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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Mike Prager

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News >  Voices

New homes come with impact fees

Developers would have to pay as much as $3,044 in growth impact fees for each new home they build in southeast Spokane to help pay for the new roads needed to carry traffic in that part of the city. Spokane officials on Tuesday evening unveiled a proposal to offset the cost of keeping up with growth and development by charging state-authorized impact fees to pay for roads, schools, parks and fire stations.
News >  Voices

Parks wants ideas on water spray features

Spokane parks officials are asking citizens for help in planning new pool and park facilities under a $42.9 million bond issue approved last fall. A series of neighborhood meetings got under way this week, and more will be scheduled for next week.
News >  Voices

Fire District 9 seeks voter approval of special levy

Officials in Fire District No. 9 in North Spokane County want to make the choice relatively simple for voters. Round-the-clock fire and emergency medical services get funded through special maintenance and operation levies that require voter approval every two years. The levy pays for 56 full-time firefighters, paramedics and other professional staff.
News >  Voices

Rock Creek restoration planned

If the town of Rockford is going to qualify for a big state ecology grant to replace its aging water reservoir, it's going to have to do some work to restore the habitat and stream flows along Rock Creek, which runs through this southeast Spokane County burg. A new 210,000-gallon water reservoir is estimated to cost $800,000, a pretty substantial price tag for a town of about 400 residents.
News >  Voices

Browne’s Addition could get parks expansion

Park expansion in the Browne's Addition neighborhood could start later this year under a pair of community development block grants available through the federal government. Plans call for development of an overlook park along the west side of Coeur d'Alene Street from Riverside Avenue to Sunset Boulevard. The project would define and stabilize pathways along the steep embankment, which are having problems with erosion.
News >  Voices

Kendall Yards construction delayed

Work on a new multimillion-dollar Kendall Yards development is continuing on a planning level, but construction of the first buildings may not occur until 2009, a Spokane city official said this week. In the meantime, the appointment of an advisory committee for the spending of increased property tax collections near the project has been postponed for at least a year to coincide with the start of actual construction, said Cody George, economic development adviser for the city.
News >  Voices

Lidgerwood Street improvements planned

The Nevada-Lidgerwood Neighborhood steering committee has proposed spending $42,000 in community development block grant funds as part of a project to enhance pedestrian safety along Lidgerwood Street near NorthTown Mall. The project would reduce the width of vehicle travel lanes along Lidgerwood between Queen and Rowan avenues, widen the sidewalks, create a buffer strip for pedestrians, add trees and other plants and improve the storm water handling along the street.
News >  Voices

Neighbors to plan projects

Spokane neighborhood representatives filled Council Chambers at City Hall Tuesday night to hear the latest details of how to spend $550,000 in money for neighborhood projects or new land-use designs. Interest in the work came from nearly the entire city with 25 of 27 neighborhoods showing up on a snowy night.
News >  Voices

Special fire levy on ballot

Officials in Fire District No. 9 in North Spokane County want to make the choice relatively simple for voters. Round-the-clock fire and emergency medical services get funded through special maintenance and operation levies that require voter approval every two years. The levy pays for 56 full-time firefighters, paramedics and other professional staff.
News >  Spokane

Melting snow floods streets

A brief lowland thaw Thursday sent streams of water flowing down snow- and ice-clogged arterial streets in Spokane County, triggering minor flooding and reminding residents that this winter's mounting snowpack is going to have to go somewhere eventually. National Weather Service forecasters in Spokane said urban and small-stream flooding could occur if the weather warms quickly and it rains. But for now, computer forecasts are calling for continued bouts of snow for the next week or two.
News >  Voices

Big-box proposal hits snag

City deliberations over proposals for big-box retail stores on the South Side have hit a snag that may delay a vote by the Spokane City Council until late this year. Under state law, cities and counties can consider land-use changes only once a year through amendments to the city comprehensive plan.
News >  Voices

BNSF forms plan for cleanup in Hillyard

HILLYARD – Years of industrial activity on a vacant former rail yard in Hillyard left 9.6 acres so seriously contaminated with heavy metals that state and federal officials two years ago warned against letting children play in the vicinity. There has also been concern that wind-blown dust off the site poses an additional hazard to residents near the contamination between the 4800 and 5300 blocks of North Ferrall Street.
News >  Voices

