Jonathan Brunt

A woman who lives at a Hillyard home significantly damaged by fire early Friday says the blaze was likely set by a man who was just kicked out.

Two earthquakes shook Sandpoint and much of North Idaho Thursday night, but there was little damage. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.1 earthquake at 7:32 p.m. about 14 miles southeast of Sandpoint, east of Lake Pend Oreille, just south of Kilroy Creek.

R.H. “Bob” Lewis, a Spokane city councilman and high-ranking Republican state senator who declined urgings from others to run for higher office, died Friday in Spokane. Lewis was 90 and died in his sleep at Royal Park Care Center, said his son, Jack Lewis.

About 30 people walked in Riverfront Park, through the River Park Square atrium, by the Easter Bunny and along downtown Spokane sidewalks to spread, they said, a message against hate. Carrying signs like “Welcome to Spokane, haters go elsewhere,” the group chanted “I’m smart, I’m down, I represent my town” as they marched.

About 30 people walked in Riverfront Park, through the River Park Square atrium, by the Easter Bunny and along downtown Spokane sidewalks to spread, they said, a message against hate.

The family of a teen bicyclist who died last year in an incident involving a speeding deputy on Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley is disputing the conclusion of a law enforcement team that examined his death.

SPRAGUE, Wash. – Authorities arrested a 15-year-old suspect on Wednesday in connection with the attempted toddler abduction at the town’s park that made national headlines. Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers said investigators were able to identify the teen once video surveillance footage from Sunday’s incident showing the suspect running down the sidewalk with the boy, 22-month-old Owen Wright, in his arms was enhanced. Deputies conducted surveillance on the teen and served a search warrant on his home Wednesday.

Here are the 18 nominees still in consideration for the new Spokane Citizens Hall of Fame.

Ellen Criswell never met the girl in the mid-1980s photo who had a big smile, thick glasses and feathered, brown hair. She and her husband, Donald Criswell, saw their niece in person only as a baby.

Ellen Criswell never met the girl in the mid-1980s photo who had a big smile, thick glasses and feathered, brown hair. She and her husband, Donald Criswell, saw their niece in person only as a baby. Last year, Criswell discovered that her niece Deanna Criswell, of Spokane, had not been heard from for decades and had never even been reported as missing.

Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan declared Wednesday that there was “no way” he would resign from the county health board amid criticism of his statements questioning the safety of vaccines. Other council members have begun the process to strip him of his appointment.

Spokane’s science museum is planning for two big moves this year. The Mobius Science Center will depart its location across from River Park Square at the end of March and open temporarily in the main Spokane Public Library.

An SUV crashed through the wall of a building in central Spokane on Thursday afternoon. “It was horribly loud, and I was pretty sure somebody hit the building,” said Missy Dunn, a billing specialist at Stahl Optical, which shares the building with Prosser Dentistry. “It was a lot of sounds all together.”

An SUV crashed through an optical building in central Spokane this afternoon, sending a man inside to the hospital.

Detectives have identified the accused robber of a Walgreens in Coeur d’Alene on Sunday as the man who robbed three pharmacies in Spokane County late last year.