Stories by Shawn Vestal for the Spokesman-Review

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Sound, necessary police reforms did not cause shootings

Sun., Aug. 14, 2022

In 2021, the Washington Legislature passed a suite of police reform laws – developed in conjunction with city and police officials – that certain law enforcement leaders have been hollering about since.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: If Rolovich takes the next step, he’ll be facing an unbeaten opponent

UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 12, 2022

Last fall, we went to a great football game in Pullman.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: WSU forced an accounting on its police department

Wed., Aug. 10, 2022

At least WSU was pushing.

News

New book tells the little-known story of Spokane’s forgotten Riblet brother

Sun., Aug. 7, 2022

Ty Brown is leading us around the site of the old Riblet mansion – though it’s not the one you probably have in mind.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Biggest primary victory was the defeat of the conspiracists

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 8, 2022

Stopped the steal!

News > Education

Shawn Vestal: Retired WSU administrator lights viral spark with story of loan forgiveness

Sun., July 31, 2022

Mary Jo Gonzales borrowed about $90,000 to earn the graduate degrees that would allow her to pursue a career in higher education.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: The laws are the laws, but they don’t enforce themselves

Fri., July 29, 2022

The mayor says that the City Council’s resolution calling on the city to not waste its resources enforcing the abortion laws of other states is beside the point.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: A gloomy electorate looks ahead and expects things to get worse

Wed., July 27, 2022

We’ve long been called “the dry side” here in Eastern Washington.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: The jury weighed in, but the missing jail video leaves questions

Sun., July 24, 2022

Once again, in the resolution of a lawsuit that raises allegations of misconduct in the justice system, there will be a payment to the victims’ family, but no real answer for the public on a crucial question.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Failures of leadership compound VA records debacle

Fri., July 22, 2022

They call it the “unknown queue.”

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Abortion foes seek to extend reach into pro-choice states

Wed., July 20, 2022

Pro-what now?

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: The war on libraries roils “the best small library in America”

Sun., July 17, 2022

Earlier this year, a patron of the Boundary County Library in Bonners Ferry – “the best small library in America” – approached the library director with a concern.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: The new downtown library pays rich dividend for the community’s investment

Wed., July 13, 2022

We invested in it.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: We might be done with the virus, but it isn’t done with us

Sun., July 10, 2022

Again and again, we’ve been done with the coronavirus before the coronavirus is done with us.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Another lousy, doomed idea to deal with homelessness, as the crisis worsens

Fri., July 8, 2022

So: Criminalizing homelessness is all there is, then.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Even as the high court rules, study shows concealed-carry laws increase crime

Sun., July 3, 2022

Just as the Supreme Court radically expanded the right to carry a concealed weapon, a new study arrived that should give pause to anyone interested in gun safety and violent crime.

A&E > Books

Summer Stories: ‘Pig Heart: A Love Story’

UPDATED: Sun., July 3, 2022

She was there when I awoke, smelling of Downy, fiddling with the heart-lung machine, cloaked in baggy blue scrubs, masked and wearing a surgical cap with a pattern of watermelon slices on a field of light blue.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: A case of truth and courage about January 6, for those with the eyes to see

Fri., July 1, 2022

As with all things in the Trump era, McMorris Rodgers has adopted the three-monkeys strategy: Neither seeing, nor hearing, nor speaking any uncomfortable truths.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Reason for hope on homelessness, if political leaders can seize the moment

Wed., June 29, 2022

Two new sources of hope for our homelessness emergency have arrived.

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: The radical threat isn’t confined to a compound in North Idaho anymore

Sun., June 26, 2022

The day after a U-Haul full of masked, militarized white supremacists were arrested on their way to riot during a Coeur d’Alene Pride Day event – complete with written plan! – the city’s mayor insisted, “We are not going back to the days of the Aryan Nations.”

Opinion > Column

Shawn Vestal: Lack of response to race survey tells a sorry story about sheriff’s office

Wed., June 22, 2022

An audit of attitudes about race among deputies in the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office crashed and burned last year, because so few deputies bothered to respond that auditors could not accurately draw conclusions.