City seeks shelters for cold weather
Spokane is seeking help from local social service organizations to provide warming centers as temporary shelters when forecasts call for overnight lows of 5 degrees or lower.
The sites would be available in addition to regular shelters and would be used for homeless people who normally avoid shelters except during bitter cold.
Spokane city and county have budgeted $10,000 to pay for the shelters. The city is seeking applications to provide the service through Tuesday at the city’s human services department on the sixth floor of City Hall.
Tax exemption OK’d for tower
A multifamily property tax exemption for a 15-story residential tower in downtown Spokane was approved by the Spokane City Council this week.
The exemption sought by Prium Spokane Buildings LLC will provide a 10-year break on property taxes as an incentive to draw development to the downtown area.
The developers of the property at 153 S. Wall St. have applied for a building permit for 93 condominiums and 9,000 square feet of retail space to be built in a 24,000-square-foot parking lot between Wall and Howard streets.
The condos will range from 800-square-foot units starting around $200,000 to two-story units on the upper floors priced above $700,000.
BUENA, Wash.
Sheriff’s precinct fire ruled arson
Arson was the cause of a fire that gutted a Yakima County sheriff’s precinct, investigators said.
The fire appears to have been started in an office in the back of the 2,000-square-foot building. A window was broken, sheriff’s Lt. Max James said.
The fire was reported Sunday night. No one was in the building at the time.
SEATTLE
Health fund started for uninsured youth
Group Health Cooperative has donated $2 million to help provide health care for uninsured children in Washington, the company announced Monday.
About $1 million will go to a new King County program to provide health care to 5,000 uninsured low-income children
The other $1 million is for organizations outside of King County to develop similar programs for low-income children, said Karen Merrikin of Group Health.