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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

New section of Centennial Trail overlooks Spokane River

Call it coincidence, but the Centennial Trail is celebrating its 25th anniversary by christening a new portion of Mile 25. The half-mile stretch – called Mile 25 – is notable for its views of the river and separation from any road, allowing trail users a bit of solitude. Its separation also gives the trail a Class 1 designation, said Loreen McFaul, executive director of Friends of the Centennial Trail. That means 34 of the 37 miles of the Centennial Trail carry such a classification.
News >  Spokane

Republican incumbents carry the day in local races

A slate of inconsequential primaries delivered results Tuesday night as both candidates in a number of two-person races moved forward to November’s general election with a better idea of where their support lies. It was a night for incumbents in the Republican Party as state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and state Rep. Matt Shea all took commanding leads of at least 10 percentage points over their opponents. In the largest spread, Knezovich walloped his challenger, Doug Orr, besting him by 33,000 votes of just 74,000 cast in early returns.
A&E >  Entertainment

Spokane city budget proposal boosts police resources

A second police precinct, a steady stream of newly trained officers and a race to the deadline for a cleaner Spokane River dominates Mayor David Condon’s 2015 budget proposal, which he released Tuesday. By holding a news conference in front of a Hillyard building at Market Street and Diamond Avenue – long used by the police department for storage but destined to become home to the city’s second precinct – Condon made clear what he considered the highlight of his budget plan: investments to public safety.

News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council finalists lean liberal

Not even a year ago, Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart was stymied by a conservative majority on the city’s legislative body on votes concerning tax issues, urban growth and protections for City Hall employees. In about three weeks, Stuckart and a liberal bloc of five out of seven votes could be unstoppable. Stuckart announced Monday the five finalists for the District 3 City Council seat left vacant with the resignation of Steve Salvatori, a fiscal conservative who moved to Texas last month because of work. It may be no surprise that the top five, who were chosen from a list of nearly two dozen applicants, are also Stuckart’s top five choices, according to a tally sheet handed out to media.
News >  Spokane

Spokane joining nationwide ‘ban the box’ trend

Spokane Mayor David Condon said Monday the city would join a nationwide trend to “ban the box” and no longer ask city job applicants about their criminal background. At a news conference Monday, Condon said revising the city’s employment application would open “another pathway to access” for people with criminal pasts and give them “more equal footing for meaningful employment.”
News >  Spokane

Positions filled on new police oversight board

A five-member advisory board to give further oversight of the Spokane Police Department will include the former director of a human rights organization and a retired military official who most recently served at the Pentagon. Voters approved the creation of the citizen oversight commission in early 2013, and members are expected to begin their work within a month, after they pass criminal background checks and the City Council officially approves their appointments.
News >  Spokane

Spokane voters to decide on polishing Riverfront Park, fixing streets

There was little controversy at Monday’s Spokane City Council meeting, where discussion centered on two big tax measures: to revitalize Riverfront Park and continue funding for street maintenance. Voters may not be so agreeable, but they’ll have a chance to consider the proposal. After more than an hour of public input, the council unanimously voted to send the innovative financing package to voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council District 3: Candace Mumm vs. Michael Cannon

If convincing people to contribute to a political campaign is a sign of future success in government, Candace Mumm will be a hit. Mumm has raised more than $70,000, beating all previous fundraising records of City Council candidates and almost doubling her opponent’s fundraising in the race to replace Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin, who has served the maximum two terms allowable by local rules.
News >  Spokane

Spokane city leaders back plan to make downtown more inviting

A collection of business, government and community representatives gathered in Spokane City Hall’s Chase Gallery on Friday morning to show their support for an initiative to make downtown “safer and more inviting for commerce, tourism, recreation and living.” Alongside mentions of adding more police officers to patrol downtown and efforts to “beautify” downtown, City Council President Ben Stuckart said new laws giving enhanced enforcement powers to police, passing additional human services funding and revitalizing Riverfront Park were integral to their initiative.
News >  Spokane

Spokane police to get body cameras

The Spokane City Council voted unanimously Monday to purchase body cameras for police officers, joining other cities in adopting technology that has so far proved to lessen complaints against officer conduct as well as use of force by police. Council President Ben Stuckart was vocally supportive of the body cameras, saying they had support in all corners of government and “were unanimously endorsed by the Use of Force Commission, unanimously endorsed by the City Council last year, unanimously by the city administration and I think they’re a huge step forward.”
News >  Marijuana

