Thomas Clouse

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News >  Spokane

QQ Sushi reopens after viral videos show unsanitary conditions

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 19, 2020

A North Spokane restaurant re-opened Tuesday after videos went viral on social media earlier this month depicting the unsanitary way cooks were preparing meals on the kitchen floor.

News >  Spokane

Boeing using Spokane to test largest two-engine passenger plane ever built

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 18, 2020

Boeing’s latest variant of the jumbo jet has been flying test runs in and out of Spokane International Airport this week.

News >  Business

Spokane-area Boeing suppliers begin to feel pinch of 737 Max grounding

Tue., Feb. 18, 2020

As Boeing’s wait for federal approval for updates to troubled 737 Max grows longer, the trickle-down effect continues to strain several smaller Spokane-based companies that contract for everything from the airplane’s overhead storage compartments to its seats.

News >  Spokane

Spokane restaurant owner fires two after viral videos show food preparation

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 11, 2020

The power of social media broadsided a North Spokane sushi restaurant this week after a volunteer dishwasher posted videos of cooks preparing meals on a dirty floor, leaving raw food out at room temperature and using the same cutting board for everything from fish to vegetables.

News >  Spokane

Speaker: Next generation must use new ideas to save farms

UPDATED: Thu., Feb. 6, 2020

Two young boys wearing matching cowboy hats climbed up the ladder into the Case/IH Steiger quadtrac that was as big as a barn. The farm boys sat in the plush seat and pretended to drive the 580-horsepower machine that costs about $600,000.

News >  Agriculture

Ag Expo speaker: Wheat faces challenges in long term

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 5, 2020

Eastern Washington wheat growers face an uncertain future even with returning market stability following recent trade agreements with China, Mexico and Canada, an agriculture economist said Wednesday.

News >  Spokane

Spokane Ag Expo to feature old faces, new voices

Sun., Feb. 2, 2020

Hundreds of farmers will plow into downtown Spokane this week to look at the latest equipment and get forecasts for everything from rainfall to economic markets at the Spokane Ag Expo and Farm Forum.

News >  Business

iHeartMedia layoffs end KQNT morning show with Dave Spencer and Teresa Lukens

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 29, 2020

Almost without notice earlier this month, decades of collective on-air experience ended as a half dozen radio professionals in Spokane lost their jobs as part of industry layoffs that continue to erode local connections.

News >  Business

Spokane business location sheds bikinis and adds breakfast to coffee joint

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 24, 2020

The bikini-clad baristas have left the building, but commuters can still pick up their caffeine fix at the drive-thru that recently changed owners and names from Whip It A-Latte to the new TacoVado on North Ash Street in Spokane.

News >  Spokane

Spokane drug dealer gets 17 years following police chase and ‘mountain’ of drugs

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 24, 2020

A federal judge on Thursday told Shane J. Pariseau that he is running out of chances after he successfully escaped a high-speed police chase in 2018 only to be discovered days later in a Spokane hotel room with what one prosecutor described as a “mountain” of drugs.

News >  Agriculture

Prices rising for those Washington dairies that survived recent slump

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 22, 2020

Trade wars and high global supplies decimated prices for Washington dairies over the past two years, but demand remains high and prices recently have begun to surge along with hopes for the state’s third most valuable farm product.

News >  Spokane

Two more suspects sentenced to federal prison as part of insurance fraud scheme

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 22, 2020

Two defendants tied to an insurance-fraud scheme that included Spokane developer Ron Wells were sentenced to federal prison on Tuesday.

News >  Spokane

Prices rising for those Washington dairies that survived recent slump

Tue., Jan. 21, 2020

Trade wars and high global supplies decimated prices for Washington dairies over the past two years, but demand remains high and prices recently have begun to surge along with hopes for state’s third-most valuable farm product.

News >  Agriculture

Trade deals leave Washington producers relieved but with questions

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 17, 2020

While the trade agreements President Donald Trump signed earlier this week with China, Mexico and Canada may not be everything Washington farmers hoped for, most analysts believe the deals will at least provide a level of certainty moving forward.

News >  Spokane

An age of temperance ushered in Prohibition 100 years ago: How things have changed

Fri., Jan. 17, 2020

On this day 100 years ago, the nation officially went dry.

News >  Idaho

Texas jury convicts Post Falls state Rep. Green, but lawmaker hopes to finish term

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 15, 2020

Idaho state Rep. John O. Green said Wednesday that he has no immediate plans to step down after a Texas jury convicted him of the felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Former Ferris assistant coach nears plea agreement on sex trafficking charges

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 15, 2020

The day before a former assistant football coach at Ferris High School was arrested in 2018 for convincing a 15-year-old Moses Lake girl to meet him at Northern Quest Resort & Casino, federal documents allege he enticed a 14-year-old Spokane girl to engage in a “commercial sex act.”

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Federal judge in Spokane sentences Nespelem man for domestic assault

Wed., Jan. 15, 2020

A Nespelem man was sentenced to two years in federal prison Wednesday after he previously pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily harm.

News >  Business

Iconic Spokane watering hole Checkerboard Bar on East Sprague closed pending sale

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 14, 2020

The pool table has fallen silent. The liquor bottles, many half full, remain at attention. But, the padlock on the door and the massive “For Sale” sign at one of Spokane’s iconic watering holes foretells a different future.

News >  Idaho

Federal criminal trial of Post Falls state representative nears completion in Texas

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 13, 2020

The federal criminal trial of Idaho state Rep. John O. Green, R-Post Falls, appears to be nearing an end in Texas, as the defense has begun presenting witnesses in the case in which Green is charged with helping a wealthy Texas couple hide assets to avoid paying income taxes.

News >  Spokane

Friday snow dump causes more than 100 collisions in Spokane, cancels classes

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 10, 2020

The first major snowstorm of the season brought more than half a foot of powder to the Spokane area on Friday, creating hazardous driving conditions, prompting colleges to cancel afternoon classes and forcing Spokane Public Schools to call off after-school activities.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy shoots, kills man Friday after pursuit

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 10, 2020

A man was shot and killed Friday morning by a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy following a pursuit that ended in the backyard of a North Spokane home.

News >  Spokane

Changing funeral industry leads to sale of iconic Hazen & Jaeger building in Spokane

Fri., Jan. 10, 2020

The shifting landscape of the funeral industry has led to a business opportunity for someone seeking to purchase a very large, iconic building in Spokane that has two chapels, three apartments and its own crematorium.

News >  Spokane

Developer plans four new Browne’s Addition homes on slope above Peaceful Valley

Thu., Jan. 9, 2020

Steep slopes, views and a “high potential” for disturbing Spokane Tribe burial remains tend to attract attention when a developer proposes building four new homes in a forested area just above Peaceful Valley and just below the rim of Browne’s Addition in Spokane.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Two co-defendants in insurance fraud scheme sentenced to prison; Ron Wells sentencing scheduled in February

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 8, 2020

Two defendants, who were tied to an insurance-fraud scheme that included Spokane developer Ron Wells, were sentenced to federal prison Wednesday and ordered to pay restitution to help cover the cost of the insurance payouts.