Jonathan Brunt

Spokane leaders are considering returning land to a developer along 29th Avenue that the city likely would have to buy back later to widen the roadway. About a decade ago, Glen Cloninger was required to transfer a 7 ½-foot-wide strip of land along 29th Avenue to the city by the city's hearing examiner in exchange for traffic impacts expected from rezoning to allow commercial buildings. Since then, Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar was built there.

Wells that normally handle about 20 percent of Spokane's drinking water supply have been shut down because of concerns about potential contamination with diesel. City officials stress that diesel has not been found in the drinking water, and state and local administrators say evidence so far shows that it would be safe to keep the wells in operation. However, two tests found diesel in a separate monitoring well about two blocks from the pumping stations that were closed.

A former Pend Oreille County sheriff believes manslaughter charges should be filed in connection with the death of a woman whose car plunged from the River Park Square parking garage last year.

City Council members say Spokane's strong mayor should be matched by a strong legislative body – and that could be accomplished by increasing their pay. The Spokane City Council decided Monday night to create a salary review commission that will decide whether their salaries should be raised and by how much. Some believe the City Council positions could become full-time jobs.

It is the duel of the job-creating mayoral candidates. Two of the five candidates for Spokane mayor have made broad assertions about creating jobs in Spokane.

Robert A. Kroboth, a candidate for Spokane mayor, was put on trial after being accused of shooting a man in 1970 in Whittier, Calif. Kroboth said he was acquitted by a jury in the case. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to commit murder.

The Northeast Community Center is more than halfway to the $6 million it needs to expand. The Spokane City Council on Monday voted 5-2 to give the center $600,000 from its $11 million surplus from 2006 for the project.

Four candidates for Spokane mayor met Tuesday for the last debate before primary ballots are due in the mail. The debate, which will air Sunday, mostly centered on the same themes that have dominated the campaign, including low-income housing, taxes and police oversight.

The Spokane Police Guild, which has worked 19 months without a contract, has overwhelmingly approved a four-year deal with pay increases above inflation. The guild voted 180 to 30 in favor of the contract late last week, Spokane's Chief Operating Officer John Pilcher confirmed Monday.

The Spokane Park Board on Thursday sliced its request for a $78.4 million park and pool bond nearly in half. Members said they were responding to public complaints they've heard since they unanimously approved the higher figure last month.

A lot of folks like at least a little in a bond proposal to improve city pools and parks. But if testimony of a couple dozen people Monday night is any indication, what they don't like is the $78.4 million price.

A $78.4 million plan to improve parks appears likely to make it to voters untouched by the City Council. The proposal, discussed during a briefing Thursday, will be addressed again during the weekly City Council meeting, tonight at 6 p.m. in City Hall.

The recent evictions of dozens of poor downtown residents have made low-income housing a prominent issue in this year's mayoral election. Developers are converting three low-income apartments along West First Avenue to new uses. Some residents have already moved out, and when all is said and done, lost housing at the New Madison Apartments, Commercial Building and Otis Hotel could force out 100 to 200 people. Redevelopment of other buildings is displacing dozens more.

Spokane Park Board members hope there's something for everybody in a $78.4 million list of projects they want to put before voters in November. Some City Council members, however, question if there's so much for everybody that not enough voters will support it. A bond issue requires 60 percent support from voters to pass.

After years of struggle, the city of Spokane achieved a financial milestone Monday night. The Spokane City Council voted unanimously to put $3.2 million in the city's bank account, bringing the total reserves to almost $14 million – or 10 percent of its general fund budget. The city had promised bond-rating agencies it would reach that goal by the end of 2008.

The father of the man who jumped from the Monroe Street Bridge is questioning the Spokane Police Department's use of a Taser on his son seconds before he fell to his death. The 28-year-old man was discovered sitting on the railing of the bridge Thursday evening and remained there for 20 hours as police negotiated with him to come down. His father, Dave Breidenbach, identified him as his son, Josh Levy.

Five months after citing budgetary and other concerns when declining to fill four police positions created by the Spokane City Council, Mayor Dennis Hession unveiled a plan Wednesday to hire six times as many. The difference now, Hession said, is the continued strength of Spokane's economy, cost-cutting measures implemented at City Hall and development of a hiring plan crafted by public safety professionals rather than politicians. The proposal, parts of which require City Council approval, also calls for adding 10 employees to the fire department.

Two years ago Spokane city leaders made voters a deal. If citizens approved a two-year property tax increase, officials would use the reprieve to get the budget in shape and seek outside advice to bring city spending under control.

Spokane City Hall will be outfitted with a heating and cooling system. The City Council voted Monday night to spend $3.6 million, which will be taken from the city's 2006 budget surplus, for the purchase.