Nicholas Deshais

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.

"Big Brother" arrives downtown, wants your quarters

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.

We talk, text and increasingly read the news on our smartphones. But we’re not just ignoring those sitting near us with this behavior. We’re also affecting the city of Spokane.

Jailed Ridpath developer wants trial moved

A mass transit, double-decker bus in Spokane?

City Hall Scoop: Foot bridges and vegetated roofs

Envision Spokane to appeal judge's ruling barring them from the ballot

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.

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.

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.”

A judge ordered Friday that two controversial initiatives will not appear on November’s ballot.

Man shot by Spokane police officers Thursday died from wounds, according to medical examiner

Use of Force and Snowmageddon: A tale of Spokane's savings account

Spokane police Chief Frank Straub said Wednesday that his department has made significant progress on every one of the 26 recommendations issued by the city’s Use of Force Commission in February, including an anticipated purchase contract for body cameras that will be worn by officers at all times. Straub’s lengthy presentation, which came a day shy of marking his first year as the city’s top cop, took place in the City Council chambers before a crowd of community members, city department heads and about 20 police department employees.

Spokane police watchdog reappointed, details jump in internal complaints

Park department reorganization vote delayed

The Spokane City Council will consider Monday wholesale changes to the makeup of the park department, widening the scope of the mayor’s appointing powers. The decision follows similar moves in the city police and fire departments, which prompted a lawsuit by unions representing fire department employees.

A proposed law limiting the use of surveillance technology in the city of Spokane has been diminished to the point of being ineffective, according to local and state civil rights groups. It’s also stoked some opposition from the Downtown Spokane Partnership, which is planning a downtown camera network to provide the Spokane Police Department with real-time surveillance and to assist in investigative work.

A fraud investigator from the federal public defender’s office has joined the Spokane Police Department to focus on improving the city’s seizures of drug assets, implementing new laws legalizing marijuana and updating records management. Tim Schwering, 40, will serve as deputy director of tactical and strategic initiatives, a new position that will be a point of contact between the department and the city attorney’s office.

As budget discussions ramp up at the city of Spokane, a conservative think tank has released a study suggesting that pay for Spokane’s police and firefighters has not only outpaced the region’s average wages but is better than what their peers in larger Northwest cities are earning. Among the highlights in the Seattle-based Washington Policy Center study: The average firefighter and police officer salary in Spokane is 87 percent higher than the median household income in Spokane; police and fire union dues total about $750,000 annually; and police and fire employees on average are compensated better than their peers in Portland.

Bill Meeks has gotten a lot of jobs in his life. He’s supervised the construction of bridges, been a city engineer in Indiana, was responsible for traffic engineering, maintenance planning and permitting for the Indiana Department of Transportation, and supervised teams of up to 500 workers for Inland Steel before the company’s demise in 1998. He has a civil engineering degree from Purdue University, an MBA from the University of Chicago and is licensed as a professional engineer in four states.