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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Mike Prager

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News >  Voices

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A plan to convert Thor and Freya streets into one-way arterials through the East Central Neighborhood is expected to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety, but the project hasn't been universally accepted by nearby residents. The Spokane City Council last week approved a low bid by Spokane Rock Products Inc. and authorized a contract for the work. Work is expected to begin this spring. The contract amount of $3.36 million does not include engineering or real estate costs. Federal grants are being used to pay for much of the work.
News >  Spokane

City’s sewage plant fines may be reduced

The state Department of Labor and Industries is reducing fines against the city of Spokane in connection with a fatal tank failure at the city's wastewater treatment plant last May 10. The city is expected to pay $22,000 instead of the $66,600 in fines levied by L&I last November.
News >  Voices

City to vote on project bids for Wellesley, A intersection

A traffic circle at Wellesley Avenue and A Street and creation of two one-way arterials on Thor and Freya streets in the East Central Neighborhood are slated for construction as early as this spring. Spokane Rock Products Inc. is the low bidder on the two long-sought traffic improvements to city neighborhoods.
News >  Voices

Council puts restrictions on possible Grandview sale

The Spokane City Council on Monday set the stage for the possible sale of 26 acres of city-owned land south of 17th Avenue and west of D Street in the Grandview neighborhood. Residents of the neighborhood won concessions from the council in a 6-1 vote. The council placed restrictions on the sale to guarantee improved traffic circulation. Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers voted no because she did not believe any restrictions should be placed on the sale.
News >  Voices

Thor-Freya street work planned

Two one-way arterials on Thor and Freya streets in the East Central Neighborhood are slated for construction as early as this spring. Spokane Rock Products submitted the low bid of $3.36 million, which was 17 percent below the engineering estimate, for reconstruction and realignment of Thor and Freya streets between Sprague and Hartson avenues. Federal funds are being used for the project.
News >  Spokane

Council to seek funds for services programs

Spokane's need for social services funding came up against the city's ongoing budget cuts in 2005 during action before the City Council on Monday. The council declined to approve $900,000 in allocations to human services programs in the city after representatives of several organizations complained about being left out of the funding this year.
News >  Spokane

City crews begin patching potholes

This week's rapid thaw unleashed an inevitable hazard in Spokane streets: the annual opening of potholes. Two crews were dispatched across the city this week to make temporary repairs to numerous new potholes, and city officials said the problem was not unexpected.
News >  Spokane

Council joins effort to split city-county court

The Spokane City Council has joined an effort by Mayor Jim West to create the city's own independent Municipal Court to handle city misdemeanors and traffic violations. West believes Spokane can save money by separating its Municipal Court cases from the combined city-county District Court system.
News >  Spokane

Crews working to fix potholes

This week's rapid thaw unleashed an inevitable hazard in Spokane streets: the annual opening of potholes. Two crews were dispatched across the city this week to make temporary repairs to numerous new potholes, and city officials said the problem was not unexpected.
News >  Spokane

Center, museum join forces

Two organizations that have been promoting a science center and children's museum in downtown Spokane announced Wednesday they have merged their efforts into a single organization named after the Mobius strip, a well-known geometric shape. Board members and supporters of the two nonprofit efforts decided that the science center and children's museum had so much in common that it made sense to join forces.
News >  Voices

City OKs Minnehaha council

The last area of the city of Spokane to form a neighborhood council won approval to join the city's 26 other councils on Tuesday. The Spokane City Council voted unanimously to establish the Minnehaha Neighborhood Council as the 27th neighborhood council. It will represent the interests of some 1,500 households in the vicinity of Cooper Elementary School, 3200 N. Ferrall St. in northeast Spokane. The neighborhood is south of Hillyard and runs along Euclid and Frederick avenues east of Market Street and Upriver Drive .
News >  Spokane

