Shawn Vestal

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Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: The political shift in the Valley isn’t quite the left turn the far right thinks it is

Wed., Dec. 4, 2019

If you’re still wondering how a lawmaker who pals around with people who fantasize about “skull-stomping” commies online continues to be re-elected, and whether that trend will continue, consider a pair of recent comments from the Spokane Valley mayor and the former county treasurer. And wonder no more.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Jailing people is expensive. Let’s look at all the options before building more cells in Spokane.

Sun., Dec. 1, 2019

It costs $298 to book someone into the Spokane County Jail and $134 a day to keep them there. Meanwhile, it costs $25 to start someone on an electronic home monitoring device and $4 to run the device each day afterward, according to new statistics from a local criminal justice task force.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Depths of Spokane history lie beneath fading downtown ghost signs

Thu., Nov. 28, 2019

Our city’s historic brick buildings wear the faded history of painted advertisements all around downtown. The more you look, the more you see.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: New red-flag gun laws are being used to prevent violence

Sun., Nov. 24, 2019

Twelve extreme risk protection orders have been issued by Spokane courts since a new law took effect that allows courts to temporarily remove guns from people who are threatening themselves or others. The case files suggest a process that is careful, methodical and fair.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Joy, service and food for the hungry on hand at Shalom Ministries for 25 years

Fri., Nov. 22, 2019

On Saturday night, Shalom Ministries will host its annual holiday concert and auction to help raise money. If you’re without plans, you could do worse than buy a ticket to help this organization while having an enjoyable evening.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Rep. Matt Shea saw ex-WSU GOPer James Allsup not as a bigot but as an ally

Sun., Nov. 17, 2019

James Allsup would be a natural fit on Matt Shea’s team – that circle of loose screws, online tough guys, racist ignoramuses, Islamaphobes and homophobes, violent fantasists, Trump cultists and gun lovers who orbit Shea like planets circling a dying sun.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Beggs will play crucial role after supposed change election idles

Fri., Nov. 15, 2019

After all that time, all that argument and all that Realtor money, the landscape at City Hall will be strikingly similar to the one we’ve had for eight years. Given that, it’s quite possible that the single most consequential elected official – the strongest one, you might say – will be the one sitting in the council president’s chair.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Spokane should be proud of program that combats family homelessness

Wed., Nov. 13, 2019

More than 100 families, and nearly 300 children, were either placed in housing or stabilized and prevented from becoming homeless as part of the program. Of those, 95 percent remain stable and housed today, based on monthly check-ins with community health workers.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Obituaries provide a picture of what has made Spokane such an interesting city

Sun., Nov. 10, 2019

Recent obituaries in The Spokesman-Review tell stories of Fuller Brush men and decorated Vietnam heroes, truck drivers and part-time ministers, businesswomen and piano players. The following was summarized from those obituaries.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Stuckart explains decision to quickly concede mayor’s race as observers left stunned

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 6, 2019

“I’ve had people asking me, ‘Why did you concede?’ ” Stuckart said. “Because it’s mathematically impossible for me to win. Barring a miracle, I lost.” Still, the decision took a lot of people by surprise, and his supporters seemed particularly stunned by it.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Tim Benn’s candidacy ran counter to deluge of special-interest spending

Wed., Nov. 6, 2019

If you are of the view that our politics is too controlled by big money, and that democracy is disfigured by the influence of the money-is-speech brigade, you weren’t disabused of that notion this year. Benn’s candidacy ran counter to all of that.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Initial internal reviews, watchdog assessment raise serious concerns about exoneration in K-9 arrest

UPDATED: Fri., Nov. 1, 2019

Chief Craig Meidl and Capt. Tom Hendren said they believed that the context of the arrest led them to conclude the use of force was appropriate. They did not mention earlier conclusions that raised serious concerns about Officer Dan Lesser’s use of his K-9.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Use of K-9, incendiary threats in arrest show the need for outside oversight of Spokane police

Thu., Oct. 31, 2019

This moment is precisely why the ombudsman’s office exists. The police department has essentially signed off on everything in the video but Lesser’s demeanor. But we’ve got to have more than their word for it. Because it just doesn’t look right.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Plaza project helps erase the boundary between river and city

Wed., Oct. 30, 2019

The plaza and these other riverfront projects are part of a thoroughgoing revitalization of the relationship between the city center and the Spokane River.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Recent income growth in Spokane outpaces state, nation

Sun., Oct. 27, 2019

Income in Spokane over the past five years has grown remarkably overall – more than the rest of the county, the rest of the state and the rest of the nation.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Woodward works overtime to avoid GOP label in run for mayor

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 25, 2019

By pretending she is nonpartisan, mayoral candidate Nadine Woodward is attempting to win in Democrat-leaning Spokane.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: The jokes were great, General Mattis, but let’s get serious

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 22, 2019

Gen. Jim Mattis is speaking in Spokane on Thursday night. The appearance by the former Secretary of Defense comes in the wake of a growing chorus of observers calling upon him to raise his voice and make a clearer case for his obvious concerns about the president he briefly served.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Family pushes parish to change course, after decision to stop allowing girls as altar servers

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 20, 2019

“I started to cry,” Emily Leonard said about her reaction hearing why girls could no longer be altar servers. “Before we left, I said, ‘Please let the girls who are being confirmed the chance to serve once. … It’s a different way to connect to God. You are joyful and happy.’ ”

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: The chill between cops and watchdog deepens, as controversial case approaches public release

Fri., Oct. 18, 2019

The relationship between police chief and ombudsman – always bound to have some inherent tension – has devolved into a chilly estrangement, growing partly from criticisms regarding a still-secret case in which an officer reportedly heaved a police dog into a car with a suspect.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: New project puts torture program, and its Spokane architects, on silver screen

Wed., Oct. 16, 2019

“The Report,” a new film that aims to be in the tradition of 1970s political thrillers like “All the President’s Men,” is set for a theatrical release in November.

Opinion >  Column

Shawn Vestal: Catholic school governors tie themselves in knots to explain McClain absence

Fri., Oct. 11, 2019

Clergy members of a church that does not recognize marriage between gay couples announced that they kept school kids away from an astronaut’s first local presentation since her return to earth not because she is a lesbian but because her now-ended marriage to another woman was not a church marriage.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Sondland, at the center of impeachment crisis, had interest in Spokane’s Ridpath Hotel

Thu., Oct. 10, 2019

The man at the center of the Ukrainian scandal – a figure who seems to have served a Haldemanian role in the White House attempt to shake down Kiev for political dirt – also had a presence in downtown Spokane in the 1990s.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Students will turn out to see astronaut and Spokane native Anne McClain this week – but some schools are staying away

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 8, 2019

Gonzaga Prep invited students from several local schools to attend a presentation by Anne McClain. But some schools passed on the chance, including Cataldo Catholic School. The reason? Some upset parents believe it’s because McClain is gay.

Opinion >  Column

American lives taking shape: For refugees from the Congo, life in Spokane is one of hope, heartache

Sun., Oct. 6, 2019

For Veronique Changa Changa and her children, the catastrophe they fled in the Congo was vast, even global, in nature, but they’ve recently experienced a more intimate, personal tragedy: The oldest son, Paul, who had become a family patriarch, died unexpectedly in late August.

News >  Spokane

Shawn Vestal: Only a football coach can talk about students that way

Wed., Oct. 2, 2019

Mike Leach, the highest paid – and most grossly overpaid – state employee, has a well-earned reputation for mocking, insulting and sneering at the “softness” of his WSU football players after losses in which he apparently stands blameless.