How Should Coroner’s Dispute Over Morgue Be Resolved?

If Rodney Dangerfield were an elected official in Spokane County, he would be coroner.

Coroners here just don’t get no respect.

The latest example:

Coroner Dexter Amend wants a key to the county morgue over which, by state law, he has “control and management,” but workers and the brass at Holy Family Hospital won’t give him one.

Why the standoff?

Holy Family has a contract with the county to house the morgue. Amend was elected merely to supervise it.

One way to resolve this kind of dilemma can be found in the proposed city-county charter which will be on the November ballot. It would eliminate the coroner’s office and turn those duties over to the Health Department.

Are there better solutions?

To join a dialogue here on Thursday, send your comments to “Bagpipes” by phone, fax or e-mail.

Motorist math: 25+2=25

Colfax, Wash., has an image problem. The Whitman County seat - whose Main Street also serves as a stretch of the main highway between Spokane and Pullman - is reputed to be a speed trap.

But the town’s defenders say it’s not. They say motorists will not get tickets there for going just 2 miles per hour over the speed limit.

So what? If the posted limit is 25 mph and you drive 27 mph, you’re breaking the law, aren’t you? If you get a ticket, do you really have a beef? Reporting back to (some of) the people

Half of Washington state’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives will be at the Spokane Convention Center on Friday for a conference on the state’s economic health.

The daylong event was arranged by a coalition of business-oriented sponsors who are covering the logistical costs, including lunch (but not lawmakers’ travel expenses), and are charging $25 for admission.

You can’t blame sponsors for wanting to recoup their expenses, but do you wonder if the lawmakers would come here for a similar conference designed for the public at large, without admission fees?

For the record, Kris Greco of Columbia Resource Group, which is coordinating the conference, says no one who just wants to sit in at the event will be turned away.

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