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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

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.
News >  Spokane

Holiday lights suspected in house fire

CHENEY – Sporting a green Santa cap from a last-minute Christmas shopping trip, Karen Brown arrived at her home Tuesday afternoon and saw smoke billowing from her living room. Sorting out the afternoon's turn of events at her neighbor's home, Brown was trying to keep things in perspective.
News >  Spokane

Santa photo a big leap for jumpy ones

Gunnar isn't normally allowed to get on people's laps. So when his masters tried to get him to jump on the lap of a crazy-looking man in a red suit, he wasn't buying it. Gunnar, still a puppy, was one of more than 50 pets who got his picture taken Saturday with "Santa Claws" at Petsmart, 9950 N. Newport Highway.
News >  Spokane

Travelers take a back seat to weather

At 5 a.m. Thursday, Quinton Richards began his trek to Baltimore from Butte, Mont. On Friday evening, Richards was farther from Baltimore than when he started, trapped at Spokane International Airport by dense fog that had inundated the Northwest since Thursday.
News >  Spokane

Stabbing victim no angel, but ‘full of joy’

Justin Snyder was turning his life around just as it ended, friends and family members said Saturday. Snyder, 17, was killed early Dec. 5 from a stab wound he received during a fight in a northwest Spokane neighborhood.
News >  Spokane

Worker on mend from nail in heart

Sitting in the emergency room with a 21/8-inch nail in his chest Thursday morning, Steven Faber got his prognosis. "I told him that I thought the nail might be in his heart," said Dr. Mike Jemmette, the Deaconess Medical Center emergency room physician who first examined Faber.
News >  Spokane

Two county prisoners charged in killing at jail

Two Spokane County Jail inmates with violent histories were charged Wednesday with strangling a third inmate in their cell in October Michael L. West Jr., 28, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Christopher L. Rentz, 21. Brandon W. Martin, 20, faces second-degree murder charges. West and Martin had been named by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office soon after the incident as the inmates responsible for the death.
News >  Spokane

A celebration of freedom

Susan and Ira Amstadter assemble their three children each night of Hanukkah around the family's South Hill front window. Tuesday evening, the family lit the first candles of their menorahs for the first night of Hanukkah.
News >  Spokane

Weather watchers feeling snowed

In retrospect, the operative word was "could." Friday's paper reported that Saturday could bring "one of the largest snow dumpings to hit Spokane in the past decade." But the 6 to 12 inches of snow originally forecast for Spokane by the National Weather Service did not fall Saturday.
News >  Spokane

Damaged center short on alarms

A fire last month at the Spokane Juvenile Justice Center may have burned undetected for as long as an hour because the portion of the building where the blaze occurred does not have smoke alarms or detectors. The Nov. 21 fire caused between $100,000 and $200,000 in damage to a second-floor wing used by juvenile probation officers, said Leon Long, Spokane County's risk manager. The office where it originated was gutted; about 10 other rooms received heavy smoke damage.
News >  Spokane

Area may get foot of snow

Kyle Baragas hasn't seen snow in Texas since moving there from Redmond, Wash., six years ago. This weekend, however, he could be in the midst of one of the largest snow dumpings to hit Spokane in the past decade, as drum major for the Sam Houston State marching band, which is coming to town for a football playoff game Saturday in Cheney.
News >  Spokane

Storm could dump foot of snow on region

Kyle Baragas hasn't seen snow in Texas since moving there from Redmond, Wash. six years ago. This weekend, however, he could be in the midst of one of the largest snow dumpings to hit Spokane in the past decade, as drum major for the Sam Houston State marching band, which is coming to town for a football playoff game Saturday in Cheney.
News >  Spokane

Group remembers, reminds

After 11 years of taking drugs for HIV, Dee Dee Poston is thinking about stopping her medication because she's tired of the side effects. "It's bought me a lot of time," Poston said to a group gathered Wednesday in Spokane. "But at the same time, quality of life beats quantity of life."
News >  Spokane

Area ski resorts hoping for more snow

A few Inland Northwest ski hills plan to open this weekend – if the weather cooperates. Forecasts, however, indicate that a significant snowfall may not fall in time. "They're being optimistic," said John Werner, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "There's nothing really strong on tap for a good snow producer, just showers."
News >  Spokane

Police staffing levels similar to other cities

When population growth is taken into account, Spokane's police staffing next year will fall to where it was two decades ago. And while the numbers will be low compared to national averages, they're not far from similar-size cities in the region.
News >  Spokane

Thieves steal Cougar banner

A 50-by-50-foot Cougar banner that was supposed to be on proud display at today's Apple Cup was stolen sometime Thursday night or Friday morning. Officials aren't sure who took the banner, and despite the timing, Washington State University officials aren't blaming the rivalry with the University of Washington.
News >  Spokane

New details in killing of man who tried to help woman

Relatives of the man killed this week in a downtown Spokane apartment are mourning the second death of a family member since September. Jim Johnston, 40, was killed Tuesday night while visiting an apartment above the Red Lion Barbecue & Pub, 128 1/2 N. Division St. Earlier in the day Johnston had stopped Robert T. Spencer from beating a woman, witnesses told police. Police believe Johnston was assaulted by Spencer and shot by a man with Spencer, Bryan M. James.