Nonunion workers get raise

The Spokane Valley City Council approved a 4 percent cost-of-living raise for the city’s nonunion employees Tuesday.

Money for a cost-of-living adjustment for all city employees has been in the budget for several years, said City Finance Director Ken Thompson.

Officials said a citywide raise had been put on hold until Spokane Valley negotiated a contract with employees who organized in late 2003.

That contract is currently in mediation and will affect about 30 of the city’s 60 or so employees.

“The nonrepresented folks should not be penalized because we have not come to a conclusion on those negotiations,” Councilman Rich Munson said.

The council approved the raise unanimously. The amount will be reviewed in three months and possibly adjusted to reflect the price of consumer goods.

– Peter Barnes

Spokane

Condo tower gets go-ahead

A Spokane County Superior Court judge on Tuesday ruled against an attempt by former Spokane City Councilman Steve Eugster to block the city’s sale of riverfront property for construction of a high-rise condomium tower.

Judge Jerome Leveque said in a written decision that he will dismiss Eugster’s lawsuit on a motion for summary judgment brought by the city and an attorney for the developer. Leveque said that the two parcels in question, totaling 10,000 square feet of land, were not restricted from sale last year to the adjacent landowner.

Don Barbieri of Upper Falls LLC is erecting a seven-story tower with 32 condominiums just west of the Flour Mill overlooking the Upper Spokane Falls.

Eugster argued that the property had been converted to landscaped park use and a trail, and could not be sold by the city without putting the sale up to a public vote as required by the City Charter. He said he will appeal Leveque’s ruling to the state Court of Appeals.

– Mike Prager

Movie shoot may stay put

Don’t say goodbye to that Samuel L. Jackson movie, “Home of the Brave,” quite yet.

Negotiations to bring the movie back to Spokane resumed Tuesday. A spokesman for North by Northwest, the Spokane production company, said no agreement had been reached as of Tuesday evening.

However, an official with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) said there was a “strong possibility” the movie would come back to Spokane.

An IATSE strike shut down the production on Friday. The producers announced Monday that the shoot was moving to Vancouver, B.C.

– Jim Kershner

Gift cards, checks seized

Hundreds of checks and new equipment were seized during an investigation of a gift card scam, Spokane Police said Tuesday.

Investigators think stolen ID and checks were used to obtain gift cards, spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee said. Kelly R. Parr, 44, and Scott W. Allison, 32, both of Spokane, were booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree theft, Lee said. Shelly A. Wilkerson, 41, of Coeur d’Alene, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree possession of stolen property.

The investigation began Friday after the traffic stop of a truck reported stolen out of Idaho, Lee said. Evidence found in that vehicle led to subsequent searches of Parr’s truck and his home at 3511 E. Queen. Police said they found gift cards from Home Depot and Wal-Mart, along with a stolen credit card, new tools and a footlocker full of hundreds of checks. Officers also seized a photocopier and computer believed to be used to make fake ID.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner