Complainant To Get $10,000 After Essentially Capitulating?

Tue., June 23, 1998

Doug Floyd Interactive Editor

Sandra Pilkington was a guard at Geiger Corrections Center but she was fired in 1992 after it was alleged she was having a sexual relationship with one of the inmates.

She responded by suing Spokane County and 10 individual officials, whom she accused of concocting bogus grounds for her dismissal. Meanwhile, she got her job back in 1994 thanks to union arbitration.

Although she continues to deny she had sex with the inmate or did anything wrong, Pilkington acknowledged last week that there were “reasonable grounds” for her firing. She therefore has agreed to resign and drop her charges, and …

And the county (which one official says is considering criminal charges against Pilkington) will pay her $10,000. That amount is less than the $500,000 she had sought and less than it would have cost the county to defend the action in court, but still, what is the $10,000 for?

Where’s the follow-up?

Here’s another question, this one from Terry Frizzell of Chewelah.

If, as federal officials say, some 150,000 convicted or indicted felons have been stopped from buying handguns since the Brady law took effect, why have only seven of them been prosecuted?

The latter figure was supplied by the National Rifle Association, says NRA-member Frizzell, who notes it was illegal for a felon to try to buy a handgun even before the Brady law.

A vote for skywalks, against parking meters

Are Spokene’s skywalks good or bad for the downtown retail climate? Good, says Philip Mulligan of Spokane.

“If we are all agreed that being able to compete with NorthTown Mall on an even footing is critical to the survival of downtown retail, how can we see the skywalk as anything other than a crucial factor in that regard?” he asks.

“The skywalk not only protects shoppers from the weather, like NorthTown, but also lets them cross over vehicular traffic to access not only skywalk-level businesses but street-level businesses as well.”

Mulligan says the skywalk has an added advantage over malls: “The skywalk also lets people view more of activity outside the system.”

If downtown has a “dead” look to it, blame parking meters, which, according to Mulligan, chase consumers to the malls.

“I believe that if we expand the skywalk system and keep it accessible for longer hours, the city would look less dead,” he says.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.