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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Scott Maben

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All Stories

News >  Spokane

Coeur d’Alene program coaches workers with disabilities

When Christopher Griffin fills out job applications, he knows his work history stands out for the wrong reason. He hasn’t held a job since 2005, well before the recession. The 31-year-old Spokane man was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago this month. The news derailed his working life.
News >  Spokane

Ecova main cause of Avista woes, says CFO

Avista Corp. brass sought to explain Tuesday why company profits are taking an unexpected dip this year, and they placed the blame largely on its non-utility operations, namely energy-services subsidiary Ecova. But with the help of customer rate hikes and some belt-tightening, the Spokane-based utility said it expects to improve its performance in 2013.
News >  Idaho

Libel defense: Blog remark question, not accusation

Defending herself against a libel suit, Linda Cook of Rathdrum says an anonymous comment she made earlier this year on a Spokesman-Review blog was a question about the accounting of GOP funds in Kootenai County, not an allegation of theft.
News >  Idaho

Inland Northwest aerospace poised for takeoff

A growing cluster of aerospace companies in the Inland Northwest is reaping the rewards of a global surge in aircraft production. It’s also setting the table for a main course that could nourish the economy much like health care and education do today.
News >  Spokane

LA takes shape in CdA

After 10 years of painstaking work late into the night, Larry Kmetz says he’s done. He’s built a city in his basement and is ready now to devote his time to other passions.
News >  Spokane

Republican Jacobson pursues lawsuit against online commenter

A Republican Party official in Kootenai County is pressing ahead with her defamation suit against a woman who posted online comments about missing GOP funds. Tina Jacobson, a Rathdrum resident and the former chairwoman of the Kootenai County Republican Party, has named Linda Cook in her suit over comments Cook made anonymously on The Spokesman-Review’s Huckleberries Online blog.
News >  Spokane

Coeur d’Alene elementary school program to be removed

A popular teaching framework at a Coeur d’Alene elementary school is getting the boot, even after hundreds of parents and residents rallied to save it. The Coeur d’Alene School Board voted unanimously Monday night to end the Primary Years Programme at Hayden Meadows Elementary School at the end of this school year.
News >  Idaho

Sand Creek Byway has restored ‘small town’ feeling

It’s shoulder season in Sandpoint. The summer crowds have dispersed and skiers have a couple of months to wait until the slopes open. But there is a bustle in town along the new Sand Creek Byway, the two-mile shortcut around downtown.
News >  Spokane

Lake trout yields boarder’s lost finger

When Haans Galassi of Colbert got a call from the Bonner County sheriff Tuesday morning, he had a feeling he knew what it was about. “The sheriff called me and told me he had a strange story to tell me,” said the 31-year-old project manager for a Sandpoint-based software developer.
News >  Spokane

Schools’ parental notification systems deliver info efficiently

When a 12-year-old boy went missing Friday in Coeur d’Alene, school officials turned to a new emergency notification system to alert parents by email and phone. About 12,000 households received messages before the student was found unharmed Saturday morning. “We were still in testing mode, and we just decided to go live with this,” said Laura Rumpler, spokeswoman for the Coeur d’Alene School District.
News >  Spokane

Truck loses large logs negotiating sharp turn

Idaho state Sen. John Goedde was in his Coeur d’Alene office around 7 a.m. Monday when he heard and felt a rumble like a small earthquake. “I was just working at my desk and the earth moved,” said Goedde, an insurance broker.
News >  Business

Idaho jobless rate falls

The unemployment rate fell in August across North Idaho and statewide, due in part to fewer people seeking jobs. The Idaho rate fell to 7.4 percent, down slightly from July, the state said Friday. In Kootenai County, the August jobless rate was 9 percent, down from 9.3 percent the month before.
News >  Spokane

Avista proposal decried as too high

Avista Corp. is asking too much of its customers in its latest push to raise rates 6.3 percent for electricity and 6.9 percent for natural gas, the Washington Attorney General’s Office and the state Utilities and Transportation Commission’s staff said Wednesday. The Spokane-based utility proposes the higher rates to raise an additional $40.9 million from electric customers and another $10.1 million from natural gas customers in Eastern Washington.
News >  Idaho

Candidate who lost council race appeals to Idaho high court

The Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a challenge to the outcome of a 2009 Coeur d’Alene City Council election. Jim Brannon, who narrowly lost a council race to Mike Kennedy, pressed his lawsuit against the city to the state’s high court after losing in district court nearly two years ago.
News >  Idaho

As broadband goes rural, it meets the need for speed

Most rural communities lag in the type of broadband Internet service available in urban areas. But northeast of Spokane, in Newport and the surrounding hills and valleys, around 5,000 homes and businesses have the chance to connect soon to a fiber-optic system with lightning-fast speed.
 The network being built by the Pend Oreille Public Utility District will allow users to download and upload data all the way up to 1,000 megabits, or 1 gigabit, per second - far faster than the 10 to 20 megabits that is a popular consumer choice today.
News >  Idaho

Broadband providers aim to educate users on benefits

Now that broadband is finding its way into nearly every corner of Washington, the focus is turning to using the technology to the fullest potential.
 Residents should ask themselves if the Internet is a luxury, an expense or a revenue source, said Will Saunders, broadband policy and program manager for the Washington State Broadband Office.
News >  Pacific NW

Need for speed: Broadband comes to rural areas

Think of the fastest Internet speed you experience. Now multiply that by 10, 50 or even 100. It’s coming … to Pend Oreille County. Most rural communities lag in the type of broadband Internet service available in urban areas. But northeast of Spokane, in Newport and the surrounding hills and valleys, around 5,000 homes and businesses have the chance to connect soon to a fiber-optic system with lightning-fast speed.