Jonathan Brunt

The controversial decision by the Spokane County Civil Service Commission to overturn the firing of a detective likely will stand. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said his department has been researching ways to reverse the ruling, including the possibility of firing Joseph Mastel a second time. But those options don't appear lawful.

The decision to reverse the firing of a detective who exposed himself at a coffee stand may hurt at least one member of the Spokane County Civil Service Commission's chances for a second six-year term. "I'm concerned about the message it sends to our staff and to the public about what kinds of conduct are acceptable," said Spokane County Commission Chairman Mark Richard. Civil Service members are appointed by county commissioners.

The decision to reverse the firing of a detective who exposed himself at a coffee stand may hurt at least one member of the Spokane County Civil Service Commission's chances for a second six-year term. "I'm concerned about the message it sends to our staff and to the public about what kinds of conduct are acceptable," said Spokane County Commission Chairman Mark Richard. Civil Service members are appointed by county commissioners.

Members of Spokane County's clean-air agency board deadlocked twice Thursday before agreeing to appoint a new member. Melissa Ahern, a Washington State University-Spokane health policy and administration associate professor, won a third vote for the at-large seat of the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority board.

A new state law could change the composition of Spokane County's air quality board. The five-member Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority board will meet this morning to interview candidates for an at-large position held by Michele Pope, a former nurse who hopes to keep the job.

The Spokane City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution seeking to annex 134 acres of tax-rich land along North Division Street. At the same time, Spokane County leaders said they will sue the city if it doesn't abandon the annexation. In a 6-1 vote, council members approved a resolution notifying the Boundary Review Board of the city's intent to annex the slice of land that includes the North Division Costco store and Holy Cross Cemetery. Residents of a planned unit development just west of Costco appeared before the council to protest the annexation.

A Spokesman-Review staff reorganization will put more emphasis on breaking news online and expand the paper's regional Voice sections. Starting this month, the newspaper will have a new online team, including a reporter devoted to posting breaking news on the Web site full time.

Spokane mayors don't often have the president's ear. However, Dave Rodgers, who held the city's top elected office for most of the 1970s, met with President Gerald Ford three or four times.

A mining operation on the banks of the Spokane River could be transformed under a proposal to build homes on the property. Coeur d'Alene's Neighborhood Inc. is planning to develop 30 homes and several townhouses and condominiums on 45 acres east of Millwood, just south of the Spokane River.

County budget meetings ended last week with what turned into the most heated commissioner meeting of the year. The dispute, between Commissioners Mark Richard and Todd Mielke, amounted to a debate about who was the strongest budget hawk in spending $2.7 million more than the county's revenue projections for 2007.

Spokane County's annual funding of economic development groups have commissioners debating whether some groups have an unfair advantage when it comes time for the county to dole out money. Commissioner Mark Richard said his colleague, Todd Mielke, was not being objective when he argued to give $275,000 to the Economic Development Council. Mielke sits on the agency's board.

The former sheriff's detective who exposed himself to a barista at an Airway Heights espresso stand is asking for his job back, arguing the woman dressed provocatively and led him on. "I take responsibility. But I don't take full responsibility," Joseph Mastel, 52, told members of the Spokane County Civil Service Commission this week.

Spokane County's air pollution board violated state law when it decided to hire its new director behind closed doors, the state auditor's office said in a report expected to be released this week. The Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority board decided in June to offer the agency's top administrative position to Bill Dameworth, former environmental manager for timber company Pope & Talbot, during a meeting that was closed to the public.

Roasting small amounts of coffee just got a lot cheaper. The Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority board voted unanimously on Thursday to allow folks with coffee roasters that roast less than 10 pounds of coffee at a time to operate without an afterburner, a piece of equipment that can cost more than $5,000 to install. The new regulation mimics rules that govern roasters in Seattle.

Spokane's Waste-to-Energy plant apparently has more pollution issues than its recent generation of pink clouds. The Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority has informed the plant, which is owned by the city and operated by Wheelabrator Technologies, that its annual pollution testing completed in May was flawed.

Spokane County commissioners grudgingly approved this week a large tax break to one of their biggest critics, former county Commissioner John Roskelley. Roskelley and his wife, Joyce Roskelley, applied to the county to have their 20-acre parcel southwest of Mount Spokane designated as open space under a state law that gives tax benefits for preserving natural resources or maintaining land for agriculture or timber production.

Spokane County commissioners Monday heard bleak scenarios about what budget cuts could mean for residents. Andy Jennings, president of the jail union, warned that reducing resources to the lockup could mean fewer criminals behind bars, backlogged courts and frustrated cops.

Despite hacking $2 million from next year's county budget, leaders say they believe they won't need to lay off employees. But that won't mean jobs won't be lost.

Plans to build a $3 million public swimming pool in the Moran Prairie neighborhood are starting to sink. County commissioners said this week that the pool they plan to build at 61st and Freya is unlikely to open as expected late next summer.