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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kip Hill

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A&E >  Art

‘Worth the wait’: Public art piece ‘Stepwell,’ last of major Riverfront Park redevelopment bond projects, to open Saturday

The wait will come to an end Saturday, as Spokane Arts and Riverfront Park open "Stepwell" to the public at a gathering beginning at 11 a.m. The public art piece, selected from four original sketches the artist submitted in late 2017, was designed and built using roughly a half million dollars of the original $64 million in taxpayer bonds approved for the park's redevelopment. City law requires publicly funded construction projects to set aside 1% of the total cost for public art. 
News >  Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee visits Crosswalk shelter in Spokane on Friday to acknowledge successes, needs to address youth homelessness

"It looks to me like you've really got an alliance of multiple organizations," Inslee said, speaking to young people staying at the shelter as well as representatives from Volunteers for America, the nonprofit that runs Crosswalk, the Spokane Youth Advisory Committee, A Way Home Washington, Better Health Together and other groups working to eliminate youth homelessness. "I'm glad we were successful in the Legislature to promote the growth of them." 
A&E >  Music

Saving the Symphony: Spokane orchestra looking for more donations as it faces $1 million deficit after pandemic

Symphony boosters are now seeking $300,000 in donations ahead of the end of their fiscal year in June to offset the loss of one-time, COVID-19-related assistance and diminished giving that the symphony attributes to the poor performance of investments over the past several years. Such donations would put the symphony on a sustainable path to the future, said symphony officials.

News >  Education

Wetlands, ‘pioneer woman’ celebrated as wetlands education center opens on Saltese Flats

Representatives of the Morrison family, Spokane County, the Central Valley School district and more gathered Wednesday for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the Doris Morrison Learning Center. The building, more than a decade in the making, sits in the middle of hundreds of acres of protected wetlands and shrub steppe on the edges of encroaching housing development. 
News >  Military

Spokane veterans finding homes: Local VA assists in meeting housing goal set in 2022, challenges ahead in 2023

The VA last year laid out a goal to assist 38,000 veterans nationwide who were in emergency need of housing to avoid becoming homeless. The target was set as many parts of the country, including the Inland Northwest, saw expiring moratoriums on eviction and rent increases imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just like other renters in the region, military veterans saw increases in their rent and housing costs, many of them on fixed incomes and benefits provided following their years of military service.
News >  Legal

Spokane federal judge rules abortion drug must remain available in 17 states and D.C. despite contrary appeals court action

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice issued a six-page ruling Thursday afternoon clarifying that his order last week permitting access to mifepristone in 17 states and the District of Columbia, based on rules approved by the Food and Drug Administration in January, was still in effect. Earlier Thursday, a panel of judges for the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, presiding over a case brought in Texas seeking to block access to the drug, restricted its use to within the first seven weeks of a pregnancy and prohibited its distribution through the mail. 
A&E >  Movies

Closed Village Centre Cinemas at Airway Heights for sale at auction; sellers seeking minimum $1.7M

The audience was not large enough in the area for the theater, said K. Duane Brelsford, president and managing partner of Corporate Pointe Developers and one of the original developers on the project. The 10-screen theater shuttered for good several months ago, and an online auction seeking at least $1.7 million for the building is scheduled for next week.
News >  Education

‘Project Lift Up’ expands to provide mental health care kits to 13 area schools, but seeks an even bigger mission

The Project Lift Up initiative was launched in February 2022 and provides local schools with discreet gift boxes that can be distributed by school counselors, like Shenefelt, to students they identify as at-risk of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on learners inspired the gift boxes, said Angella Southerly, founder of the nonprofit Light a Lamp that runs Project Lift Up. Now available in 13 schools, Southerly hopes to continue to expand the initiative while tailoring its mission to the needs of local schools.
News >  Crime/Public Safety

Donald Trump indictment deemed ‘political’ by local Congressional Republicans, Democrats cite ‘rule of law’

Republicans largely echoed the statements of the former president, that he was being targeted by political opponents as he seeks another term in office in 2024. Democrats were more measured in their response, and a local expert in presidential history said the indictment showed the normal functioning of the American legal process. 
News >  Local government

Getting There: Euclid Road bridge is still closed. But it’s reopening in September.

The $3.6 million rebuild of a wooden bridge deemed structurally unsound four years ago is underway. Government, transportation and military officials gathered at the span over the BNSF tracks near the confluence of Euclid and Lyons roads earlier this month to celebrate the beginning of a project intended to eliminate traffic headaches for area residents. Current detours send motorists on to gravel roads and can bump up commute times by up to half an hour, and the closure has disrupted school bus routes and emergency response in the area. 
News >  Crime/Public Safety

Co-owner of Spokane’s marijuana producer Grow Op Farms among 9 indicted in Utah fraud scheme tied to supplements

The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board confirmed Thursday that Robert McKinley, 45, co-owner of Grow Op Farms and Phat and Sticky, was named in a December indictment alleging he and eight other residents of Utah had devised a scheme to bilk customers of "nutraceutical, CBD, and dietary supplement products" out of millions of dollars by setting up phony companies and websites and making untrue claims about the products' health benefits. McKinley's attorney said the allegations are not related to his state-licensed businesses in Washington. 
News >  Crime/Public Safety

Man who shot ATF agent in Spokane in November 2021 pleads guilty; argues shooting was ‘a setup’

The shooting at a Motel 6 parking lot in west Spokane sent one federal agent to the hospital and prompted a massive police response on Nov. 5, 2021. Two other men, Vincent Petrushkin and William Burns, were also indicted on federal charges after admitting they were in the car when Holmes arrived for what he thought was the purchase of a gun. Holmes was a convicted felon, and had already spent three years in federal prison after previously being arrested in Moses Lake in possession of a loaded handgun illegally. 
News >  Education

‘Is that a robot?’ Tower gardens growing in Spokane Public Schools teach STEM, practical skills

The goal is to develop an interest in plant life and water conservation in areas where it's difficult to maintain a traditional garden in Spokane, said Scott Kerwien, executive director of student success at the district. The tower gardens have the added benefit of pushing students to learn practical skills with their hands, rather than reading out of textbooks, and teachers at Yasuhara have employed the new teaching tool in different ways tailored to students based on their needs.