Gonzaga unveils expansion projects

When Gonzaga University's basketball team went to the Elite Eight round in the NCAA college basketball tournament nine years ago this March, no one could know just how much Spokane's small Jesuit university would grow. The national exposure gave Gonzaga cache.
News >  Voices

Grant provides for work at Japanese Garden

Excess growth in Spokane's Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden is being removed this winter under a $35,000 grant from the Friends of Manito organization. The project on the west side of Manito Park got under way recently and will include the removal of 17 trees that are unhealthy, structurally unsound or are being stunted by larger more vigorous trees.
News >  Voices

Honoring Father’s Day founder

The Spokane woman who started Father's Day here in 1910 had lived in a modest Craftsman bungalow along South Arthur Street which is now listed on the city's local register of historic places. Jerry and Beverlee Numbers, the current owners of the home, are restoring it as part of an ongoing effort to recognize the history of Father's Day, Sonora Dodd's role in establishing it and its significance to Spokane.
News >  Voices

West Central to revive area

A first phase revitalization project for the West Central Neighborhood is slated for construction this year as part of an ongoing effort to improve the economy and business climate along an aging commercial district on West Broadway Avenue. The $380,000 project will add street trees, period lighting, a decorative sidewalk and other amenities along West Broadway in the vicinity of Ash Street.
News >  Voices

City assigns Hatch Road study

The city of Spokane is moving ahead with a study on possible widening of Hatch Road between 57th Avenue and U.S. Highway 195, a project that could reduce the need for a connector arterial across undeveloped land between Hatch Road and Palouse Highway. The Spokane City Council recently approved the $211,000 engineering contract with W&H Pacific, a national firm based in Anchorage with an office in Spokane Valley.
News >  Voices

Gonzaga unveils expansion projects

When Gonzaga University's basketball team went to the Elite Eight round in the NCAA college basketball tournament nine years ago this March, no one could know just how much Spokane's small Jesuit university would grow. The national exposure gave Gonzaga cache.
News >  Voices

Mission: Space Frontiers

Don't call Joe Bruce spacey. Call him Space Guy. OK, he gets a little dreamy when talking about landing a man on Mars or traveling outside the solar system.
News >  Voices

Gonzaga hopes to move historic Huetter House

Gonzaga University has come up with a plan to save the threatened Huetter House, a prominent historic portion of the Bishop White Seminary adjacent to the GU campus. The Catholic Diocese of Spokane wants to replace the seminary with a larger, more cohesive facility in a project slated for work this year.
News >  Voices

Best sledding in town

Spokane parks officials don't want you to know this, but here's a tip all sledding thrill seekers should know: The best hill in the city is probably at Underhill Park, just off Interstate 90 in the East Central Neighborhood. North Side sledders, who last year lost access to the legendary embankment at Downriver Golf Course, might want to make the trek across town to sled at Underhill. The three-layered hill is plenty steep, and it has a long flat run at the bottom for safely sliding to a stop. It is easily a better sledding hill than Downriver.
News >  Voices

BNSF forms cleanup plan

HILLYARD – Years of industrial activity on a vacant former rail yard in Hillyard left 9.6 acres so seriously contaminated with heavy metals that state and federal officials two years ago warned against letting children play in the vicinity. There has also been concern that wind-blown dust off the site poses an additional hazard to residents near the contamination between the 4800 and 5300 blocks of North Ferrall Street.
News >  Voices

City libraries expand hours

Expanded hours at two of Spokane's busiest branch libraries are being greeted as a positive development by library patrons, but Spokane's libraries still lag behind others in the region when it comes to open hours. The Shadle and South Hill branches are now open on Mondays, giving them both six-day-a-week operations.
News >  Voices

Gonzaga hopes to move historic Huetter House

Gonzaga University has come up with a plan to save the threatened Huetter House, a prominent historic portion of the Bishop White Seminary adjacent to the GU campus. The Catholic Diocese of Spokane wants to replace the seminary with a larger, more cohesive facility in a project slated for work this year.
News >  Voices

City assigns Hatch Road study

The city of Spokane is moving ahead with a study on possible widening of Hatch Road between 57th Avenue and U.S. Highway 195, a project that could reduce the need for a connector arterial across undeveloped land between Hatch Road and Palouse Highway. The Spokane City Council last week approved the $211,000 engineering contract with W&H Pacific, a national firm based in Anchorage with an office in Spokane Valley.