The case of the gates of a Five Mile bluff subdivision is going to Spokane County Superior Court after more than a year of legal action at Spokane City Hall. James Greenup and the Southeast Horizon LLC are seeking to overturn a City Council ruling that prohibits the installation of gates at a proposed 57-lot subdivision near Five Mile Road. Greenup is the managing member of the LLC.
While a few inches of snow could fall over the lowlands of the Inland Northwest starting on Friday, a greater weather threat may be lurking just beyond the weekend. Forecasters on Wednesday said two low-pressure systems are expected to plunge southward from British Columbia starting on Friday.
A youth program at the Northeast Community Center lacked adequate cash controls over some $472,000 in youth activity fees in 2003, the state auditor has found. Problems at the Northeast Youth Center occurred after the program experienced rapid growth in its programs and the number of participants subsequently exceeded the ability of the center to handle accounting through its former manual system, the audit said.
The Spokane City Council spent its first meeting night of 2005 finishing up on some controversy left over from 2004. The council voted 5-1 in favor of an ordinance that exempts exhibitors at arts and crafts shows, trade shows and consumer shows from having to pay for city business licenses.
Shane Sanders left his final shift as a Spokane city firefighter last week and headed home to his wife, three children and an uncertain future. He was among 28 city firefighters laid off last week as part of $17 million in budget reductions across Spokane city government. The fire department took the brunt of some 40 city layoffs as officials sought to balance higher labor costs against sluggish tax revenue for 2005.
The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously approved the first change to its 2005 budget, adding back four more firefighters whose positions were cut during budget reductions earlier this month. The fire department is losing the largest number of people in the 2005 budget and will have by far the most layoffs of any city department when the new spending document takes effect on Saturday.
The chances for a white Christmas are improving, thanks to a low-pressure area that intensified in the Bering Sea in the past couple of days that's pushing a potential snowstorm toward the Northwest. "It's on its way south," Todd Lericos, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Spokane, said Thursday.
The Spokane City Council has given its approval to provide $850,000 worth of public improvements that will help pave the way for an office park in East Spokane. More than $36 million in private investment is expected for the 20-acre Iron Bridge campus on the north side of Trent Avenue at Erie Street along the Spokane River. Five office buildings, two parking garages and a restaurant space are planned for the development.
Four more firefighters are expected to be added back to the Spokane city budget for 2005 after union firefighters and city management agreed that the additional staffing was needed for safety reasons. The City Council on Dec. 13 agreed to increase cable TV fees in part to pay for four other additional firefighters.
If you've been dreaming of a white Christmas, that's probably as close as you are going to get to the real thing in the Spokane area this holiday. Forecasters are calling for snow-free conditions.
If you've been dreaming of a white Christmas, that's probably as close as you are going to get to the real thing in the Spokane region this holiday. Forecasters are calling for snow-free conditions.
The Spokane City Council in a 5-2 vote on Monday approved one more settlement in the ongoing legal battle over the city's involvement in the troubled River Park Square parking garage. The Spokane Downtown Foundation has agreed to pay $800,000 from its liability insurance policy in exchange for the city dismissing claims against the foundation in a federal securities lawsuit scheduled for trial in January.
The Spokane City Council Monday reaffirmed a budget decision to raise fees on cable television service in the city despite a week-long public relations onslaught against the increase by the city's cable provider. As much as $1.5 million could be collected by the higher fees, which will be used to pay for nine police and fire officers, a city misdemeanor prosecutor and funding for community centers and mental health in a 2005 budget that calls for deep cuts across major city services. Additional funds could go for boosting the city's weak cash reserve.
The Spokane City Council voted Monday to raise fees on cable television as part of a wider effort to save police and fire jobs and restore a handful of proposed cuts for 2005. The council ultimately found $1.3 million for spending or reserves through a combination of higher cable revenue and other budget adjustments.
Searching for ways to ease major budget cuts, members of the Spokane City Council on Thursday said they are considering an increase in the city's utility tax on cable television service. The city could potentially raise $1.5 million a year from cable subscribers. It was not clear exactly how much the tax would cost individual customers, but one official said it would likely be about $2.50 a month.
It may be hard for the public to fathom how Spokane's union firefighters can receive salary increases totaling at least 17.5 percent over five years at the same time the city is considering cutting 58 firefighters in 2005. Councilman Brad Stark confronted the paradox during Monday's City Council meeting when he challenged the fire union president to grant wage concessions to help the city out of its budget crisis.
The Spokane City Council on Monday postponed a possible vote on a settlement in its legal battle over River Park Square, and instead scheduled an unusual Saturday session to consider the pact. Council members said they want to give themselves and the public a chance to look over the details of any settlement before voting. The meeting was scheduled for 8 a.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. Public testimony will be taken.
Details were still being ironed out Sunday in a possible settlement in the River Park Square legal dispute. City Council President Dennis Hession said he hoped a proposed agreement would go to the council for a vote during its regular meeting at 6 tonight in Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting will be broadcast live on Cable Channel 5.
There are many unknown numbers in a proposed settlement between the city of Spokane and the River Park Square developer that the City Council is expected to consider Monday. Lawyers and accountants will spend much of the weekend filling those numbers in, because without them, the council will likely ask for a delay.
A computer malfunction at Spokane's wastewater treatment plant played a critical role in last May's sewer tank eruption that claimed the life of one worker and left two others with serious injuries. Results of an independent investigation showed that the domed lid of "digester" tank No. 3 burst away from its anchors much like a cork popping from a bottle because the tank was so full of sewage there was nowhere else for it to go, the lead investigator said on Friday.
The proposed settlement in Spokane's ongoing dispute over River Park Square could end a major threat to one of the key programs helping the city's low-income residents and poorer neighborhoods. The threat grew more serious in recent weeks when the developer of the mall disclosed it was considering bankruptcy as one of its options for dealing with financial problems at the mall, city officials said.
A concrete sewer tank lid that broke apart in a fatal explosion last May already had hairline cracks prior to the accident, according to a Spokane city official who is familiar with details of an independent investigation into the catastrophic failure. The new detail emerged after members of the Spokane City Council were briefed Thursday in a closed-door session by investigators from Exponent Failure Analysis Associates of Menlo Park, Calif.
The Spokane City Council has approved a settlement with the former manager of the River Park Square mall in connection with a lawsuit over financing of the mall's parking garage. It is the third agreement reached in the city's effort to settle a securities fraud lawsuit over $31.5 million in garage financing. The council approved the agreement Monday in a 5-2 vote with Cherie Rodgers and Bob Apple voting no.
The budget-balancing job of the Spokane City Council didn't get any easier Monday. Council members heard details of a proposed wage settlement with union firefighters, which calls for salary increases of 3 to 4.5 percent per year for 2003 through 2007. Firefighters have worked for two years under an expired contract, and would receive retroactive pay of nearly $1 million for 2003 and 2004 combined. Council members may vote on the contract Monday.
Spokane Mayor Jim West has been trying to quell a political firestorm that broke out at City Hall after he fired the city's retirement director this fall. Dan Daniels was let go in September, the mayor said, because he did not meet the mayor's standards for professionalism. West has declined to elaborate.
