Stories by Thomas Clouse for the Spokesman-Review

News > Business

United Airlines adds flight from Spokane to Houston

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 15, 2026

United Airlines will be adding a nonstop flight from Spokane International Airport to Houston staring in May and ending in early August.

News > Local business

Spokane-area Tech Hub consortium passed over again for funding

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 15, 2026

About seven months after learning it's previously awarded $48 million in grant funding had been rescinded, officials seeking to create an aerospace manufacturing hub in Spokane have been rejected again as part of its latest bid to revive the project.

Sports > Outdoors

Organization offers reward for information on grizzly killing

UPDATED: Sat., Jan. 17, 2026

A conservation organization announced this week that it's adding to the amount of money already available for information leading to the conviction of whoever shot and killed a grizzly bear in October near Perkins Lake, located northeast of Moyie Springs and near the border with Montana.

News > Military

SkyFest 2026 dates announced as celebration returns to Fairchild Air Force Base

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 9, 2026

Officials at Fairchild Air Force Base announced Friday that it has set the time for the annual SkyFest event that it hosts each ear at the military facility located in Airway Heights.

News > Local business

Scam artists use trust, fear and AI to target Washington victims: ‘Their brain shuts off’

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 9, 2026

The calls come in with voices that soothe or those that instill fear. Many of the inquiries come with information that puts the recipient at ease, as if it's coming from either a banking institution or government entity with the authority that gives the message gravity. But both are types of contacts are intended to trigger a response: give us money. And they work.

Sports > Outdoors

Deer in Ferry County tested for CWD, later test inconclusive

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 7, 2026

A mule deer killed in Ferry County this past hunting season tested positive for chronic wasting disease in tests performed by a private testing company. However, the tests were inconclusive for CWD when performed by state biologists.

News > Washington

Bye-bye, penny: How Eastern Washington businesses are navigating the end of the currency’s production

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 7, 2026

Despite headlines warning of a penny shortage, banks, collectors and businesses across Eastern Washington say transactions are mostly unchanged – and pennies are widely available.

A&E > Entertainment

Former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth coming to Spokane Tribe Casino

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 5, 2026

David Lee Roth, the 71-year-old former lead singer for the rock band Van Halen, has announced a new tour that will begin in Airway Heights.

News > Idaho

New chief judge named for federal court in Idaho

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 2, 2026

A new chief judge has been named to help manage federal courts in Idaho.

News > Local business

Spokane-area contractors fined by state regulators

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 2, 2026

Two Spokane-area contractors face several thousand dollars in fines after the Washington Department of Labor and Industries investigators determined that they put workers' lives at risk during a recent home build.

News > Local Government

Lawsuit over state’s eviction moratorium names Spokane, alleging ‘government-compelled physical occupation’

Thu., Jan. 1, 2026

A legacy decision that was put in place to protect renters during the COVID-19 pandemic is now the target of class-action lawsuit by property owners in Washington state, including Spokane, who claim that the policy constituted an unlawful "taking" from landlords.

News > Crime/Public Safety

‘He’s going to get judgment’: Man linked to two Spokane killings dies on parole in Boise

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 31, 2025

Some unnamed recipients will soon receive the transplanted liver and kidneys from a double killing suspect from Spokane.

News > Weather

Brief snow blast allows Mt. Spokane to open amid historically ‘mellow winter’

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 29, 2025

A brief blast of cold and some scrappy new snow-moving techniques allowed Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park to open this past weekend.

News > Pacific NW

Spokane honors killed state trooper with lowered flags

Fri., Dec. 26, 2025

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown announced Wednesday that employees will lower flags to half-staff at all city facilities to honor a Washington State Patrol trooper who was killed on December 19 as she worked a collision in Tacoma.

News

Idaho State Police awards dispatchers for helping solve case that turned out to be false

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 22, 2025

The Idaho State Police announced Monday that it has awarded two dispatchers with its Distinguished Achievement Award after they helped piece together information that led to the arrest of a kidnapping suspect last June.

News > Business

VIsit Spokane announces new board members

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 19, 2025

Visit Spokane on Friday announced the appointment of its board of directors for the coming year.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Medical Examiner identifies two men who died in Spokane County Jail

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 19, 2025

The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office on Friday identified two men who died while in custody Monday inside the Spokane County Jail.

News > Business

Alaska Airlines adds nonstop flight to Anchorage

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 18, 2025

Spokane commuters will soon have a new option for flying to Alaska.

News > Higher education

Wind storm takes down historic presidential trees on University of Idaho campus

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 17, 2025

The windstorm that raced across the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday apparently held little regard for history.

News > Weather

Damaging windstorm predicted to hit Spokane Region early Wednesday; utilities and city offer tips to prepare and stay safe

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 16, 2025

Strong winds will hit the Spokane region early Wednesday morning with predicted speeds that could match the devastating wind storm of 2015, according to the National Weather Service.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Spokane man sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to rape of child

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 12, 2025

A Spokane man was sentenced Friday to serve 16 years-to-life in prison after previously pleading guilty to three counts of rape of a child in the first degree.

News > Business

CdA urban renewal organization names new CEO

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 12, 2025

The urban-renewal organization ignite cda, which until 2015 was the Lake City Development Corporation, announced Friday the appointment of a new CEO to replace longtime leader Tony Berns.

News > Spokane

Charity founder Rick Clark cleared of fraud allegations

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 12, 2025

A local charity founder recently was cleared of criminal wrongdoing after allegations of misuse of donated funds were found to be without merit.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Fire destroys north Spokane business, damages another

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 9, 2025

A fire that appeared to have originated in a parked vehicle destroyed one business and damaged another Tuesday in a six-unit structure in north Spokane.

News > Business

Locust Cider announces closure of Spokane taproom

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 8, 2025

The owners of Locust Cider and Brewing Co. recently announced that they closed their taproom in Spokane.

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