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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

Police say felon pointed pistol at officers

A man was arrested early Tuesday after aiming a semi-automatic pistol at officers who were following him on foot, Spokane Valley Police reported. The chase started after Ronald D. Baker, 31, was pulled over near Broadway Avenue and McDonald Road about 2:40 a.m. in connection with an attempted theft that occurred nearby, said police spokesman Dave Reagan.
News >  Spokane

Vets recall sands of Iwo Jima

They faced countless attacks from enemy fire as friends around them died. Sixty years ago today, Marines Mike Ladich and Don Newbold landed on the barren island of Iwo Jima, the first day of one of the deadliest World War II battles in the Pacific.
News >  Spokane

Murder charge filed in stabbing

A man was jailed Wednesday in connection with a December stabbing death in northwest Spokane that police had first described as an act of self-defense. Family members of Justin Snyder, 17, expressed relief that someone has been charged with his death.
News >  Spokane

Friends gather to honor teen

DEER PARK – Levi Morgan had a grin that brought joy to others, the kind of smile that people who gathered in his honor said they would never forget. About 400 people congregated Saturday night in light rain at Perrins Field to remember the Deer Park High School sophomore who talked about going to Harvard. Morgan died Friday in a one-car accident north of the town.
News >  Spokane

Faculty leaders want Churchill to speak

Two faculty leaders issued a statement this week proposing that a controversial professor whose appearance at Eastern Washington University was canceled still be allowed to address the campus. Citing security concerns, Eastern President Stephen Jordan last week canceled an April 5 speech by University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill.
News >  Spokane

Family reconnects with fellow survivors

They couldn't understand much of what they were hearing, but the three voices from half a world away were a relief for a family from Ione, Wash. Dianne and Les Allert and their daughter, Rachea Allert, were vacationing on Phuket Island in Thailand on Dec. 26 when the deadly Asian tsunami hit, killing as many people as there are in Spokane. On Wednesday, the family talked by phone to three Starbucks employees, including one whom they believe saved their lives.
News >  Spokane

‘A long time in coming’

For 50 years, parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima Church have held Mass in schools and gymnasiums, but never in their own permanent church. Until Friday, that is.
News >  Spokane

Warm streak may be nearing end

Punxsutawney Phil signaled on Wednesday that there will be six more weeks of winter, but it sure didn't feel that way in Spokane. Wednesday, with a high temperature of 52 degrees, was another in a seemingly endless span of mild days that may call into question the wisdom of the famous Pennsylvania groundhog.
News >  Spokane

TV fight draws crowd to casino

Friday's professional boxing event in Airway Heights was at a level not often seen in the Inland Northwest – one for national TV. A crowd of 1,200 packed the Northern Quest Casino's Pend Oreille Pavillion for six bouts, including the North American Boxing Federation "interim super welterweight championship." While many in the audience didn't know the boxers, most knew it was being televised live on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."
News >  Idaho

Subpar winter is golfer’s delight

Skiers might be crying, but the warm weather has golfers pinching themselves in disbelief. At least six golf courses across the region opened in recent days. Dave Lowe, owner of Highlands Golf Club, in Post Falls, said he's never had such an early season in his 26 years of experience.
News >  Spokane

Othello community leader killed

Adams County Sheriff's officials are searching for the drivers of two cars that struck an Othello community leader who died Tuesday morning. Former Othello City Councilman Lester L. Clemons, 89, was killed when he was hit about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday near his Othello residence, said Adams County Sheriff Doug Barger in a press release. He had just crossed the street to get his newspaper when he was struck by a car that didn't stop.
News >  Spokane

Abortion in the spotlight

The re-election of President Bush and a possible shift in the U.S. Supreme Court had different meanings for people who gathered at two events Sunday marking the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. At Fourth Memorial Church, 2000 N. Standard St., more than 300 people prayed for leaders to have the strength to reverse the ruling that legalized abortion, which was handed down on Jan. 22, 1973.
News >  Spokane

