Stories by Thomas Clouse for the Spokesman-Review

News > Crime/Public Safety

Doctor convicted in dark web hitman scheme seeks medical license restoration from federal prison

Sun., July 19, 2026

A Spokane physician, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to a scheme in which he solicited a man on the dark web to cripple his female colleague and kidnap his estranged wife, wants to provide care for babies again.

News

Washington Ecology fines ranchers over stream runoff in Whitman County

UPDATED: Fri., July 17, 2026

The Washington state Department of Ecology has issued a $48,000 fine against ranchers who are based in Idaho but run cattle on land along Steptoe Creek in Whitman County near where the creek dumps into the Snake River.

News > Business

Spokane area officials focus on streamlining permitting to allow more ‘middle housing’

UPDATED: Tue., July 14, 2026

Solving Spokane County’s housing affordability crisis will require cooperation and more options for developers to build in existing neighborhoods rather than adding subdivisions filled with single-family homes, said local housing experts participating in a discussion Tuesday by Great Spokane Inc.

News > Business

Alaska Airlines adding seasonal flight to Honolulu in December

UPDATED: Tue., July 14, 2026

Alaska Airlines is adding a seasonal-direct flight option for Spokane travelers that will run from December through April, the airlines announced on Tuesday.

News

Former UPS driver’s $238 million jury award whittled away by legal rulings

UPDATED: Mon., July 13, 2026

Two years ago, a Spokane jury delivered a United Parcel Service driver from Yakima a life-changing decision. The jury awarded Tahvio Gratton nearly $238 million in mostly punitive damages against his former employer.

News > Transportation

STA purchases property for expansion from convicted rapist Arlin Jordin

Mon., July 13, 2026

The Spokane Transit Authority is moving forward with expansion plans at its campus, buying property for an administration building, possibly starting in 2028.

News > Crime/Public Safety

A Spokane attorney sued the widow of the man he’s accused of killing. Why he says he had to file

UPDATED: Mon., July 13, 2026

Spokane attorney Brennan "Boone" Schreibman wants his life back. But his neighbor, 73-year-old Patrick Monahan, no longer has that option.

News > Idaho

Silver Valley group loses grant after working with disbarred Spokane attorney

Tue., July 7, 2026

Barbara Miller spent most of her adult life fighting to ensure five generations of those living with chronic lead poisoning in the Silver Valley get the resources they need to thrive.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Chelan Hills fire kills one, damages several homes

UPDATED: Mon., July 6, 2026

The fire season erupted in a deadly way this weekend as a fire ignited hear Highway 97 early Saturday and then raced through the the hills across the Columbia River from Chelan.

News > Sci/Tech

Longtime spokeswoman sues Fred’s Appliance over use of AI likeness

UPDATED: Thu., July 2, 2026

For the past 14 years, Spokane residents learned about upcoming sales and promotions at Fred’s Appliance through the voice and face of Amber George.

News > Sci/Tech

Avista confirms negotiations with company seeking to build large data center

UPDATED: Fri., June 12, 2026

Avista Corp. confirmed Tuesday that the “large load” customer seeking a massive amount of electricity is in fact a proposed data center.

News

Fairchild’s SkyFest brings aerial feast to Spokane

UPDATED: Mon., June 8, 2026

The sheer power of the F-16 Fighting Falcon at afterburner caused vibrations in the concrete. As it exited, the screaming roar of the engine of the jet flown by U.S. Air Force Maj. Taylor Hiester put the fighter into a climb that literally made his body nine times heavier than on the ground.

News > Local business

Avista agrees to framework to provide single business with power equal to half of all Spokane County customers

UPDATED: Wed., June 3, 2026

Avista has entered into a memorandum of understanding with one "large load" customer, but details of the business – and if it's a data center – were not released.

News

Forest Service dispatcher honored for work in Canfield Mountain shooting

Sun., May 31, 2026

Haley Schelin's co-worker walked outside of their office on June 29, 2025, and snapped a cellphone photo of smoke on Canfield Mountain in Coeur d'Alene. "Have we got calls on this?" the dispatcher asked Schelin, 31, who is the assistant center manger for the Coeur d'Alene Interagency Dispatch. That afternoon quickly escalated.

News > Local business

Visit Spokane announces $1.55 billion impact from local tourism

UPDATED: Thu., May 28, 2026

Visit Spokane, while celebrating its 50-year-anniversary, announced this week that Spokane welcomed more than 10 million visitors in 2025 who generated an estimated $1.55 billion economic impact.

News > Local business

Spokane’s professional women’s soccer ended with no explanation

UPDATED: Sun., May 24, 2026

The ownership of Spokane's professional soccer teams abruptly dissolved the Zephyr, the women's team, as it struggled to meet payment deadlines and attendance fell.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Spokane murder case delayed, again, after judge skewers and removes two defense attorneys

UPDATED: Wed., May 20, 2026

A Spokane County Superior Court Judge on Wednesday removed two public defenders from a murder case plagued by a series of delays, meaning the legal proceeding will continue to linger despite the passage of more than two years since the killing in question.

News > Transportation

Travelers to see changes this summer at Spokane International Airport

Sun., May 17, 2026

Travelers cycling through Spokane International Airport for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend are about to find some surprises, especially if they plan to use hourly parking next to the main terminal.

Sports > Outdoors

Hen-crazed gobblers turn hunt into spot-and-stalk adventure

UPDATED: Mon., June 22, 2026

The gobbles instantly announced, even to my impaired hearing, that I could make this work.

BoxLunch hosting grand opening in NorthTown Mall

UPDATED: Thu., May 14, 2026

The retailer BoxLunch will host a two-day grand opening event on Saturday and Sunday to commemorate its opening a location at NorthTown Mall.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Public defenders sue Spokane County over work standards

UPDATED: Mon., May 11, 2026

The attorneys hired by Spokane County to represent those who can't afford lawyers have sued their handlers over a sets of standards that the public defenders believe both violate the state constitution and could put the commissioners in jeopardy of future lawsuits filed by defendants who could claim that they didn't receive effective counsel.

News > Crime/Public Safety

His daughter called him crying, and then another voice got on the phone. Only one of them was real

UPDATED: Mon., May 11, 2026

Mark A. Young’s daughter called him at his home on a Monday. The young woman’s panicked voice projected fear and pain.She needed her father. “She was crying and upset,” Young said of his daughter. “She told me, ‘Dad, I got in an accident and I’m in trouble. I need help.’”

News

State revokes license of used car dealer in Spokane

UPDATED: Wed., May 6, 2026

A small used car dealership on East Sprague has lost its license to do business after several customers complained that they purchased cars there without receiving the corresponding titles of ownership.

News > Local business

Two surveys suggest most Spokane residents are contemplating an exodus

UPDATED: Wed., May 6, 2026

Two different surveys this week came to virtually the same conclusion: some two-thirds of Spokane-area residents area are considering a move to another state.

News

Feds reinstate massive grant for University of Idaho agriculture project

UPDATED: Thu., April 30, 2026

What had been the largest grant ever given to the University of Idaho, before federal officials rescinded it last year, has now become the largest do-over in school history as the same agency leaders decided to re-award the grant that will be used by Gem State farmers to find new ways to market their specialty growing methods and crops.

All Stories