Ted McDermott

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Opinion >  Column

Getting There: How should Spokane County’s transportation system grow?

Mon., Aug. 2, 2021

Some predict that computing will reach a singularity in 2045, as computers become smarter than humans. Meanwhile, local transportation planners are looking at that year and prioritizing what work will need to be done to accommodate a rapidly growing population. 

News >  Idaho

Can a new approach to affordable housing keep the middle class in booming Bonner County?

Sun., Aug. 1, 2021

SANDPOINT – Nancy Hadley never could figure out how to develop her 6-acre parcel into housing that local people could afford.

News >  Idaho

No violations found at controversial alt-right ex-comic’s Boundary County property

Tue., July 27, 2021

Neighbors have raised concerns about an alt-right ex-comic’s plans for a 10-acre parcel along the Moyie River, but an official who visited the property earlier this month identified no violations of the Boundary County zoning code and observed little construction activity.

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Opinion >  Column

Getting There: Can a 6-lane I-90 and $1.5 billion prevent gridlock in 300,000-person Kootenai County?

Mon., July 26, 2021

It's safe to say people aren't moving in droves to North Idaho because they want to sit in gridlocked traffic.

A&E >  Music

‘There’s only going forward’: As live events return, venues navigate strong demand, continuing uncertainty

UPDATED: Sun., July 25, 2021

The strangest thing about Ice Cube’s concert on Thursday night at the 5,000-seat BECU Live amphitheater at Northern Quest Resort and Casino was how normal it was. At the first major live concert in Spokane in a year and a half, the beer lines were long and every seat was sold.

News >  Business

Latest Latah Valley development plan to be subject of community meeting

UPDATED: Fri., July 23, 2021

Development in the Latah Valley has been largely stalled due to concerns about traffic along U.S. Highway 195, but that hasn't stopped developers from continuing to push for approval of new projects.

News >  Spokane

‘An alternate reality’: Cohousing community nears completion in South Perry

UPDATED: Thu., July 22, 2021

“You just stepped into an alternate reality,” Mariah McKay told a recent visitor to Haystack Heights, a cohousing community nearing completion in the South Perry district.

Opinion >  Column

Getting There: New fees to aid failing central Spokane Valley intersections

Mon., July 19, 2021

If central Spokane Valley's intersections were a high school student, he would be sitting in the back of the class, head down, barely scraping by. And his prospects for graduating would be grim. 

News >  Spokane

Downtown Spokane is poised to come back after pandemic, but it won’t be the same

UPDATED: Fri., July 16, 2021

Downtown Spokane has long been the epicenter of the city’s 9-to-5 business activity. But that suddenly changed when COVID-19 arrived, and the vast majority of office workers were sent to do their jobs via Slack and Zoom.

News >  Family

‘A grand experiment’: With first monthly payments to parents set to arrive Thursday, Democrats push to make them permanent

UPDATED: Tue., July 13, 2021

WASHINGTON – Starting Thursday, families across the United States will receive the first in a series of monthly payments of up to $300 per child that could dramatically cut child poverty and offer a preview of what might become a major part of the American social safety net for years to come – if Democrats get their way.

Opinion >  Column

Getting There: Lax enforcement makes Lime scooters a hazard for some

Mon., July 12, 2021

Lime announced a milestone in mid-June: 1 million rides had been taken on its scooters and bikes in Spokane since they first arrived in 2018.

News >  Washington

Spokane River advocates push court to compel cleanup plan for PCBs: ‘It’s time for action’

UPDATED: Tue., July 6, 2021

Thomas Soeldner has had enough.

News >  Spokane

Windows smashed at Planned Parenthood in Spokane Valley; suspect arrested

UPDATED: Mon., July 5, 2021

A vandal smashed 14 windows at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Spokane Valley on Saturday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the organization.

Opinion >  Column

Getting There: With climate getting hotter, gas power can’t cool us down

UPDATED: Mon., July 5, 2021

There's no single source of the greenhouse gases that are warming our planet, and there's no definitive way to tie the Pacific Northwest's recent heat wave to those gases. But ample evidence indicates Spokane is getting hotter and drier, and that gas-guzzling vehicles are a major source of carbon emissions in our area. 

News >  Spokane

Would fixing Spokane’s housing crisis be at odds with cutting its carbon footprint?

UPDATED: Sun., July 4, 2021

When Chancy Jackson got his federal stimulus check, he “went straight to the car lot,” he said.

News >  Spokane

Spokane County treasurer extends property tax deadline for landlords

UPDATED: Thu., July 1, 2021

Landlords and property managers in Spokane County will have more time to pay their property taxes, County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner announced Thursday.

Opinion >  Column

Getting There: Lawsuit alleges City of Spokane negligence after pedestrian hit at troubled Division crossing

Mon., June 28, 2021

The lawsuit alleges the city's own study of Division Street called for pedestrian-activated lights that were never installed. As Spokane looks to reimagine Division Street for safety, the crosswalk could be one area where the city should focus its efforts.

News >  Washington

Tenants are scared. Landlords are fed up. Despite Inslee’s moratorium ‘bridge,’ eviction worries loom

Sun., June 27, 2021

Brandi Bennett is scared.

News >  Idaho

Gov. Little touts road funding, including for I-90 expansion, during North Idaho visit

UPDATED: Fri., June 25, 2021

The Republican governor was speaking at one of the countless sites where that question has come up: at the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and Lakeshore Drive, near the south end of the Long Bridge, which crosses Lake Pend Oreille, connecting Sagle to Sandpoint. 

News >  Business

Spokane airport receives $17 million in pandemic aid

UPDATED: Wed., June 23, 2021

After a year of plummeting passenger traffic, Spokane International Airport has received a big financial lift from recently passed federal pandemic-relief legislation. 

News >  Spokane

Free ride: Demand high already for STA program that lets kids take the bus at no cost

Tue., June 22, 2021

Spokane Public Schools students are out for summer as of midday today, and the Spokane Transit Authority may have just the thing to help keep them occupied until class is back in session: a free bus pass.

Opinion >  Column

Getting There: As some cities remove urban highways, work begins on skyway section of North Spokane Corridor

UPDATED: Mon., June 21, 2021

Since breaking ground on the $1.5 billion North Spokane Corridor in 2001, WSDOT has made about 5 miles of progress and opened the NSC from its northern terminus to Freya Street, north of Francis Avenue. But the department still has about 5 miles and eight years to go.

News >  Idaho

Idaho doubles out-of-state fees for camping; $48 a night to camp at Priest Lake

Thu., June 17, 2021

Bad news for the 47,097 non-Idahoans who camped at Priest Lake State Park last year: If you want to make a new reservation, you’ll have to fork over $48 per night for a site.

News >  Pacific NW

‘It’s time to bring them back’: Tribes’ canoe journey calls attention to loss of salmon, legacy of residential schools

Wed., June 16, 2021

FORT SPOKANE – They may have been paddling upstream, but the wind was at their backs.

Opinion >  Column

Getting There: City aims to add new kinds of protected bike lanes along Illinois Avenue

UPDATED: Mon., June 14, 2021

Suggestions for how to improve the pocky road running along the Spokane River bluff in northeast Spokane included telescopes for amateur stargazers. Other suggestions focus on improving access for cyclists and a smoother ride for motorists.