Nicholas Deshais

The Spokane City Council is considering building a pay-to-park lot in the South Perry District, a proposal that’s drawing mixed feelings from local residents and businesses.

gasp.

In January, the city of Spokane began issuing tickets for drivers speeding near Finch and Longfellow elementary schools. Since then, 5,778 tickets have been issued, ranging from $234 to $450. That means between $1.3 million and $2.5 million in fines have been picked up from drivers near those schools, where speed limits drop to 20 mph when children are present or warning lights are flashing.

Former City Council President Joe Shogan told the council Monday night to "appoint an interim, experienced city manager" to run the city while city officials, notably Mayor David Condon, "figure out the Straub matter."

Up to $5 million in private donations should be raised to augment $64.3 million voters approved in 2014 to upgrade Riverfront Park, and donors should be offered naming rights in the park, according to a study commissioned by the Spokane Park Board.

Chalk art on downtown sidewalks is a form of free speech, no matter how offensive it is, a situation recently clarified by the Spokane City Council.

Gov. Jay Inslee gave the final approval on Tuesday for the Spokane Tribe’s casino project, clearing the way to a $400 million gaming and retail development on the West Plains. The project has been opposed by downtown business interests as well as Spokane County leaders who have argued that the construction of a large commercial area near Fairchild Air Force Base could make the military base susceptible to closure. But the base never took a formal position on the issue, and supporters of the casino stressed that the project would create well-paying jobs for tribal members and other and boost the local economy.

Isadore “Ace” Allen was killed two days after arriving in Korea in 1950; now his memory lives on in the nephew who is named after him and in a book written by his niece.

Spokane Rising did the math: A quarter of downtown is dedicated to parking.

Hession said he is not interested in being city attorney.

The city began paving new bike lanes on the South Hill. If it goes as city planners hope it does, the porous pavement may be used in future projects to help stop pollutants from going into the Spokane River.

The Saranac block will lose a traffic lane but get more parking.

More bike amenities? Traffic calming? Easier commuting for vehicles? Light rail?! Hyperloop?!?! What about a trolley?

And so does your friendly neighborhood street work.

Bike to Work Week starts Monday with a pancake breakfast in Riverfront Park.

Members of the Spokane Park Board questioned the ballooning cost of a Riverfront Park design contract this week, at one point coming close to stripping some projects from the work, including a promised skate park on the park’s north bank. The contract with the Seattle-based Berger Partnership, a landscape architecture and urban design firm, was originally limited to $1.5 million but the firm is now projecting more than $3.8 million in costs, prompting one park board member to warn the final contract cost is “going to be much higher than that.”

Riding in a dirty, rock-filled bike lane is no fun.

This weekend, the Inland Northwest is getting its first fast-charging electric vehicle station.