Jonathan Brunt

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Spokane officials put the county court system on notice Thursday, saying they want city residents charged with misdemeanor crimes to be heard by judges elected within city borders. The Spokane City Council unanimously voted to request the change, which effectively would split the Spokane County District Court into two sections.

The longtime leader of Spokane County's building and planning departments announced Wednesday that he will retire in April. For the past year Jim Manson has been at the center of controversy stemming from allegations that he improperly favored developers. In June, he was issued a "letter of correction" by county commissioners based on those concerns.

After losing a close vote to fund Crime Check, county leaders are considering whether they should try again. County and city leaders have said that reviving the 24-7 crime reporting system, which closed at the end of 2004 because of budget cuts, was a priority almost from the day it went offline.

Maneuvering by Spokane City Council members has again made the timing of the selection of a new council member unclear. In the contentious discussion about who is picked to fill Mayor Mary Verner's former seat, council members are debating whether the selection will be made this year – with Councilman Brad Stark as part of the process – or next year, after Councilman-elect Richard Rush takes over Stark's seat.

Each member of the Spokane City Council could get a part-time assistant under a $110,000 plan inserted this week into the city's proposed 2008 budget. The extra staffing comes just before a new city committee is supposed to begin considering whether council members should be full-time employees and get pay boosts from the current $18,000 salary.

A proposed rate reduction for trash, sewer and water services in Spokane was rejected Monday night by City Council members. Former Mayor Dennis Hession had introduced the 2 percent rate reduction in his proposed 2008 city spending plan, but it would have required City Council approval. That provision was rejected on a 5-1 vote.

The 26 applicants for the opening on Spokane City Council constitute a diverse group that includes a hydrogeologist, high school teacher, radio show co-host, professors, real estate agents – even a former city councilman. "It's an excellent turnout," said City Council President Joe Shogan. "A couple of them have caught my eye already."

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner released on Friday most of the names of people advising her on transition teams. She still won't reveal the names of about five people on those teams, however.

Mayor Mary Verner is looking for a new parks director. Mike Stone, who has led the city parks department since 2001, has been informed by Verner that she will hold a national search to look for a replacement.