Kristina Johnson

A grass-roots organization that wants to preserve the lower Spokane Falls as a national monument is trying to intervene in a city-state dispute over the proposed Lincoln Street bridge. The nonprofit group Friends of the Falls filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in the city's appeal of the state's denial of a shoreline permit for the bridge. If the state Shorelines Hearings Board approves, the group would be allowed to present its reasons why the permit should be denied.

The Spokane City Council moved its live weekly show to the cafeteria at Ferris High School on Monday to receive status reports from three South Side neighborhoods. Susan Brudnicki of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association kicked off the presentations, telling council members that 425 of her neighbors united a year ago due to worries about increased development. "We know a lot more about land use than we thought we ever would," said Brudnicki, adding that the neighborhood association plans to become a neighborhood council later this year.

A proposed maintenance center has a home in the Garry Park neighborhood, but that doesn't mean it will be going there any time soon. On Monday, the Spokane City Council voted unanimously to buy the former Long Lake Lumber site at 2306 E. Mallon for $5 million as a future location for the center. But council members cautioned it could be many years - if ever - before the site is used as a central location for the fixing and storing of city vehicles.

A maintenance center for city vehicles may find a welcome home in east Spokane someday, possibly because city officials learned from past mistakes. Tonight, the City Council will consider spending $5 million to buy the former Long Lake Lumber Co. site at 2306 E. Mallon.

Kirk Etherton of Evergreen Lawn and Tree Care trims a maple Wednesday. A new ordinance would require "major pruning" to be done by a licensed arborist. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review

A group of Spokane activists devoted to fighting injustice in other countries is turning its focus on a need far closer to home - and asking the City Council to help. The plight of the city's most impoverished residents can't improve until businesses pay their employees a "living wage," members of the Peace and Justice Action League told the council on Monday.

The Spokane City Council plans to decide tonight whether to give businesses that sell pull-tabs a break on their taxes. Last week, council members delayed a decision on the proposal.

New technology aimed at keeping traffic moving and saving streets from potholes and patches is watching Spokane's drivers. The video detection systems consist of video cameras that detect cars approaching and signal traffic lights to change colors to keep traffic flowing.

"I want you to know how you can become involved," says Mayor John Talbott. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Businesses that sell pull-tab games won't know until next week if they stand to get a break on their taxes. On Monday, the Spokane City Council agreed to delay a formal vote on a proposed plan to tax the businesses' profits instead of everything they sell.

A push to lower the tax on pull-tab games may well win the support of the Spokane City Council, but it means the city will lose about $300,000 in annual revenues. Council members tonight will consider a proposal to slash the tax on businesses that sell pull-tabs, doing away with a system that taxes everything they sell and replacing it with a tax on their profits alone. Councilman Jeff Colliton, who lobbied for the tax reduction, plans to vote for it even though he works for a pull-tab company.

Trying to solve Spokane's serial killings is putting a strain on staffing in the Police Department, say city officials. Tonight, the City Council will consider adding three positions to the department. If approved, the two detectives and one sergeant would replace officers shifted to the homicide task force. "We are greatly understaffed," Police Chief Terry Mangan told the council last week. "We are utilizing tremendous amounts of personnel and time ... "We absolutely have to support this task force operation, even at the expense of the other things that we do."

The rhythmic stamping of due dates in the back of library books is going the way of typewriters and mimeograph machines. Starting Monday, clerks at the Spokane Public Library will no longer stamp the return date on the slip tucked into the back of books. "It's the end of a long tradition," said Nancy Ledeboer, deputy director for public services. "I think it's going to make things a lot quicker."

Edith Black was stung by a bee while carrying trash she claims the city failed to pick up. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

A retreat that began with fiery accusations cooled to a friendly exchange of ideas as Spokane City Council members agreed they need to work as a team. Council members spent nearly six hours Monday hashing out topics that ranged from hiring an internal auditor to cutting back on the number of meetings. But before they talked about issues, they discussed how they relate to one another and the city staff.

The Spokane Human Rights Commission plans a hearing tonight on two proposed city ordinances that supporters say would end discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Spokane Progressive Alliance sponsored the two ordinances, which will be considered by the Human Rights Commission before moving on to the City Council.

The Spokane City Council plans to challenge the Department of Ecology's ruling that the Lincoln Street bridge violates the city's own shoreline protection plan. On Monday, council members voted 4-2 to appeal to the state Shoreline Hearings Board, saying they need to understand how Ecology's decision might affect other bridge projects. Two weeks ago, Ecology officials turned down an application for the shoreline permit needed to build the bridge over the Spokane River gorge. Their decision cites a provision in the city's shoreline plan that forbids any activity that "will tend to lessen or obliterate in part the falls and rapid areas."

Spokane's Chase Youth Commission plans to give the county a bigger say in the organization's future. City Council members will consider a proposal tonight to convert the commission that encourages teen leadership into a joint city-county venture.

With the Spokane River falls as a backdrop, gondola cars hang beneath the Monroe Street Bridge. Citing a provision in the city's shoreline master plan, the Ecology Department has denied a permit to build a Lincoln Street bridge above the falls. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

With a mix of door prizes, free parking and shuttle service, downtown Spokane advocates are hoping to attract hundreds of residents to a meeting aimed at drafting a blueprint for the city's core. On Thursday, the Downtown Spokane Partnership and the city are hosting a "vision" meeting designed to find out what people want downtown.

The state Department of Ecology says Spokane can't build the Lincoln Street bridge because it violates the city's own shoreline protection plan. The department rejected the city's application for a shoreline permit needed to build the bridge over the Spokane River gorge downtown.

Literary deadbeats owe the Spokane Public Library more than $687,000 in unpaid fines, fees and lost materials. Library officials don't count on the dollars in their annual budgets. But if they had the money, they could do wonderful things, they say.

SpokAnimal Care won a five-year animal-control contract with Spokane on Monday, but it has a ways to go before it wins the City Council's total confidence. Council members voted 5-1 to give the agency a $110,000-a-year contract that consolidates animal collection and shelter services. In the past, SpokAnimal and the Spokane Humane Society shared the two duties. "This is almost an at-will contract," said Councilman Orville Barnes, referring to a clause that allows either party to kill the agreement with 90 days notice.

Spokane City Councilman Orville Barnes plans to travel to Washington, D.C., today to sit in on Mayor John Talbott's meeting with federal officials. Talbott plans to meet with officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday to discuss his concerns about a $22.65 million loan to a downtown redevelopment project.