Stories by Thomas Clouse for the Spokesman-Review

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.

News > Business

Ashley Store opening in Spokane and Moscow

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 4, 2025

Broad River Retail announced on Thursday that it plans to open a new Ashley Store in Moscow next year. That event follows the expected opening later this month of the company's largest store in the former Macy's building in NorthTown Mall.

News > Business

Owners of longtime Spokane restaurant Thai Bamboo seeks buyer for three locations

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 8, 2025

Thai Bamboo is not closing, but the owners of the 25-year-old franchise of three restaurants are looking to sell to a buyer who, ideally, would keep the name, employees and menu.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Don Brockett, who served as Spokane County prosecutor for quarter century, dies

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 1, 2025

Donald C. Brockett, a lawyer who served as Spokane County Prosecutor for a quarter century and who once had a mother of a suspect pay a hitman to render him a "vegetable, has died. He was 89.

News > Local business

Downriver Grill owners placing restaurant up for sale

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 27, 2025

The owners of longtime Spokane restaurant Downriver Grill have announced that their eatery is for sale.

News > Business

Verizon announces layoffs, including a dozen Spokane-area employees

UPDATED: Tue., Nov. 25, 2025

Verizon this week informed state officials that it intends to layoff 165 employees throughout the state including 10 who work in Spokane and two in Spokane Valley.

News > Business

Three Spokane-area businesses received trade-association awards

UPDATED: Fri., Nov. 21, 2025

Three Spokane-area businesses won top awards Thursday as part of the Association of Washington Business' annual event highlighting businesses that displayed excellence in their fields.

News > Health

Thousands to treat a runny nose? New Post Falls hospital’s billing practices under scrutiny

UPDATED: Mon., Nov. 24, 2025

The largest insurance provider in Idaho announced this week that it is seeking a state investigation into how a new hospital in Post Falls is billing its patients by using an arbitration process that it claims has inflated patients' medical costs.

News > Health

Sacred Heart halts heart transplants amid staffing shortage: ‘We don’t have the people’

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 20, 2025

Officials at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center announced Thursday that those seeking heart transplants must go elsewhere.

News > Local business

Karen Worthy, the more cautious partner in the effort to save the Davenport Hotel, dies at 81

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 20, 2025

The couple who started with office buildings before taking a flier on a historic hotel property in downtown Spokane, recently lost the former first-grade teacher who displayed a knack for keeping her impulsive husband in check. Karen L. Worthy, wife of hotelier and developer Walt Worthy, died earlier this month. She was 81.

News > Weather

Knockout blow: 2015’s Windstorm devastated Spokane and changed how we look at big pines

UPDATED: Fri., Nov. 14, 2025

Inland Northwest weather disasters, like the Ice Storm of 1996 and 'Snowmageddon' of 2008, hit the Spokane region as sort of surprises. But 10 years ago, forecasters began, days in advance, warning folks that a sledgehammer of a wind storm was headed this way.

News

Motive for Post Falls house destruction remains mystery

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 13, 2025

Whoever jumped into a Komatsu excavator Tuesday morning and proceeded to systematically destroy a Post Falls home displayed mad skills.

News > Local business

Silverwood owners agree to sell theme park in Athol

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 19, 2025

The family that founded and operated Silverwood Theme Park in Athol announced Wednesday a deal to sell the entire operation to another family-held company that operates several other similar properties throughout the country.

News > Military

Spokane area restaurants offering service member deals on Veterans Day

UPDATED: Mon., Nov. 10, 2025

Its origin dates to 1919 and the end of World War I. What is now known as Veterans Day will bring lots of closed offices but perks at several other businesses for those who served or continue to wear U.S. military uniforms.

News

Seasonal hiring season comes for Spokane jobseekers

Mon., Nov. 3, 2025

When Amazon announced two weeks ago that it was seeking 1,000 temporary workers to help with its holiday rush, it signaled a change in what has traditionally been a good time for Spokane area workers seeking a little extra cash.

News > Agriculture

Trump’s Argentina beef buy riles local ranchers: ‘We are baring our souls to the market and hoping everything works out’

UPDATED: Sun., Nov. 2, 2025

Rising beef prices helped Annabelle Schmidt to convince her grandfather that she could follow his footsteps and become the sixth generation of family to raise cattle on Green Bluff.

News > Federal Government

‘A sad reality’: Food banks, grocery stores, residents expect to feel the strain from impending SNAP benefit expirations

Wed., Oct. 29, 2025

Dozens of volunteers sifted through huge pallets overflowing with 40,000 pounds of pears fresh off a truck from the Wenatchee Valley on Tuesday afternoon at Second Harvest distribution center in Spokane.

News > Local business

Schweitzer Engineering releases plans for expansion in Moscow

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 27, 2025

One of the region's largest manufacturers announced plans Monday to get even bigger.

Sports > Outdoors

‘Access is important’: State parks officially opens new Knothead Trail facilities

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 24, 2025

A group of mostly staff, volunteers and heavy trail users gathered Friday to dedicate a new parking lot that will provide visitors better access to the popular Knothead Valley Trailhead but also take much needed pressure off the nearby parking lot for the Indian Painted Rocks Trailhead on the Little Spokane River.

News > Local business

Visit Spokane’s Rose Noble to chair state board

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 22, 2025

Rose Noble, the president and CEO of Visit Spokane, has been appointed the new chair of the State of Washington Tourism Board of Directors.

News > Weather

Weather system bringing rain, snow to Spokane region

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 22, 2025

The cool beginning to Fall for the Spokane region is about to get cooler with a band of rainstorms that likely will hit Friday and continue into early next week.

News > Business

North 40 Outfitters opening new store in Mead

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 21, 2025

Already a retail anchor located north of Spokane, North 40 Outfitters is hosting a grand opening on Wednesday for its newest store, which the company is calling its "flagship location."

News > Business

Amazon seeks 1,000 Spokane-area seasonal workers

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 17, 2025

E-commerce giant Amazon announced Friday that it is seeking to hire about 1,000 seasonal workers in the Spokane area to help with the expected sales push during the holidays.

News > Business

Five Below store to open Spokane Valley location

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 16, 2025

A store brand that offers everything from candy to home decor will be coming to Spokane Valley next month.

News > Higher education

Northwest Public Broadcasting halts KWSU-TV operations

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 19, 2025

A public television station founded 63 years ago on the campus of Washington State University will go dark at the end of the year.

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