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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Justin Runquist

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All Stories

News >  Spokane

This veteran to get degree

Mike Arne couldn’t help feeling out of place sitting in classrooms at Washington State University for the past two years. Arne, a 29-year-old senior anthropology major, enrolled after returning from Iraq, where he served as a corporal in the Marine Corps. Stationed near Fallujah in 2004, Arne fought in what would become the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War.
News >  Spokane

Accomplice gets prison in killing

Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier sentenced Frank Lazcano to 25 years in prison Friday afternoon for his part in the murder of Marcus Schur. Schur was shot to death on the night of Dec. 27, 2011, outside a residence in Malden, Wash. Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Lazcano’s 21-year-old brother Daniel fired the shots with Frank Lazcano’s AK-47.
News >  Spokane

Body cameras aid police in Pullman

Pullman police officers are elevating their surveillance tactics with tiny, wearable cameras, as well as public cameras that monitor sidewalks and streets outside some of the town’s college bars and local businesses. The new 3-inch-long cameras weigh only a third of a pound, making them easy to clip onto a pair of glasses, the side of a hat or a shirt collar. The $50,000 purchase of 25 body cameras and software support is part of a transition from dashboard cameras in patrol cars to what Chief Gary Jenkins – as well as police leaders in Spokane and many other cities – sees as the future of policing.
News >  Spokane

Cameras focus on College Hill

Pullman police are using five cameras perched on utility poles outside the Adams Mall area of College Hill to monitor a hot spot of criminal activity. The department purchased those cameras with a $300,000 grant from the Smart Policing Initiative, a consortium of law enforcement agencies that studies more than 30 U.S. cities.
News >  Spokane

WSU’s animal health research center to be dedicated

Researchers at Washington State University are making a big push to investigate the world’s deadliest infectious diseases on a global level. Nowadays, viruses and bacterial infections can spread across the world in less than 24 hours, said Guy Palmer, a professor of pathology and infectious diseases at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Most of those sicknesses spread to humans from animals.
News >  Spokane

Motorheads unite!

Thousands are expected to visit the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center this weekend to spend a little quality time with their dream cars. The Goodguys 11th Great Northwest Nationals kicks off today. The car show typically features about 1,500 muscle cars, hot rods and a variety of others from the early 1970s or earlier.
News >  Spokane

County bans most outdoor burning

With dry conditions and temperatures soaring into the 90s, outdoor burning across much of Spokane County has been banned until further notice. Spokane County officials made the announcement on a day when wildfires have dominated headlines. A raging wildfire east of Cle Elum has burned dozens of homes and tens of thousands of acres, forcing hundreds to flee the scene. Violating the burn ban in unincorporated areas of Spokane County could lead to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
News >  Spokane

Road-blocking teens nabbed

Police arrested two 16-year-old boys Tuesday in connection with an early morning patrol car crash that occurred nearly two weeks ago in Spokane Valley. The teens admitted to scattering pieces of firewood, tree branches and a plastic bin filled with large rocks across South Pines Road just after midnight on Aug. 3, in anticipation that a vehicle would run over the objects, police said.
News >  Spokane

Whitewater park supporters stage first Spokane River Festival

After years of obstacles and delays, river sports enthusiasts continue their efforts to bring a whitewater park to Spokane. A consortium of advocates held the Spokane River Festival on Saturday at Glover Field to re-energize residents and officials about the potential for a whitewater park within city limits.
News >  Spokane

Note adds intrigue to table pyramids

City workers made an unexpected find while deconstructing the latest mysterious picnic-table pyramid at Manito Park on Friday afternoon. An Urban Forestry crewman discovered a handwritten note addressed to park employees at the top of the stack of 36 tables. The note was signed “SKFS.”
News >  Spokane

Targeting a sustainable record

A local business drew some attention Friday morning after its employees sought to create the largest piece of recycled paper in the world. All 51 workers at online retailer Green Cupboards spent several hours laying out pallets in the parking lot, then mixing shredded paper with water to create a 1,339-square-foot sheet of recycled paper.
News >  Spokane

Sikhs gather to pray, reflect in Spokane Valley

Hundreds gathered in Spokane Valley on Wednesday night to share messages of forgiveness and understanding in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. The Sikh Temple of Spokane on North Barker Road held a candlelight vigil and prayer ceremony in remembrance of the six people who were killed Sunday when Wade Michael Page walked into a temple in Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee, then opened fire on the worshippers.
News >  Spokane

Spike & Dig tournament enjoys larger venue for 21st year

Athletes of all skill levels flocked to northwest Spokane on Saturday to inaugurate a new venue for one of the largest coed six-on-six volleyball tournaments in the world. Spike & Dig, a lower-key volleyball version of Hoopfest, marks its 21st annual event this weekend. More than 5,000 people showed up to play or watch during the first day of the competition, said Jerry Schmidt, who founded the event. The tournament continues today.
News >  Spokane

State parks on their own

Changes are in store for Riverside State Park as officials scramble to adopt a more self-supporting funding model by 2013. Lawmakers have ordered the Parks and Recreation Commission to function without any help from the general fund for the first time in the agency’s history, starting next year. The demand punctuates a trend of vanishing state dollars for parks over the past four years.
News >  Spokane

Liquor board extends fortified beer limits to East Central

High-octane beers will soon be banned in yet another part of Spokane. Retailers in the East Central Neighborhood no longer will be permitted to sell certain fortified beers after this summer, part of an effort by City Hall to curb public inebriation and other nuisance problems by restricting access to the cheap, potent booze. The state Liquor Control Board has decided to back the city’s plan.
News >  Spokane

Community recuperates after storm

Lurae Kanzleiter still has nightmares about the tree that crashed through her bedroom ceiling in Keller, Wash., nine days ago. “You could hear the tree going ‘crack, crack, crack,’ ” Kanzleiter said. “Something just told me to get out of that bedroom, and I’m so thankful that we did.”
News >  Spokane

Chief finalist withdraws after resume questioned

Blair Ulring has withdrawn his name from the list of finalists for the next chief of the Spokane Police Department following questions about his academic credentials. The former chief of police in Stockton, Calif., listed on his resume a bachelor of science degree in 1997 and a master of science degree in 2002, both “summa cum laude,” from “La Salle University.”
News >  Spokane

Chief candidate’s resume questioned

Blair Ulring, one of four applicants chosen as finalists for the job of Spokane Police chief, lists on his resume degrees that may have been purchased from a diploma mill. The former police chief of Stockton, Calif., submitted a resume to the city of Spokane last week declaring that he earned a bachelor of science degree in administration of justice in 1997, and then a master of science in law enforcement management in 2002, both “summa cum laude,” from “La Salle University.”