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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nicholas Deshais

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

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News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council requires two firefighters on calls for help

At least two firefighters must respond to a call for help, the Spokane City Council decided Monday in a surprise decision that not even the fire chief was briefed on until just prior to the vote. The requirement raises questions about the future of the city’s “Alternative Response Units,” which were formed in 2013 in response to long-standing concerns that the department was over-responding to minor medical emergencies with multiple firefighters in gas-guzzling firetrucks. Fire officials had long argued that they needed to be in firetrucks so they would be ready for any call. But they said that position shifted with the increasing load of medical calls and budget crunches.
News >  Spokane

Inslee weighs action on climate change against ‘poison pill’ in transportation bill

Last week, mass transit, bicycling and pedestrian advocates were celebrating with “cookies and confetti” the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars headed toward alternative transportation projects and programs approved by the Washington state Legislature and signed into law by the governor. This week, as Gov. Jay Inslee contemplates enacting a low-carbon fuel standard, the celebrations have halted and the alarms have been sounded.
News >  Spokane

Workers Bill of Rights proposal qualifies for Spokane ballot

Enough signatures have been collected in Spokane to put a proposed Workers Bill of Rights charter amendment on this November’s ballot. If passed, the newest measure put forth by Envision Spokane would amend the city charter to require large employers to pay workers a “family wage,” ensure equal pay for equal work regardless of gender or race, and make it more difficult to terminate workers. The measure would make the rights of a corporation secondary to people’s rights.

News >  Spokane

Condon, Straub lead Spokane delegation to White House to highlight police reforms

Efforts to reform the police department and enhance community involvement have made Spokane a national model, said Mayor David Condon and police Chief Frank Straub, who were at the White House on Thursday as part of a forum on community policing. Condon said Spokane’s voluntary two-year review by the U.S. Department of Justice, the creation of the Criminal Justice Commission and the citizen-led effort at expanding oversight through an empowered ombudsman have put it ahead of other cities struggling with trust and legitimacy in their police departments.
News >  Spokane

Court measure, setting of mayor’s pay before Spokane voters

Two ballot measures are before Spokane voters this primary election, one that should be familiar and another that won’t. Proposition 1 will allow the city’s Salary Review Commission to set the mayor’s pay. The measure is the culmination of a heated discussion between Mayor David Condon and the Spokane City Council after the mayor’s 2015 budget proposal included a nearly $7,000 pay raise for his position.
News >  Washington Voices

Candidates make their pitches

Councilman Mike Fagan has the reputation of saying what he thinks, no matter the consequences. He questions the safety of vaccines. He says he hadn’t seen racism in Spokane until recently – and it came from the disgraced former NAACP president, Rachel Dolezal. He thinks allowing women to become cops or Marines is a lowering of standards. In a debate about abortion rights, he questioned a fellow council member’s religious beliefs.
News >  Washington Voices

City Hall no stranger to District 2 candidates

Candidates for Spokane City Council on the city’s south side are no strangers to City Hall. Two of the candidates have mounted unsuccessful campaigns for City Council in recent years. The third has worked as an aide to council members for the past six years.
News >  Spokane

Condon has more money, name recognition than challengers for Spokane mayor

Four years ago, David Condon’s name didn’t mean a lot to a lot of people. As an aide to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, he entered the mayor’s race as an unknown challenging a well-liked mayor. His first time before voters, in the summer of 2011, he had a primary election success that looked more like a crushing defeat.
News >  Washington Voices

Northwest council seat filled by replacement now goes to voters, with four choices

When Steve Salvatori quit the Spokane City Council for work in Texas last year, some people clamored for his replacement to be in his mold: a business-minded, fiscally conservative government outsider. Instead, the majority on the City Council dipped into the employment rolls at City Hall and appointed Karen Stratton, a former aide to Mayors Jim West and Mary Verner who had spent the past few years working in the city clerk’s office.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council sends immigration initiative to county for verification

Upward of 200 people converged on Spokane City Hall Monday night to voice both support and concern with a police department policy that says the immigration status of an individual “shall not be the sole basis for a contact, detention or arrest.” The policy, which has been on the books for a decade and was  reaffirmed by the Spokane City Council last fall in a city ordinance, has come under attack by people who argue it turns Spokane into a “sanctuary city” and encourages lawlessness. Detractors have gathered signatures to place a repeal of the immigration law on an upcoming ballot.
News >  Spokane

