Stories by Thomas Clouse for the Spokesman-Review

News > Spokane

Condon picks Matthew Antush as next Spokane Municipal Court judge

UPDATED: Fri., March 30, 2018

Matthew Antush was attending a Drug Court graduation Thursday when he received an important phone call. Antush walked out into the hallway and was instructed to call human resources to learn that he had just become a judge. “When I called back, I was told the mayor was going to announce (Friday) that he was going to appoint me,” Antush said. “I was stunned and pleased.”

News > Spokane

Manslaughter trial of Dwayne Thurman opens with description of shooting and chaotic aftermath

UPDATED: Wed., March 28, 2018

Dwayne Thurman dabbed his eyes at times Wednesday as a string of law enforcement witnesses described the chaotic scene from 2016 after he and his adopted daughter rushed his dying wife to Valley Hospital.

News > Spokane

Manslaughter trial begins for Dwayne Thurman in wife’s shooting

UPDATED: Mon., March 26, 2018

The trial of Dwayne Thurman begins this week as Spokane jurors will decide whether he was criminally negligent when he shot his wife in the heart while attempting to clean her handgun.

News > Spokane

Pasco man gets life in prison for drug convictions

UPDATED: Thu., March 15, 2018

A federal judge in Spokane has sentenced a Pasco, Washington, man to life in prison plus 49 years after he was convicted in separate trials last fall of distribution of drugs and unlawful possession of a firearm.

News > Spokane

Close Gonzaga game causes high anxiety for fans in Spokane

UPDATED: Thu., March 15, 2018

That red beer turned bitter, indeed, at the end of the game Thursday as Cinderella pulled off her glass slipper and threw it at the Gonzaga basketball fans watching the game in Spokane. They ducked when the Bulldogs’ Zach Norvell Jr. hit a late 3-pointer.

News > Spokane

Trump’s pick for CIA tied to torture lawsuit involving Spokane psychologists

UPDATED: Tue., March 13, 2018

President Donald Trump’s pick to head the CIA was at the center of a legal dispute regarding her role in a high profile torture case involving a pair of Spokane psychologists.

News > Idaho

Idaho troopers use spike strips to arrest fleeing Spokane Valley kidnapping suspect

UPDATED: Mon., March 12, 2018

The Idaho State Police said Monday that troopers investigating a reported kidnapping pursued a Spokane Valley suspect along Interstate 90 and eventually used spike strips to flatten the tires of a disabled a minivan near Kellogg, Idaho.

News > Spokane

FBI looking for suspected robber that prompted school lockdown in Coeur d’Alene

UPDATED: Mon., March 12, 2018

The Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy went into a brief lockdown Monday at the request of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department as officers investigated a reported bank robbery at 9:45 a.m.

News > Education

The spirit of 17: Sacajawea Middle School students and staff build a plan to honor Florida shooting victims

Fri., March 9, 2018

Sacajawea Middle School has found a way to honor Florida school shooting victims while averting disciplinary measures of a walkout.

News > Education

Graduation rate dips slightly for Spokane Public Schools

Fri., March 9, 2018

The graduation rate has dipped somewhat for Spokane Public Schools, but the numbers remain above both the state average and other recent years.

News > Spokane

Florida man gets 18 years for throwing Molotov cocktail at Spokane home

UPDATED: Wed., March 7, 2018

A man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for throwing a Molotov cocktail in 2016 at the Spokane home of his former girlfriend.

News > Spokane

State rules Spokane County medical examiners followed ‘standard of care’ in 14 disputed autopsies

UPDATED: Tue., March 6, 2018

In findings released Tuesday, the Washington Department of Health has ruled that two Spokane County medical examiners “followed the standard of care” in 14 autopsies it was asked to review in cases in which several families questioned their findings.

News > Spokane

Woman reports attempted abduction on Centennial Trial

Mon., March 5, 2018

A woman walking along the Centennial Trail near the Monroe Street Bridge told Spokane Police on Monday that an unknown male came up from behind her and tried to abduct her with a knife.

News > Spokane

Six area law enforcement officers shot in last 14 months

UPDATED: Mon., March 5, 2018

Two shooting incidents this week injured three police officers in Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene. Here is a list some of other shootings that injured members of law enforcement in the area.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Criminal charge dismissed in case involving forged judge’s signature

UPDATED: Sat., March 3, 2018

A felony forgery charge has been dismissed against the former spokesman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in a case in which someone forged the signature of Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno on his behalf.

News > Idaho

CdA police officer shot Tuesday released from hospital Friday

UPDATED: Fri., March 2, 2018

The Coeur d’Alene police officer who was shot Tuesday during a traffic stop that erupted into gunfire was released from the hospital on Friday.

News > Spokane

Detectives investigating death of Spokane County Jail inmate

UPDATED: Thu., March 1, 2018

Spokane County sheriff’s detectives have begun investigating the death of an inmate who was discovered early Thursday morning alone in a Spokane County Jail cell.

News > Spokane

Walkouts honoring slain students prompt differing responses in Spokane, Coeur d’Alene

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 28, 2018

Inspired by the powerful messages from the students who survived the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, a Spokane eighth grader started handing out permission slips to about 200 fellow students at Sacajawea Middle School.

News > Spokane

Coeur d’Alene police officer shot Tuesday night; suspect killed

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 27, 2018

A Coeur d’Alene police officer was shot Tuesday night during a traffic stop by a man with a felony arrest warrant. Officers returned gunfire and killed the suspect.

News > Education

Spokane educators: Give us books and projectors, not guns

Sun., Feb. 25, 2018

The heads of two of Spokane’s largest teachers organizations said Friday that they personally do not believe handing out guns to teachers will stop future shooting rampages.

News > Education

Committee needs more time to study sex education curriculum for Spokane schools

Fri., Feb. 23, 2018

The committee that will review changes to how Spokane Public School conducts middle-school sex education met Thursday but decided it needs more time to review three volumes of proposed curriculum.

News > Spokane

Post Falls Christian school raffles AR-15 rifle amid national controversy

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 21, 2018

As the national debate rages about how to respond to last week’s school shooting in Florida, several organizations, baseball teams and a local Christian school are caught in the middle of the uproar caused by previously -planned raffles to sell the model of firearm used in a string of recent fatal shootings.

News > Spokane

Inslee appoints Judge Shelley Szambelan to Spokane County Superior Court

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 20, 2018

Governor Jay Inslee announced Tuesday that he has selected Spokane Municipal Court Judge Michelle “Shelley” Szambelan to replace Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins, who recently announced her retirement.

News > Spokane

Candidate for BLM director joins legal team in Snake River ranch dispute

Tue., Feb. 20, 2018

The lawyer representing a Pomeroy rancher at the center of legal dispute with the federal government has joined forces with one of the nation’s top rancher-rights advocates, who could soon become President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Federal Bureau of Land Management.

News > Spokane

Florida massacre rekindles emotions from Freeman shooting

Sat., Feb. 17, 2018

The massacre that killed 17 people in Florida, as well as other recent school killings, reopens emotional wounds for officials and victims who continue to cope with the fatal shooting last September at Freeman High School.

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