All Stories

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.

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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.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Another year, another chance to fix Idaho’s fatal faith-healing protections

Wed., Jan. 25, 2023

More than seven years ago, Boise attorney Kirt Naylor signed off on a rallying cry to defend Idaho’s children.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Bulldozer politics aren’t well-suited for the new County Commission

Wed., Jan. 18, 2023

“If you could tee up the PowerPoint for me, I’d appreciate it.”

News

Some examples of the regional approach to homelessness that’s being eyed in Spokane

Fri., Jan. 13, 2023

Several cities have created regional authorities to take on homelessness.

News >  Local government

The push for a regional homeless authority gains steam

Fri., Jan. 13, 2023

The long-discussed idea of creating an independent regional agency to coordinate and depoliticize homeless services is taking some large strides toward reality.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Once again, lawmakers assert their privilege to ignore records laws

Wed., Jan. 11, 2023

“Where is this ‘legislative privilege’ in the law? Nowhere. The Public Records Act does not grant such an exemption for withholding records.”

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: NIC board scores big with Holocaust denier, not so much the bond raters

Sun., Jan. 8, 2023

On Dec. 21, amid a storm of public feedback, the beleaguered and incompetent North Idaho College Board of Trustees majority received one particularly noteworthy thumbs-up and one particularly noteworthy thumbs-down.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Conspiratorial spin doesn’t align with facts on breakthrough cases and vax mandate

Fri., Jan. 6, 2023

THEY KNEW!

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: A long pattern of indifference to passengers preceded the airline meltdown

Wed., Jan. 4, 2023

As we began our descent into Phoenix – a city nowhere near our original route – the flight attendant got onto the intercom and began offering us … a credit card deal.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: A long, sleepless night working is no way to stay safe in the sleigh

Sun., Dec. 25, 2022

Santa Claus should thank his lucky stars he didn’t crash that sleigh last night.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Trent shelter report to council charts progress, big challenges

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 16, 2022

As the city has gone all in on the Trent shelter – and only the Trent shelter – as a response to homelessness, the project has been plagued by questions and inconsistent public statements about its capacity and other issues.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Shooting reports were a hoax, but the terror of that hellish half-hour was real

Wed., Dec. 14, 2022

They practice for it now, our children, as they practice for a volleyball game or the school play or the holiday concert.

News >  Washington

Covenant project unearths the threads of historical housing discrimination in Washington

Sun., Dec. 11, 2022

They are, literally, all over the map.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: We took big steps on marriage and marijuana, but the journey isn’t finished

Sun., Dec. 11, 2022

Ten years ago, our state took two momentous steps in one momentous election: We legalized recreational marijuana and we equalized marriage.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Sadly for NIC, it’s back to square one for the board that couldn’t shoot straight

Fri., Dec. 9, 2022

Todd Banducci says it’s a “new dawn here at NIC.”

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: The homeless crisis is not about one camp, and it’s bigger than most people realize

Wed., Dec. 7, 2022

There is a perverse political advantage for our local leadership in the Camp Hope crisis.

News >  Local government

In the cold and snow, politics falls away amid the effort to stay warm and dry

Fri., Dec. 2, 2022

Cassandra Cree woke up to find her roof – the tarp under which she sleeps at Camp Hope – had collapsed.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Mar-A-Lago supper, echoes Allsup strategy for infiltrating the GOP

Wed., Nov. 30, 2022

It was hard – in the aftermath of the Mar-a-Lago supper between the loathsome Nick Fuentes and the loathsome Donald Trump – not to think about the mostly forgotten (though also loathsome) James Allsup.