Nicholas Deshais

A third of urban highways in Washington are in poor condition, a quarter of the state's bridges are structurally deficient or obsolete and the state transportation department faces a backlog of $1.8 billion backlog in "pavement preservation," according to a report released this week by...

If you've ever walked around downtown Spokane, you won't be surprised to hear that the sidewalks are broken. Like really broken, deteriorating and hazardous, especially if you've got your nose buried in your smartphone. It may surprise you to hear that there's $40 million worth of repair...

How many can you count?

For many years in Spokane’s early history as a city, the Howard Street bridges were the only way to get across the Spokane River, not counting wading, swimming or taking a ferry. Traffic first crossed the three bridges in 1881, and for much of the following century vehicles traveled from the river’s north bank and over the islands before finally crossing under the tall trestles of the elevated Union Pacific rail lines and into downtown Spokane. Factories surrounded the traffic, milling lumber, wheat and power in what is now Riverfront Park.

BNSF says it won't happen.

A fir tree can absorb almost 300 gallons of water per year. An ash tree takes care of about 100 gallons. Dogwoods only take in about 26 gallons. For the city of Spokane, all these thirsty trees – and dozens more varieties – play an important role in keeping the Spokane River free of pollutants.

Marchers took to the streets of the nation’s cities Wednesday evening in support of a $15 an hour minimum wage, following a similar if much smaller rally in Spokane earlier in the day. About 25 people gathered outside of the Fred Meyer store in the East Central Neighborhood of Spokane at 9 a.m. The rally lasted just a few minutes before demonstrators boarded a Seattle-bound bus, where people from around the state gathered for a larger protest.

A new mail truck?

Dumb question. Or is it?!

Only room for one

I lived in Michigan for a year and let me just say that their winter roads are always clear. And a lot of their older cars are rusted. I was driving a 1991 Subaru Loyale at the time and more than one person asked to...

Spring has sprung, and if you’re looking for a bike, then you’re in luck. Beginning today, the fourth annual  Spokane Bike Swap and Expo will take over the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center with more than 1,000 new and used bikes for sale, from kids’ bikes to road bikes to tandem cycles to everything in between.

The Spokane Bike Swap and Expo is here.

Later this year, a new bridge will span the Willamette River in Portland. Portland, like Spokane, is a bridge city, so any new bridge is notable. This one - called the Tilikum Crossing - is especially interesting, as it allows every mode of transport to...

When state auditors and city officials found that Gary Lindeblad, the golf pro at Indian Canyon Golf Course since the mid-1980s, owed the city nearly $90,000 because of poor bookkeeping, he didn’t balk. Instead, Lindeblad delivered three handwritten pages to the city arguing he was owed more than $190,000 because “severe maintenance issues” at the 80-year-old golf course had cut into his revenue over the years, a line of reasoning that met little resistance at City Hall.

The issue of how much Spokane’s top elected official should be paid was revived Monday by Mayor David Condon, who challenged the City Council to “look to solutions rather than just the problem.” Condon called on the City Council to put a measure on the “next available ballot” asking voters to approve a plan to have the city’s Salary Review Commission set the mayor’s pay. The commission currently determines compensation for City Council members and Municipal Court judges.