Kip Hill

The National Weather Service in Spokane reported 3 inches of snow had fallen at their station on the West Plains. If it stands, that would set a daily snowfall record for March 10 in town, breaking a record of 2.8 inches set in 1950. 

The verbal notification is the start of a budget process that won't be finalized until after the state Legislature completes its work funding schools across the state later this spring, said district officials and the head of the union for Central Valley teachers. It's the second time in the past several years the district, which serves roughly 14,500 students, has notified some of its teachers on provisional contracts they may not be rehired due to financial constraints. 

California-based Zum Services Inc. was awarded a new, five-year contract by the Spokane Public Schools Board of Directors on Wednesday night, worth $71.8 million. Zum, founded in 2014 and worth more than $1 billion, was selected over Durham School Services, which has been providing transportation services for the district since the 2008-2009 school year. The district has contracted with private companies to provide busing services since the mid-1970s.

Wendy Schuller, who coached the team from June 2001 to March 2021, filed her claims against EWU and Athletic Director Lynn Hickey in Spokane County Superior Court last month and is seeking at least $5 million in damages. On Friday, the lawsuit was moved to U.S. District Court in Spokane at the request of the Washington Attorney General's Office, which is representing EWU against the discrimination claims because it is a state institution. 

The American Indian Community Center, first established near Gonzaga University in October 1967, received an endorsement from the Spokane Park Board earlier this year to build a new, 25,000-square-foot facility in High Bridge Park. Linda Lauch, the executive director of the nonprofit who's been with the community center for nearly four decades, said the location would allow for public access as well as space to conduct important cultural traditions.

Zachary Love, listed as the owner of ZEL & Associates, faces three allegations of violating the Washington Consumer Protection Act by representing himself as an attorney, primarily practicing in tribal courts in the region. Love defended his credentials Thursday and said he would fight the allegations against him. 

"I just feel like the time is right," Vigil said from her desk at the downtown offices of KHQ on Tuesday, before taking the desk to anchor the 5 p.m. newscast. "It's a good time for me to go, jump on a new path, and enjoy my life." 

As a private first class in the Marines, Thompson participated in five assault landings in the Pacific Theater during World War II, said his son, Jim Thompson. Like many of his generation, he didn't talk about the war with his children, but drips and drabs of information - and spontaneous bursts of emotion - would bubble out over the years. 

The event was a collaboration between the Spokane NAACP Health Committee, Providence Health Services and Spokane Public Schools to offer medical training to students of color and other groups underrepresented in medical fields. 

Attorney General Bob Ferguson, along with 10 other states, filed a complaint Thursday against the Biden administration, demanding that it abandon certain restrictions to prescribe one of two drugs popularly used in providing a medical abortion. The complaint argues that mifepristone, a drug that blocks a hormone necessary in carrying a pregnancy to term, is treated discriminatorily by the Food and Drug Administration, which continues to require certain medical professionals to prescribe it and forms to be completed that could fall into the hands of people targeting abortion providers with violence.  

McMorris Rodgers and Carole Johnson met at the Spokane Teaching Health Clinic in the University District with a half dozen medical and osteopathic doctors as the federal government ponders an extension of several training programs for physicians that point them to work in underserved areas. That includes continued funding for the 72 teach health clinics in the country, which provided residency training slots for doctors pursuing their specialties. Training centers are located in areas determined to be underserved by existing health care workers, an area that includes Spokane and its surrounding rural counties. The Spokane clinic was established in 2013 and has included social workers, psychiatric care providers and pharmacy residents in care teams intended to provide a full suite of treatment to patients. 

In the space of a few weeks, JJ Wandler is preparing for the opening of Entropy, his latest foray into the music/vintage/art world of Spokane. The former owner of the downtown bar Garageland, founder of Total Trash Records and Sound in Browne's Addition and current owner of the Bad Seed restaurant in Hillyard wanted to honor the legacy of Warren Heylman with the business, while also giving local artists room to display their work and play off the distinct styles of other downtown retailers, such as Boo Radley's, Atticus and Petunia & Loomis. 

Robert L. "Bob" Bartlett's research has resulted in a short-form documentary film, called "Jumping into the Fire," that won an award at the 2022 Spokane International Film Festival, a collaboration with director Chase Ogden. In partnership with other researchers on "smokejumping," the practice of fighting wildfires using trained parachutists in remote areas of the West, Bartlett has been able to piece together a flight log and map of all of the jumps - totaling more than 30 - made between July 18, 1945, and Oct. 30, 1945. 

The Air Force Material Command on Tuesday issued what's known as a time compliance technical order that grounded KC-135 aircraft until inspections for "a non-conforming part in the vertical tail assembly." Base officials at Fairchild, which houses 68 of the aircraft according to its website, confirmed Friday that they are inspecting their jets. 

The main cause, Johns Hopkins' Lilliana Mason said, is that political divisions have melded with other, more basic differences that define who we are. What religion we believe in, the area of the country where we live and our cultural norms have become more intertwined with our politics over the past 50 or 60 years, driven by political rhetoric and partisan media outlets. 

When Jennifer Showalter saw the criticism of the framework for the new Advanced Placement African American Studies course begin immediately when it was released earlier this month, she questioned whether people were actually understanding what was in it. 

Natasha Ann Opsal admitted to a federal judge Wednesday that she filed fraudulent applications for assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program established to help existing businesses pay employees during the pandemic. The COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force created by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Washington investigated the case, alleging Opsal obtained $53,757 in federal assistance for her company, Rusty Bumper Detailing, that didn't exist prior to the pandemic. 

The Shadle and Gonzaga University alumnus has become a sought-after producer, with her previous project, "Archive 81," becoming Netflix's No. 1 show in January 2022. "Daisy Jones & the Six" continues her work with the Hello Sunshine production company, cofounded by actress Reese Witherspoon. Price was also a producer on the adaptation of "Little Fires Everywhere," which starred Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in a Hulu series based on Celeste Ng's novel. 

Revisions made to the framework for the standardized AP African American Studies program, announced after pushback from politicians including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, will rob high school students across the country of a "very, very sound" curriculum exploring the Black experience in America, said a local educator who was involved in reviewing the materials.

When a surveillance balloon launched by the Chinese floated over the Inland Northwest last week, it wasn't the first time an Asian power had deployed unmanned, airborne objects in Spokane's air space. 

Malt-based beverages, such as the hard seltzer brand Truly, are taxed at a much lower rate in Washington than spirits combined with mixers in a can. In a push that has taken place nationwide at the behest of the spirits industry, lawmakers are now considering a new way to tax lower-proof, spirit-based drinks sold in Washington's stores. 

Spokane Public Schools and Gonzaga University's Center for Climate, Society and the Environment have partnered to provied the district's 36 elementary buildings, including the Libby Center and Spokane Public Montessori, kits teaching about climate science and renewable energy. 

The agreement was presented to U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian by an attorney representing three of the residents at the encampment that has become the flashpoint for the housing and homelessness discussion in Spokane. It essentially eliminates the dangling threat of an imminent camp sweep, said Jeffry Finer, the attorney representing the residents. 

Horizon, which was acquired by Alaska Airlines in 1986, estimates it's carried more than 50 million Pacific Northwest commuters on the plane since its introduction in January 2001.  Thursday marked exactly 22 years since the Q400 came into service, said Joe Sprague, the president of the airline.