Shawn Vestal

Current Position: columnist

Shawn Vestal joined The Spokesman-Review in 1999. He currently is a columnist for the City Desk.

Email: shawnv@spokesman.com
Phone: (509) 459-5431
Twitter: Twitter

Most Recent Stories

News > Crime/Public Safety

‘I feel like I lost my edge’: Effects of Freeman High School shooting still echo for teachers

UPDATED: Sun., March 26, 2023

On Oct. 25, 2021, a 14-year-old boy brought a loaded gun in his backpack to University High School.

Shawn Vestal: Probe details extensive communications, favors between police chief and business group

Wed., March 8, 2023

When Chud Wendle – the combative leader of a group of property owners who regularly criticizes City Council members over crime and homelessness – wanted a special report from the police department about crimes committed by transients, he didn’t file a public records request.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Burgess, GU’s original All-American, also stood at the center of a fair housing case in Spokane

Fri., March 3, 2023

As the clock runs out on Frank Burgess’ scoring record at Gonzaga, it’s a good time to revisit a short but revealing chapter from his life in Spokane in the 1960s.

News

Shawn Vestal: A Black pioneer’s legacy in Spokane stretched deep into the 20th century

Sun., Feb. 26, 2023

He was born into slavery and escaped it.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Of the forking paths at Camp Hope, one produced results

Sun., Feb. 19, 2023

At some point in the last several months, one of our local social media wags began referring to Camp Hope as Camp Brown.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Troll politics applauded in Coeur d’Alene even as it imperils NIC

Wed., Feb. 15, 2023

The celebration of troll politics took place a few hundred yards down the lakeshore from the consequences of troll politics.

News > Transportation

Shawn Vestal: Airlines’ many challenges leaving flyers feeling ‘worse and worse’

Sun., Feb. 5, 2023

Larry Weir’s job has sent him into the air for more than 30 years.

News

Shawn Vestal: Spokane airport posts some of the best on-time figures in the business

Sun., Feb. 5, 2023

In a network full of challenges for the air traveler, those of us who fly into and out of Spokane are relatively lucky.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Trial records expose Proud Boys as the silliest seditionists

Sun., Jan. 29, 2023

It’s long been clear that the Proud Boys – the “alt-right fight club” that rode the Trump train to prominence and a key role in the Capitol insurrection – are a destructive, malign force.