In a budget cutting move, the Spokane City Council may force nearly 400 of the city's retired police and firefighters to pay a part of their Medicare coverage, but the retirees are crying foul. Retirees said the city promised them years ago that their full health care would be covered at no cost to them until they die.
The pop bottle has appeared. A video released Thursday shows Otto Zehm had a 2-liter plastic bottle in his hands as he lay on his back in the initial stages of the fatal March 18 confrontation with Spokane police.
The Spokane City Council on Monday said it wants the city to get involved in planning the future of the Joe E. Mann U.S. Army Reserve Center now that the military is moving its reserve operation to a new consolidated facility at Fairchild Air Force Base. The council voted 5-1 in favor of a resolution authorizing the city to initiate redevelopment efforts for the post, 4415 N. Market St. The city was facing an Aug. 4 deadline to submit its request to the federal government.
The Spokane City Council on Monday said it wants the city to get involved in planning the future of the Joe E. Mann U.S. Army Reserve Center now that the military is moving its reserve operation to a new consolidated facility at Fairchild Air Force Base. The council voted 5-1 in favor of a resolution authorizing the city to initiate redevelopment efforts for the post, 4415 N. Market St. The city was facing an Aug. 4 deadline to submit its request to the federal government.
The city of Spokane is in the midst of a multi-year building boom that shows no sign of letting up soon. The value of building permits issued by the city is expected to break last year's all-time record of $407.8 million. Building activity in the city should continue through 2007 as several major projects, including Kendall Yards on the North Side, move from planning to construction.
The outside investigation into the Spokane Police Department's controversial handling of two high-profile cases will be conducted by a law enforcement service group from Olympia and a Kentucky-based consulting firm. But a lead member of the review team, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Executive Director Don Pierce, withdrew Thursday after questions arose over the circumstances surrounding his 2004 departure from the Boise Police Department.
Nearly 100 residents of southwest Spokane turned out to hear an appeal before the Spokane City Council of a preliminary plat that would bring 371 new homes to the hillside above the Latah Creek Valley. An attorney representing the neighborhood appellants said the developer's plan would denude the native forest without providing for open space, trails, park land or other recreational features.
Spokane police chief nominee Anne E. Kirkpatrick, if confirmed by the City Council, will take control of a department wrought with turmoil and budget problems. But those who know her say Kirkpatrick will do well.
A group of residents living in the Latah Valley and Eagle Ridge neighborhoods is appealing a Spokane hearing examiner decision approving a preliminary plat for 371 single-family lots in a project known as Meadow Point Landing. A closed public hearing on the appeal is scheduled before the City Council on Monday at the end of its 6 p.m. legislative session in Council Chambers at City Hall. Only people who gave testimony to the hearing examiner will be allowed to testify during the hearing.
A large central sunburst chandelier still hangs from the ceiling of Spokane's historic Fox Theater. Also intact are elaborate murals, plaster ornamentation and even the original painted fire safety screen at the stage opening.
Last week's sewage spill sent at least 53,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Spokane River over a three-day period, city officials estimated. But the actual amount could be much higher because eyewitnesses last week reported seeing what appeared to be sewage debris in the river as early as May.
Spokane's expanded Convention Center owes its completion to the balancing of two conflicting community values: a reluctance to pay for new taxes versus a long-standing desire for improved public facilities. Political dealing and ingenious financing became the keys to reconciling the differences.
A proposal to create a "medallion" cab licensing system in Spokane was rejected by the City Council on Monday night, but the council said it wants to raise cab license fees and implement the consumer protections called for in the medallion ordinance. Council members in a 5-1 vote said they did not want the city issuing a limited number of medallion licenses because that could create an artificial commodity for cab owners.
Spokane taxi owners and drivers are apparently split on a proposal by Councilman Bob Apple to change the cab licensing system and to increase fees as a tradeoff for better service and enforcement. Proponents said it will improve the condition and safety of Spokane's privately owned taxi fleet, but opponents warn it could increase the cost of taxi service as well as cut profits for drivers who lease cabs.
Even though police have backed away from their earlier version of how the fatal struggle with a mentally ill janitor began, acting Chief Jim Nicks said Friday he still believes officers did nothing wrong. "They had the information necessary before going into the store to stop and detain Otto Zehm," Nicks said during an interview at the Public Safety Building. "And the officers did the right thing given the situation.
Spokane City Council members on Monday unanimously approved the creation of the city's second local historic register district for a residential area on West Ninth Avenue on the South Side. The new district includes a single block of four homes on the north side of Ninth Avenue between Madison and Jefferson streets.
An initiative to raise the minimum wage for workers at large retail stores in Spokane was cleared Monday for signature gathering, the next step in getting the measure before voters. Spokane City Council members unanimously approved the measure's ballot title and summary and directed proponents to submit signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
A Spokane County Superior Court judge rejected a request Thursday from a South Side citizens group seeking a prohibition on the logging of trees along Bernard Street as part of reconstruction and repaving there. The ruling by Judge Harold Clarke III clears the way for the city to remove 17 trees as part of a $1.8 million project to rebuild and resurface Bernard from 14th to 29th avenues.
Initiative sponsors seeking to increase wages for workers at large retail stores in Spokane will have to wait at least two weeks before they can start gathering signatures. The Spokane City Council on Monday voted to send the measure to the city attorney's office for review.
Six months after taking office in a historic recall, Dennis Hession is still learning how to be Spokane's strong mayor. Scandals in the police and fire departments, continuing budget problems and other City Hall turmoil have overshadowed Hession's emerging agenda.
Spokane's Michael Biehl had the audacity to build a gravel driveway in front of his historic carriage house so he could park his boat away from the street. Some of his neighbors in Corbin Park objected because, historically, the 1909 carriage house was fronted by lawn in old photos, not a driveway, and the Corbin Park local historic district has very specific guidelines governing its properties.
A neighborhood resource police officer told Spokane City Council members Monday that staff cuts in the Police Department have hurt efforts to solve crimes. Pfc. Dave Staben said he is one of three neighborhood resource officers assigned to the city's North Side. He handles West Central and Nevada-Lidgerwood neighborhoods, which together make up a large segment of the city north of the river.
The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane is sponsoring a citywide initiative to require higher wages for employees at Wal-Mart and other "big box" stores. The Spokane City Council on Monday scheduled a public hearing next Monday on the plan, which was filed earlier this month with the City Clerk. The council will likely ask the sponsors to gather signatures to get the measure on the ballot.
The Spokane city planning department is hosting a series of open houses during the next two weeks to gather public input on a series of expected changes in laws that guide both development and environmental protection inside the city limits. Public participation is required by the state as a basis for local planning laws, so the open houses that begin Monday are seen as essential to establishing legitimacy for Spokane's urban planning code.
Riverfront Park's new gondola SkyRide is proving to be a popular attraction and could be a moneymaker for the city parks and recreation department, if ridership continues at its current pace. Park Manager Craig Butz reported to the Park Board earlier this month that 16,000 riders boarded the lilac-colored cabins in May for a descent from the park into the Spokane River gorge at the base of the lower Spokane Falls.
