerich was named the director by former Mayor Dennis Hession. But her appointment in December 2006 was controversial, and the City Council vote ratifying Hession's choice was 4-3.
News >  Spokane

Spokane council approves photo-red

Running a red light soon could cost drivers $124, even if a police officer doesn't witness the violation. The Spokane City Council on Monday approved a contract with American Traffic Solutions of Arizona to install cameras to catch drivers who run red lights and approved spending $67,000 to hire a police officer to run the program.
News >  Spokane

Council to vote on red-light cameras

In the name of traffic safety, Spokane is about to join the growing number of U.S. cities enjoying cash windfalls from catching red-light runners with sophisticated intersection cameras. Council members will decide Monday whether to approve a contract worth more than $300,000 a year with an Arizona company that would operate the program. If the council votes to proceed, Spokane will join a growing debate over use of "photo-red" cameras.
News >  Spokane

Eugster advocates lower taxes

Former City Councilman Steve Eugster wants to force Spokane to lower its utility taxes, which are among the highest in the state. The Spokane City Council will consider his petition to ask voters to cap garbage, sewer and water taxes at whichever is higher: 6 percent or the average charged by the state's other first-class cities – about 11 percent.
News >  Spokane

Poll: Residents want more parks

A week after Spokane voters approved a $43 million park bond last fall, residents said they'd be willing to pay even more for better parks and to buy the downtown YMCA. A majority of respondents to a parks department phone poll said they would pay higher property taxes for six of eight items mentioned in the survey, including more hiking and biking trails, the purchase of more parkland and even automatic sprinklers.
News >  Spokane

Obama’s wife touts senator’s experience in full Fox theater

Barack Obama's campaign focus has been all about change. But standing in front of a giant sign dominated by the word "change," much of his wife's speech Friday at Spokane's Fox theater highlighted a topic usually stressed by Hillary Clinton's camp: experience. Michelle Obama pointed to her husband's years as a community activist in Chicago and his eight years in the Illinois Legislature before winning a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004.
News >  Spokane

Verner gives first State of the City address

Mayor Mary Verner told Spokane's business leaders Friday that the city must strive to attract environmentally friendly industry and commerce. Doing so not only will help the environment, but the economic future of Spokane, Verner said in her first State of the City address.
News >  Spokane

City won’t represent officer in shooting

The city of Spokane will not represent the police officer who was off duty and legally drunk when he chased a man and shot him in the head last year. The Spokane City Council voted unanimously Monday not to represent Officer Jay Olsen, who has pleaded innocent to the charge of first-degree assault in the shooting of Shonto K. Pete.
News >  Spokane

It’s an emergency

The governors of Washington and Idaho declared emergencies in the Inland Northwest on Thursday as communities wrestled with abundant snow from three major storms in less than a week. Gov. Chris Gregoire said her declaration covering 15 Eastern Washington counties will help officials prepare if conditions worsen and cut red tape to help hire plowing contractors.
News >  Spokane

Spokane hires contractors, rents plows to clear roads

Spokane city officials are bringing on extra hands and more equipment to clear snow-clogged streets, but not in time to get students back in school this week. Spokane Public Schools are closed again today, the fourth day in a row, because buses serving more than 5,000 students cannot maneuver on the slick and mushy streets. Students already were scheduled to be off Friday.
News >  Spokane

County plowing money is spent for the year

A month into 2008, Spokane County's snow plowing budget is exhausted. County Engineer Bob Brueggeman told county commissioners Tuesday the county has spent about $2 million on snow removal since Jan. 1. The snow removal budget for the year is about $1.5 million, he said.
News >  Spokane

Crews plow through some 12-hour shifts

Plow drivers often are viewed more with contempt for pushing snow across driveways than as liberators opening the streets for passage. And drivers working in residential neighborhoods see plenty of evidence of disgust, said Don Goehri, a veteran snowplow driver who has been on the Spokane County road paving crew for 18 years.
News >  Spokane

Freeway tax likely to go for roads, too

If new taxes are created to help pay for a North Side freeway, they also should pay for street improvements, Spokane city leaders said last week. State officials are pushing Spokane to impose taxes or fees to pay for part of the North Spokane Corridor. In 2006, the price of the unfunded section of the freeway – from Francis Avenue to Interstate 90 – was estimated to cost more than $1.5 billion. How much of that the state wants to be paid for with new local taxes remains undetermined.
News >  Spokane

$20 car tab tax on the table

If Spokane residents want a completed freeway north from Interstate 90, they'll have to pay. That's the growing consensus from state leaders as city and county officials contemplate ways to fund the southern portion of the 10-mile North Spokane Corridor.
News >  Spokane

Trash management oversight restructured

In a move pushed by county commissioners, Mayor Mary Verner has given her support for changing the leadership structure for trash management. Verner announced this week that she will remove city trash collection oversight from the duties of Regional Solid Waste Director Mollie Mangerich and give it to a new director for the city's Solid Waste Management department.
News >  Spokane

Jail operations tax is on March ballot

Spokane County voters will decide in March if they want to reauthorize a sales tax that generates about $8 million a year for jail operations. County commissioners voted unanimously to add the measure to the March 11 ballot, which will be mailed to registered voters Feb. 21.
News >  Spokane

City to pay Medicare costs

The Spokane City Council on Monday agreed to spend an estimated $5 million over the next 50 years to reimburse police retirees for Medicare payments. The unanimous decision reverses the council's 2006 vote declining to make the payments for officers hired from March 1970 through September 1977. Medicare Part B covers doctor visits and other care for enrollees 65 or older for $96.40 a month.
News >  Spokane

County plans multiple votes to spread out tax requests

Fearing that Spokane County residents are feeling taxed out, county commissioners painstakingly have selected dates for tax votes that they believe favor approval. But those elections will come at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to those same tax-weary residents.
News >  Spokane

Medical examiner title now Howard’s

Spokane County has a new medical examiner. But it still has its old medical examiner, too. This week, Spokane County commissioners unanimously appointed Dr. John D. Howard as the county's medical examiner.
News >  Spokane

Cowles Co. opposed RPS papers’ release

The company that owns The Spokesman-Review fought last year against the release of hundreds of pages of documents generated in the lead-up to the River Park Square lawsuit settlement. The confidential documents were released by city officials last week after a federal judge ordered them made public.