Candidates say they can't stop supporters from putting up political signs like these on this north Monroe hill. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review
Spokane City Manager Roger Crum is one of three finalists for the city administrator's job in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"It's kind of a surprise to me," Crum said Friday. "I still don't know enough to know if this is what I want to do."
Ann Arbor City Council members spent Thursday night deciding which three of the five original finalists they wanted to have back for in-depth interviews.
A former student who claimed she had sexual relations with the former Lewis and Clark High School choir director has received $100,000 from Spokane School District 81's insurance company.
The amount paid in December 1993 to Laurie Brockmann and her husband, Michael Cunningham, was revealed earlier this week by the insurer, CIGNA Cos.
Attorneys for The Spokesman-Review had fought for two years to have the dollar amount released. Attorneys for the former teacher, Shawn Wright, and the insurance company had wanted the figure kept secret.
The controversial Lincoln Street bridge moved closer to crossing the Spokane River on Thursday when a judge dismissed one of two legal challenges to the project.
Superior Court Judge James Murphy threw out attorney Stephen K. Eugster's claims that the city had failed to adequately address the project's environmental impacts.
The city of Spokane grabbed the financial football for the Marks family lawsuit and will carry it alone.
A 6-1 vote of the council Monday leaves the city with sole responsibility for fighting the $40 million suit.
An agreement with county commissioners calls for the county to pay the city $390,000. In return, the city will assume all liability and defense costs for the civil rights suit.
Once again, Spokane's compost plant is open for business.
Despite nearly two hours of neighbors' angry testimony, the City Council reversed its decision earlier this month to close the plant and end the contract with O.M. Scott and Sons, the Ohio company that manages the site.
"We're friends of Torrey's," says Rachel Varela, 18, left, who attended the vigil with her friends Rachael Spivey, 17, and Patty Allard, 18. The vigil was held for three victims, including Torrey Lowery, of a drive-by shooting last Sunday. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review
Editor's note: Because of some last-minute changes in laying out Friday's paper, the jump for this story was left out. The story is being rerun here in its entirety.
Plans to annex part of Glenrose Prairie hit a snag this week when neighbors filed a lawsuit against the city of Spokane.
"You don't take a rural area and turn it urban unless you have to," said Steve Eugster, attorney for the 200-member Glenrose Neighborhood Association.
Plans to annex part of Glenrose Prairie hit a snag this week when neighbors filed a lawsuit against the city of Spokane.
"You don't take a rural area and turn it urban unless you have to," said Steve Eugster, attorney for the 200-member Glenrose Neighborhood Association.
The city's move to assume sole responsibility for fighting a $40 million Gypsy family lawsuit "makes sense," says Spokane City Councilman Joel Crosby.
"It's a real good decision on everybody's part," he said. "It's a good deal."
Spokane Councilman Chris Anderson has refused to vote on the future of the Mission Springs apartment project, saying he fears he'd have to hire an attorney to defend himself.
Anderson said Monday he has been warned by city legal counsel that many of his statements blasting the project have left him personally liable.
A three-car collision Monday in one of two narrow tunnels leading to Spokane's controversial Mission Springs apartment project came as no surprise to neighbors.
"I hold my breath and say a little prayer when going through those tunnels," said Sue Gaebe, who drives Thorpe Road and its tunnels every day.
The collision occurred just hours before the city's traffic department told the City Council the tunnels could safely handle additional traffic created by the project.
Spokane City Council members will move their weekly meeting to the West Central Community Center tonight for a status report on that neighborhood.
West Central residents will talk about their community's activities and progress in the past year.
This week's vote by Spokane's City Council was meant to start pulling the plug on a long battle over offensive odors coming from the regional yard-waste compost site.
Now a quick solution is nowhere in sight.
Council members voted 4-2 to find a way to end their contract with O.M. Scott and Sons, which has run the plant for two years.
City Hall wants a spending makeover.
And Spokane residents at a town hall meeting Wednesday certainly had their ideas.
Mel West suggests some serious staff cuts. Marion Moos thinks it's time to deflate bloated administrative budgets. Bob Busch wants to slice pay by 30 percent.
County Commissioners moved ahead Tuesday with plans to take control of the Spokane County Health District.
By a 2-1 vote, commissioners decided to place the health district under county authority Jan. 1, 1997.
Fed up with odor complaints and "Band-Aids" they say don't work, Spokane City Council members voted Monday to shut down the $2 million regional composting plant.
"The fact is: It's time to face up to this thing," said Mayor Jack Geraghty minutes before the 4-2 vote to close the 2-year-old plant near Colbert. "I'm for shutting this thing down."
With revenues dropping dramatically and a serious problem with tax assessments, Spokane city officials are looking to cut way back on spending.
If they don't, the city's financial pillow - its $5.3 million rainy day fund - could drop to less than $1 million.
It's a fairly simple situation, something like a family budget. The money coming in doesn't cover all the planned spending.
There's a money problem at City Hall, and officials are looking to make cuts.
Before they do, they want to hear from residents about where those cuts should be made.
FOR THE RECORD (AUG 3, 1995):
Spokane City Council candidate Steve Thompson moved to Spokane from Redmond, Wash., in 1990. The year was incorrect in Tuesday's paper.
Spokane City Council candidate John Talbott almost didn't get the chance to face his chosen foe in the September primary.
Talbott filed for office late Friday afternoon, telling the clerk who typed his "Declaration of Candidacy" form that he wanted to run against incumbent Orville Barnes.
