Kip Hill

Airman 1st Class Samy Tcheuffa was identified as the man found dead. The news release said local authorities and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations is investigating the death, but no other details were provided.

The decision endorsing a more stringent and costly testing method for polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, came three weeks after federal regulators announced the adoption of a stricter water quality standard that was rolled back during the Trump administration. Both rulings will factor into future permits allowing discharge of wastewater into the Spokane River and elsewhere in the state, a public battle that dates back decades and pits conservation and tribal interests against local municipalities and businesses over what is a safe amount of fish to eat harvested from the river. 

BrrrZAAR, the local winter art market put on by the nonprofit Terrain, returns to River Park Square on Saturday with 70 vendors offering their locally made wares. It's the fourth iteration of the event, which is intended to showcase local artistic talent and offer a variety of fairly priced, handcrafted gifts for shoppers, said Ginger Ewing, executive director and cofounder of the nonprofit.

As a teenager, Terry Vanbuskirk was abused as a resident at J-Bar-D Ranch, a group home for boys in Ione. For decades, he didn't discuss the abuse and the fits of anger and distrust it caused. This week, just before a Pierce County jury was to determine whether the state was responsible for allowing the abuse to continue, the Department of Children, Youth and Families settled with Vanbuskirk for $1.5 million. 

A handwritten letter containing ethnic slurs against Mexican-Americans, a swastika and blood smears has been reported to the authorities by recipient Ann Marie Danimus, a Congressional candidate in the 2022 election. 

Vina Mikkelsen's eyesight is diminishing, but her push to remember men like her late husband present for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor isn't. 

Trever Daniel Harder was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release by authorities after pleading guilty to two counts of child sex trafficking in June. Harder met Kylie Ruby Flores, 32, on the internet dating application "Plenty of Fish" in February 2021 and negotiated Harder's access to the girl in exchange for a place to stay for the girl and Flores, according to court records. Flores pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit child sex trafficking charge and is serving a 23-year sentence at a federal prison in West Virginia, according to court records. 

The Airway Heights City Council on Monday approved a resolution reducing emergency services to the casino and developments owned by the Kalispel tribe effective at the end of the month, citing $1.5 million in missing payments over the past three years that have effectively subsidized tribal operations. On Tuesday, the tribe took issue with Airway Heights' position, saying they've provided $1.1 million over the past five years in payments mandated by a state gaming compact that permitted operations of the Northern Quest Casino, which opened in 2000, and accusing Airway Heights of failing to provide "services the Kalispel Tribe has contracted and paid for." 

Spokane Parks & Recreation received no takers this fall for a 10-year, $1.25 million deal that would affix a sponsor's name to the structure, first built for Expo '74 and repurposed in 2019 as part of the park's redevelopment project. Though several firms downloaded information from the city's website about a possible deal, the bidding period ended Oct. 31 without a formal offer.

Moretta Rose Johnson is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Arizona on Dec. 16, facing obstruction of justice and kidnapping charges. A Spokane County Sheriff's deputy performing a "knock and talk" at an Airbnb on Thursday found Johnson and the eight girls, all of whom had run away from group homes in late November following the arrest of Samuel Rappylee Bateman. Bateman is described in a 22-page complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Dawn Martin as a self-proclaimed prophet in the FLDS church, an organization once run by convicted child rapist Warren Jeffs. 

Today, with 21 states and counting allowing the possession and sale of the drug to adults, the attention has shifted among industry members to the real possibility that the walls around Washington's market, approved by voters, could soon come tumbling down with federal legalization and access to banking. 

Qaya Mikel Gordon, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge David C. Nye in Coeur d'Alene. A jury in June found Gordon guilty of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon after a two-and-a-half day trial.

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando M. Olguin, of the Central District of California, signed an order Nov. 19 awarding 2,442 government entities nationwide a portion of a $537.5 million settlement in a class action brought against Monsanto, who for years sold products containing polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that leached into waterways, including the Spokane River. The products were sold under the brand name Aroclor, which was discontinued in the 1970s, but the PCBs do not break down naturally and remain in the waterway. A preliminary agreement to settle the lawsuit had been filed in June 2020, but it took more than two years for the parties to submit a compensation plan Olguin could agree to. 

The pandemic and online shopping have taken a bite out of the traditional crowds on the biggest shopping day of the holiday season, Spokane observers said on a foggy Friday morning. But there's still fun to be had in spending time with family and looking for a great deal. 

Multiple firearms were stolen in the two incidents, reported in the 1700 block of East Trent Avenue and the 1400 block of North Greene Street, according to a news release. The thieves rammed stolen cars into the buildings in order to gain access, police said. 

Touchmark on the South Hill residents Pat Thompson and Richard Pruett drew more than a few puzzled glances at a happy hour event this week celebrating Saturday's Apple Cup game. 

Overnight lows have dipped into the teens each night since Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane, and 14 of the first 17 days of November have seen temperatures below average for this time of year. That trend should continue until Monday, said Jon Fox, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Spokane.

The attraction, the first to reopen as part of the downtown park's taxpayer-funded renovation, will have the same operating hours as in seasons past. The Spokane Park Board did increase the admission fees this year, a reflection of the cost of maintaining the ribbon that opened in December 2017 and increasing costs of materials and labor.

Knezovich was fined $300 for the violations. The sheriff may sign a "statement of understanding" admitting to the violations within 30 days to avoid $100 of that fine, said Fred Jarrett, chair of the PDC during a hearing Thursday announcing the finding. The sheriff said Thursday he intends to appeal the ruling. 

The seven Alexander Dennis Inc. coaches will be bought with a mix of state, federal and local funding, and will run the 6 and 66 routes from downtown to Cheney. The seven double-decker buses will replace the articulated vehicles in the fleet that have reached the end of their life, providing seating for about 20 more passengers on each trip and freeing up curb space for loading. 

Huddled close together not only for warmth but for support on Wednesday evening, twentysomethings with tears in their eyes took a microphone to remember the four close friends killed near the University of Idaho over the weekend. They approached a makeshift memorial to Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin slowly at first, then with stories that brought as much laughter as tears. 

Wood credits circumstances aligning for her careers in law enforcement, higher education, human rights activism and now city government. Rocky Watson, whom Wood described as "like a second father," said all of those accomplishments are part of a desire to improve the community that isn't focused on just one approach.

The STA Board of Directors will vote Thursday on a request to buy seven double-decker buses that would run the 6 and 66 routes between downtown and Cheney beginning in 2025. The buses are expected to cost a little more than $9 million, with about a third of that coming from local dollars and the rest from state and federal grants.

Smoke was reported at a home in the 17200 block of East Coach Drive by firefighters in the area just before 10 a.m. Sunday, according to a Spokane Valley Fire Department news release. Crews arrived on scene and found a woman in the front yard with smoke billowing from the home.