Mike Prager

Sunny or mostly sunny skies and mild daytime temperatures are expected through the work week, according to the National Weather Service.

A nonprofit organization is gearing up for a campaign to create a new military and aerospace museum at Felts Field in northeast Spokane. The Spokane Airport Board recently approved a lease to allow construction of the museum on a 14,400-square-foot parcel on Rutter Avenue just west of the Felts Field terminal.

It may be an election year, but Democrats and Republicans agreed on Tuesday that completion of the northern half of the North Spokane Corridor was a bipartisan accomplishment. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, were joined by Spokane County GOP Commissioner Todd Mielke and state Rep. Andy Billig, D-Spokane. All are running for office this fall.

A dry cold front passing over the Inland Northwest this morning is expected to lead to gusty winds later today and cooler temperatures that could approach freezing by Wednesday night.

The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning for fire danger Monday and also issued a hazardous weather outlook for a dry cold front that is expected to whip up winds across the region. The front was expected to reach the region by this morning and trigger increasing winds out of the northwest and north. The warning is in effect from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. today. Wind gusts to 28 mph are possible in the Spokane area and up to 50 mph on mountain ridges.

The National Weather Service has upgraded its fire weather watch to a red flag fire warning and also issued a hazardous weather outlook for a cold front that is expected to whip up winds across the region on Tuesday.

Spokane County officials are reconsidering their 2010 choice to build a new jail at the Medical Lake interchange off Interstate 90. The selection of the Medical Lake site from among 10 sites studied that year ran into controversy over converting rural land to urban use.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has extended a ban to include all outdoor and agricultural burning in Eastern Washington amid continuing wildfire danger. The ban includes campfires, bonfires, yard cleanup and land clearing. The ban will last through Sept. 30 and came with a recommendation that residents protect themselves from wildfire smoke.

Air quality was moderate in Spokane this morning, but the National Weather Service is maintaining its air quality alert for the Columbia Basin and much of Eastern Washington.

The agency responsible for planning and funding regional transportation projects is taking a closer look at how to help pedestrians, bus riders, bicyclists and disabled people safely get around Spokane. The Spokane Regional Transportation Council board has accepted for the second year in a row an $11,500 “active community environments” planning grant.

A series of transit advisory groups will convene starting Wednesday to plan for future improvements on four major corridors in the Spokane region. The routes are: downtown to Liberty Lake via Spokane Valley; North Division Street to downtown; Five Mile Prairie to Moran Prairie; and Cheney to downtown.

The National Weather Service has issued an air stagnation advisory for the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area as well as for much of the Columbia Basin region of Washington.

The move by Walt and Karen Worthy to build a convention headquarters hotel on Spokane Falls Boulevard shows the economic potential of expanding the Spokane Convention Center, public officials said on Wednesday. Mick McDowell, chairman of the Spokane Public Facilities District, said the letter of intent reached with the Worthys on Tuesday affirms promises made last spring when voters approved a pair of tax extensions for Convention Center expansion.