Zoning OK’d for Spokane pot sales

Don’t expect to buy marijuana in the Garland District. Do expect to buy it on North Division. The Spokane City Council approved some zoning restrictions Monday evening, striking from the city’s Planning Commission rules that would have allowed recreational and medical marijuana facilities in more pedestrian-friendly shopping centers such as those on Garland and 14th avenues as well as Grand Boulevard.
News >  Legal

Spokane City Council approves police body cameras

The Spokane City Council voted unanimously Monday to purchase body cameras for police officers, joining other cities in adopting technology that has so far proven to lessen complaints against officer conduct as well as use of force by police.
News >  Spokane

Finding answers to sullied downtown image

Tim Barlos was bartending at the Satellite Diner two weeks ago when one of his patrons was blindsided with a blow and knocked out in front of the downtown Spokane bar. The punch, which came after about 15 minutes of arguing according to witnesses, was caught by a local TV cameraman. The station’s website said the man was “sucker-punched by a street kid.”
A&E >  Entertainment

Spokane mayor proposes city ethics ‘upgrade’

Spokane Mayor David Condon proposed Monday an overhaul of the city’s ethics committee, saying the decade-old body needs an “upgrade” to give citizens “the assurance of transparency.” Condon said no particular incident motivated him to pursue the move and that he had not witnessed any breaches in ethics while mayor.
News >  Spokane

Spokane erred in handling grant money

Investigators have discovered a number of mistakes in how Spokane receives and handles federal grant money, leading the city’s finance director to say the findings “could impact our ability to receive federal grants.” The mistakes were made with grant money from 2012 primarily going to the city’s Community, Housing and Human Services Department, but a state auditor also found errors involving grant disbursement to the police department.
News >  Spokane

Spokane’s 17 fallen firefighters remembered

Paul Heidenreich was 29 when he crawled to the roof of the Tri-State Distributor warehouse on South Sherman Street with two other firefighters. The plan was to ventilate the 49,000-square-foot building, and as the men struggled to remove the building’s skylight just before midnight on a Saturday, more than 60 other firefighters from 17 regional units battled the four-alarm fire below them.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council president stalls ‘sit-lie’ law

A proposed expansion of powers for Spokane police expected to decrease criminal behavior downtown has been partly blocked by City Council President Ben Stuckart after detractors said it would “criminalize homelessness.” Stuckart said he agreed with the primary motivation of the proposals but believed they were too broadly written.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council moves toward police leadership changes

The appointment of the Spokane Police Department’s managerial team moves forward Monday as the City Council considers shifting city money to help pay for a new captain’s position and a deputy director of the department’s business services division. The moves, which are said to save the city $30,000, are part of Chief Frank Straub’s effort to “streamline our operations and continue to create a department that runs more like a private business,” said Monique Cotton, the department’s spokeswoman.
News >  Spokane

Developer Greg Jeffreys seeks change in trial venue

Spokane developer Greg Jeffreys, who is jailed on federal charges alleging that he defrauded investors of millions of dollars, has asked a judge for a change of venue for his trial, arguing that local media have “saturated the Spokane area with prejudicial and inflammatory remarks.” Citing primarily Spokesman-Review coverage, Jeffreys argued that half of the county’s potential jury pool had been tainted with information unrelated to the trial. The motion also cited the case against former Spokane police Officer Karl Thompson, in which Thompson’s trial was moved to Yakima in 2011 after five years of “intense media coverage.” Thompson was found guilty of excessive use of force for his role in the death of Otto Zehm in 2006.
News >  Spokane

Insurance bill for city on rise

Hurricane Sandy made landfall Monday night in Spokane, nearly a year after it destroyed much of the Jersey shore, and eyes turned to Upriver Dam. No need to run for your basement. The talk of disaster involved readiness and insurance coverage.
News >  Spokane

Judge orders 2 initiatives to be blocked from ballot

A Spokane County judge stopped two controversial ballot measures from appearing on November’s ballot Friday, saying they fell outside the scope of the initiative power. Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno sided with a coalition of government and business interests, which argued that the initiatives attempted to create regulations and protections that were not within the city’s power to enact. They also said the initiatives would hurt local government and business.
News >  Spokane

Riverfront Park bridge checks sought by Jon Snyder

As a man pedaled through on his way to work and a woman in running clothes pumped by, Spokane City Councilman Jon Snyder was preoccupied with the exposed rebar and rusted pins underfoot on a pedestrian bridge in Riverfront Park. “Most of these bridges weren’t built to last forever,” Snyder said of the bridges erected for Expo ’74. “This bridge may be built to last a nuclear blast. I don’t know. But when I see this rust, it makes me wonder.”