Moving into the mainstream

Amar Gamal used to tell people that she was a Middle Eastern dancer. But as public perception of her profession has changed, she no longer avoids the term "belly dancing."
News >  Spokane

Early melt bad news for skiers, rivers

Veteran skier Rob Crick believes this winter is shaping up as one of the worst for winter sports that he's experienced since he first went to Mount Spokane in 1958. But like many others concerned about the amount of snow in the mountains, he's not giving up.
News >  Spokane

Arrest in contract-killing case

A Spokane woman was arrested Saturday after finding out that the hit man she allegedly hired to murder her ex-boyfriend was an undercover police officer, Spokane Police said. Jackie R. Burton, 36, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of soliciting another to commit aggravated first-degree murder.
News >  Spokane

Flu shots open to all, but Spokane’s all out

A few weeks before the usual peak season for the flu in the Northwest, state officials have relaxed their previously tight recommendations for the distribution of this year's influenza vaccination. But the vaccine won't be available at the Spokane Regional Health District, at least for now. The district gave out the last of its flu shots on Friday, said Jennifer Ekstrom, a district communications specialist.
News >  Spokane

Man slain outside tavern

A young man was killed early New Year's Day after he was shot outside a north Spokane bar. The victim had just left Crazy 8's, 21 E. Lincoln Road, with others around 2 a.m. when someone pulled a handgun and shot him in the chest, said Spokane Police spokesman Dick Cottam. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
News >  Spokane

Fairfield arsonist faces new charges

An ex-firefighter serving a five-year sentence for starting a blaze that destroyed a grass seed warehouse in 2003 faces additional arson charges. Kenneth Southwell, 53, is accused of setting fire to a home at 208 N. Railroad in Fairfield five times in the two months leading up to the Labor Day fire that destroyed the Heart Seed Co.'s warehouse. He faces five counts of second-degree arson.
News >  Spokane

Volunteer firefighter charged with rape

A volunteer firefighter from northern Spokane County was jailed this week for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he treated during a medical call in September, according to court documents. John L. Fitch, 39, has been charged with two counts of third-degree child rape. He declined to be interviewed in the Spokane County Jail on Thursday. He was released later in the day after posting bail.
News >  Spokane

Actor-dogs unleash their passions

Jinx looks nothing like Toto – at least not the Toto that Judy Garland snuggled with in "The Wizard of Oz." But that didn't stop his master, Virginia Ann Utley, from taking him to the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center on Tuesday evening to try out for the Christian Youth Theater's production of the classic tale.
News >  Spokane

Suit filed over inmate death

The daughter of a woman who died in March after she spent a week at the Spokane County Jail and Geiger Corrections Center without being allowed to take her anti-blood-clotting medicine filed a lawsuit against the county last week in federal court. Venus Elder, 39, was booked into jail on Feb. 16 on charges of driving with a suspended license, possession of drug paraphernalia and making a false statement to police. She died March 2 at Sacred Heart Medical Center.
News >  Spokane

The greatest gift of all

Vicki Tomal walked into her sister's hospital room with an IV at her side. "Get your butt out of bed," Tomal told her older sister, Keri Barham, on Dec. 10, 2003, the day after Tomal received Barham's right kidney.
News >  Spokane

Just another day on the job

Working Christmas Day at Spokane Fire Station No. 4 in downtown did not mean missing out on a Christmas meal. After responding to several morning Interstate 90 crashes, which prevented some folks from making holiday flights but caused no significant injuries, a firefighter served up a prime rib lunch.
News >  Spokane

Neighbor charged in man’s death

A Spokane Valley man was charged this week with second-degree manslaughter in the death of his next-door neighbor. Michael L. Newton, 41, is accused of killing Tim O'Neil on Dec. 2 at the home where O'Neil lived with his mother, Joyce Cantrell.