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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Lisa Waananen

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All Stories

News >  Spokane

Summer a season of OxyContin holdups

It’s become a familiar scenario this summer: A man walks up to a pharmacy counter and passes a note demanding OxyContin pills, then escapes with a cache of the powerful painkillers. Police hoped the painkiller robberies would end when suspects were booked into the Kootenai County Jail two weeks ago. Then another Rite Aid was robbed last Monday.
News >  Spokane

Tortoise races back to desert

After getting stranded at a U.S. Highway 95 rest stop in Idaho this summer, Sadie the desert tortoise is finally getting back to a more familiar climate. She’ll get a celebrity’s welcome in Blythe, Calif., today, complete with a police escort and greetings from the chamber of commerce before going home with adoptive family Wayne and Lee Ann Cusick and their young tortoise, Speedy. “Sadie’s our star,” Wayne Cusick said.
News >  Spokane

Officer claims another cop assaulted suspect

A Spokane police officer is on paid administrative leave while under investigation for an alleged misdemeanor assault that occurred when the officer was on duty Friday night. The incident allegedly took place in the 3200 block of West Hoffman Avenue during the arrest of a man who led police on a lengthy pursuit through the Shadle Park area, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, of the Spokane Police Department.
News >  Spokane

Resident pushes city pit bull ban

When three dogs attacked Nancy Sonduck in her fenced North Spokane yard, all she had to defend herself and her two dogs was a plastic gardening bucket. “I hit the pit bull in the middle twice in the head,” Sonduck said, “and it did not faze it.”
News >  Spokane

Bumpy start for buses

Karl Boettner’s daughter stood outside Tuesday morning, waiting for the bus. It was her first day of middle school and would have been her first day taking the bus to school. Instead she just waited. And waited.
News >  Spokane

Tortoise needs lift to warmer climes

Sadie was abandoned at a U.S. Highway 95 rest stop, southeast of Spokane and far from her Mojave Desert home. It’s unclear how the desert tortoise got to the rest stop. Maybe someone found out their Southwestern souvenir was a threatened species protected by law. Maybe she was a longtime family pet accidentally left behind. Maybe, like so many other animals along highways, someone just couldn’t care for her anymore.
News >  Spokane

Fair dangles a few new lures

Many people already have their reasons for going to the fair: the rodeo, the concerts, the historic trains or a chance to continue blue-ribbon dominance. Spokane County Interstate Fair coordinator Jessica McLaughlin has heard from people who say they go because it’s the best place to price-compare hot tubs.
News >  Spokane

Local Democrats energized

Surrounded by more than 100 other Spokane-area Democrats, Emelda Brown and Patricia Maddox were transfixed Thursday night as they watched something they never thought they’d live to see. An African-American had just accepted their party’s nomination for president.
News >  Spokane

Message rings true to residents

Surrounded by more than 100 other Spokane-area Democrats, Emelda Brown and Patricia Maddox were transfixed Thursday night as they watched something they never thought they’d live to see. An African-American had just accepted their party’s nomination for president.
News >  Spokane

Boy hit by dump truck hospitalized

A city of Spokane dump truck hit a 9-year-old boy at D Street and North Loop in the Finch Arboretum area just after 2 p.m. Wednesday. The boy was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, Spokane police Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said.
News >  Spokane

Airmail’s beginnings

Spokane postmaster Karen Fairlee was tentative about going for a ride in Larry Tobin’s 1927 biplane out at Felts Field. But she relented after a co-worker returned from the flight smiling. “I said, ‘Get on that plane; you have to go,’ so she hopped on,” said Lisa Nystuen, USPS customer relations specialist.
News >  Spokane

Not for climatic faint of heart

It may not rival ice storm, but 2008 could go down in Inland Northwest lore as the year of weather extremes. Snow in June and triple-digit highs last weekend already mark this year as a record-breaker, and meteorologists say the weather is likely to keep you scrambling between swimsuit and sweat shirt.
News >  Spokane

Classics draw a crowd on road, at fairgrounds

In every town they drive through, people wave and snap photos. A woman from France visiting Yellowstone Park wanted a picture as a souvenir. Stopping for gas means drawing a crowd. “People love cars. They all have a story to tell about what they have or their parents used to have,” said Eric Peratt, of Pinkee’s Rod Shop in Windsor, Colo., who drove to Spokane in a caravan of five 1930s hot rods.
News >  Marijuana

Seized marijuana worth millions

High-quality marijuana plants worth more than $127 million were seized during the past two weeks in eight Chelan County locations, police reported Thursday. Helicopters used to spot growing operations in the forest have netted 84,873 plants so far, Chelan County sheriff’s Lt. Jerry Moore said. Chelan County deputies and agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Columbia River Drug Task Force and Washington State Patrol will continue the eradication effort through October.
News >  Spokane

The heat is on this weekend

Expect sun and children begging for a trip to the water park as temperatures – and fire danger – soar for what could be the hottest days so far this year. The mercury will flirt with triple digits and Spokane records this weekend, with the National Weather Service forecasting a high of 99 Saturday and 101 Sunday. Coeur d’Alene is looking at highs near 98 degrees.
News >  Spokane

Olivia’s one lucky baby

If eight is a lucky number, Olivia Dean Emery must be the luckiest newborn in Spokane. Nearly eight days overdue, she waited until the eighth minute of 8/8/08 to make her debut at Deaconess Medical Center. Since hospitals run by military time, her tag reads 08/08/08 00:08.
News >  Spokane

Spokane Thunder drums up awards

The Spokane Thunder Drum and Bugle Corps started practicing in January with two goals: beat their best score from last year and march as one of the top 12 corps in the championship finals. The young performers arrived home Monday with both goals accomplished. The corps earned seventh place in the open class at the Drum Corps International World Championships, held Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. The Spokane Thunder, sponsored by the Greater Spokane Drum Corps Association and now in its fifth year, includes a brass section, percussion and color guard – all 16- to 21-year-olds who devote nearly the whole summer to marching as flawlessly as possible.