Political balance before Spokane voters

For the past year, the debate at Spokane City Hall often has devolved into two camps, the mayor versus the City Council. Or, more directly, David Condon versus Ben Stuckart. It’s true that Mayor Condon, who hails from Republican circles, doesn’t always agree with the City Council, which has held a left-leaning, veto-proof voting bloc since last summer. And it’s true that at times Condon and Council President Stuckart have entered into public political fisticuffs over issues including how much Condon’s inner circle at City Hall should be paid and an informal handshake deal between Condon and hotelier Walt Worthy to use city funds to pay for environmental cleanup.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council candidate had DUI in 2009

Randy Ramos, the only candidate actively campaigning against Councilman Mike Fagan in this year’s Spokane city elections, was charged with drunken driving in 2009 and still owes money to a debt collection agency for unpaid fines related to the incident.
News >  Spokane

City to use utilities funds for street projects

The city of Spokane owns about 45 percent of the property within its borders, including parks, plants, lots and government buildings. And more than half of the land it owns – about 11,000 acres – is streets, sidewalks and alleyways.
News >  Spokane

Speed cameras going up at three Spokane elementary schools

After months of traffic counts and warnings to drivers passing through school zones, the Spokane City Council agreed to put automated cameras near three Spokane schools to nab speeders. By a vote of 6-1, with Councilman Mike Fagan dissenting, the council agreed to have cameras monitor vehicle speeds near Finch, Longfellow and Stevens elementary schools.
News >  Spokane

Sheriff: Extremists are breeding danger

The political rhetoric from the far right is breeding homegrown dangers, and local police agencies are no more militarized than they’ve ever been. Those were the two main points from a speech Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich gave Monday night, which was hosted by the Republicans of Spokane County at Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley.
Sports >  Outdoors

Blazing a trail: U.S. Bicycle Route 10 burnishes Washington’s standing as most bike-friendly state in the union

In a forest of blackened spires, the recent victims of the largest wildfire in Washington’s history, I climbed toward Loup Loup Pass on two wheels, breathing heavy and dripping sweat. A cardboard box on the side of the road stopped me. It was illustrated with a bicycle ascending the steep incline of Loup Loup, flames licking its tires. “Cold Water,” the box read, describing its contents. “Hot Hot.”
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council considers changes to Tiger Trail

The Tiger Trail on Spokane’s South Hill may be no more. The Spokane City Council may put $25,000 toward a study looking at replacing the 84-year-old uneven pedestrian path with a paved pedestrian and bicycle commuter trail. Funding for the study, which council members still are considering, could take a year to secure and would be matched by the city’s parks department.
News >  Spokane

Judge orders county to refund tax payments to 5,000 city residents

Spokane County has been ordered to issue refunds to about 5,000 Spokane residents who paid higher taxes because of a street levy approved by city voters last fall. County Assessor Vicki Horton and Treasurer Rob Chase said they’re deciding whether to issue the refunds or appeal the ruling. Meanwhile, city officials accuse the county of creating the problem.
News >  Spokane

Cross-state bike trek yields a story ridden

SANDPOINT – Ten days and 449 miles ago, I loaded my bike with bags and gear at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, steeling myself to ride across the state to Sandpoint. My mind was clogged with misgivings, fears that my legs weren’t up for the journey. Or worse, that my backbone – the figurative one – wasn’t.
News >  Spokane

Tour Deshais: Native American influence indelible along Washington bicycle route

NEWPORT – Wind-driven waves on an ancient glacial lake beat against the rocky shore, slowly carving out what we call the Manresa Grotto. I was about 30 miles into my day’s ride, and the cool shade of the cave grotto was on my mind for the rest of the ride, as the sun beat harder and a wind urged my bike to slow despite my wishes.
News >  Spokane

Tour Deshais: Descending through history

COLVILLE – After I crested one of the highest strips of pavement in Washington, I descended into history. My speed reached 25 mph, 30, 35 mph, and I went back in time. First along the ancient footpath that transformed into a wagon train route and then today’s highway that I’m biking on. But I also went from the relatively recent destruction of a forest fire, to the recovery work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, to the days of the frontier when trees were first felled by industry.
News >  Spokane

Tour Deshais: Charred Methow Valley landscape tempers joy

The scorched lands around the road leading to Loup Loup Pass are a grim reminder that not even a year ago the Methow Valley was under siege by Mother Nature. Wildfires jumped rivers and highways – the same ones I crossed today. Houses and power lines fell to the flames, and the largest fire in state history threatened town after town, including Twisp.