COPS sets its sights on crime

Spokane's COPS Downtown organization is spearheading a new community-based effort to clean up prostitution, drug dealing, gang fights and other inner-city problems at three specific locations in the city's urban core. City Council members Tuesday got a briefing on the latest efforts to combat crime at Main and Division, the 400 block of West Sprague, and 2nd and Cedar. The report came during the council's annual town hall meeting with neighborhood groups in the southwest part of the city.
News >  Features

Home with a history

When Mary Moltke purchased her historic Victorian mansion in Browne's Addition, she did not realize how it would become an indelible part of her own history. She knows now, nearly a quarter century later.
News >  Spokane

Gondola could get $2.5 million overhaul

The Spokane Park Board took action Thursday that opens the door to a $2.5 million reconstruction this year of the gondola in Riverfront Park. The board unanimously adopted a resolution declaring an international company with a subsidiary in Golden, Colo., as the only source available to provide the proposed upgrades. Work could be completed as early as this summer.
News >  Voices

City Council delays action on Albion Heights sale

Residents living in the Grandview area of southwest Spokane asked City Council members on Monday to preserve a 26-acre chunk of land as open space. Mayor Jim West's staff has proposed selling the city-owned property for future residential development, and staff members have asked the council to remove restrictions placed on the sale of the property in the Albion Heights subdivision.
News >  Voices

Minnehaha residents seek city’s approval for neighborhood council

Residents of the Minnehaha Neighborhood of northeast Spokane are seeking to establish a new neighborhood council in an area north of the Spokane River near Cooper Elementary School. Spokane City Council members are scheduled to consider the new council at the council's regular meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.
News >  Spokane

Officials vote to restrict razings

The Spokane Plan Commission on Wednesday voted to recommend a proposed ordinance that would put new restrictions on demolition of older buildings in the downtown area and in historic districts in the city. The vote came as opposition surfaced from members of real estate and property management businesses in Spokane.
News >  Spokane

Officials proposing $1 fee for swimming

The Spokane Park Board is expected to hear a proposal Thursday to charge $1 a day for youth swimming starting this summer. If approved, the fee would end a longstanding practice of offering free summer swimming for kids in the city of Spokane.
News >  Spokane

Wind will howl through, followed by bitter cold

Plow crews were expected to finish clearing city, county and Valley residential streets in the Spokane area today just as an arctic cold front is poised to drop out of Canada. A chance of snow was forecast in advance of the arctic front today. No accumulations were expected in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene areas.
News >  Spokane

City wants ability to place tax levies before voters

Spokane city officials want something that school districts have: the ability to put property tax levies before voters to fund basic city services such as police and fire. On Monday, the Spokane City Council issued a call for a state constitutional amendment to expand the city's taxing authority.
News >  Spokane

Temperature may hit 14 below

The temperature in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area is forecasted to drop to minus-14 overnight Thursday, prompting officials to warn residents to protect their water pipes from freezing and to give shelter to pets and other animals. Meanwhile, Spokane city street crews on Monday got a major start on clearing residential streets clogged from four days of snow that started falling Thursday.
News >  Spokane

Winter finally brings a good snow

The largest winter storm in more than a year blanketed the Inland Northwest with a layer of light "dry" snow on Friday."I love it," said Mike Johnston, manager at Coeur d'Alene Polaris. "It's about time." He and other employees were using all-terrain vehicles to plow the store's parking lot, but the job appeared to be more fun than work. Snowplow sales had been down this season, Johnston said, although business was brisk Friday.
News >  Voices

City buying lots for improvement of Crestline Street

The city of Spokane has started purchasing property for a sewer and street improvement project on Crestline Street between Francis Avenue and Lincoln Road. It is part of a three-step plan to rebuild Crestline from Lincoln Road to Illinois Avenue over the next several years.
News >  Voices

City wants to sell 26 acres near park in Albion Heights

Spokane city officials are seeking to sell 26 acres of undeveloped city-owned land adjacent to a small park in the Albion Heights area at 17th Avenue and D Street. But they are asking the City Council to rescind restrictions placed on use of the land before it is sold for private residential development.