Pia Hallenberg

Some restaurants are charging service fees on customers’ bills in lieu of tips, in anticipation of a new federal law that prevents pooled tips and “tip-outs” to kitchen staff.

When George Nethercutt ran for Congress in 1994, he pulled off the ultimate upset and beat Tom Foley, the sitting U.S. speaker of the House. The win was the most significant in a year when Nethercutt and other Republicans wrested control of the House from Democrats. But some Eastern Washington voters were in for a surprise when they realized their new congressman didn’t automatically become speaker.

Spokane Valley City Council is proposing a 6 percent utility tax, going against its founders who promised no utility taxes.

The Spokane Valley City Council has made it clear that it desires a new library across Sprague Avenue from the new City Hall, but it’s not clear how it’s going to be paid for or who would run it. That was the takeaway by the frustrated contingent of Spokane County Library District’s board of trustees that gathered briefly outside Spokane Valley City Council Chambers on Tuesday evening, after listening to a city staff presentation on how the city could potentially de-annex from the district.

Spokane Valley held a public meeting to solicit input for a master plan that will guide the design of the rest of the Appleway Trail last month. Construction on the next phase, from Sullivan Road to Corbin Road, will begin in spring.

Spokane Valley was considering six different sidewalk projects that may qualify for 2017 Community Development Block Grant funding. Last year, a proposed sidewalk along Blake Road set off a storm of criticism first from residents on Blake who were opposed to the sidewalk, and then from critics of the Spokane Valley City Council who accused Deputy Mayor Arne Woodard of giving away the

For a secret mission it had an anticlimactic outcome: the Spokane Valley City Council unanimously appointed acting city manager Mark Calhoun its new city manager Tuesday evening, putting an end to rumors about Rep. Matt Shea and county commissioner candidate Josh Kerns being shoo-ins for the job.

Advertising questioning the decisions made by the Spokane Valley City Council keep popping up.

Neighbors near McDonald Road and Eighth Avenue have been complaining so frequently about speeders on Eighth Avenue and crashes in the intersection, that the Public Works Department examined what’s going on.

The board of the Spokane Valley-based nonprofit social services organization, Spokane Valley Partners, promoted longtime development director Jennifer Schlenske to executive director, and she began working in her new position immediately.

Spokane County Water District 3 is abandoning its well in Spokane Valley’s Browns Park and drilling a new well somewhere else.

When the popular Spokane County sheriff, a Republican, called on the local GOP to censure state Rep. Matt Shea, it seemed like an opening was created for a serious challenge to Shea’s re-election bid. But Shea’s challenger, Scott Stucker, is a political newbie and Bernie Sanders Democrat with no campaign experience and few things to say, other than he’s running to give voters in the 4th District a choice.