In brief: Second arrest made in espresso holdup

Spokane police arrested a second man suspected in a recent espresso stand robbery.

Jeremy L. Hubbard, 37, was booked into the Spokane County Jail just after midnight Saturday for first-degree armed robbery.

Police believe Hubbard was recently seen on video surveillance at a 7-Eleven store using a credit card stolen during the robbery at Spokane’s Best Espresso, 5226 N. Division St. A reward was offered for his arrest Friday.

Hubbard’s alleged accomplice, Shawn Michael Westlie, 44, was arrested after a standoff last week and accused of a string of robberies, including the robbery of Spokane’s Best Espresso.

Both men are being held on $100,000 bond.

Sara Leaming

Forester candidates will be at meeting

Three candidates for a job overseeing Spokane’s urban forest, including street trees, will be available to meet the public at a gathering at 2:30 p.m. Monday in the Chase Gallery at Spokane City Hall.

City spokeswoman Marlene Feist said the names of the finalists will not be released until the event. The urban forester job will pay in the range of $57,200 to $70,400 and will be overseen by Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, Feist said.

The job, which will be new this year, is separate from the city’s arborist position, which is overseen by the parks department. It is an effort to put more emphasis on improving the urban forest, Feist said.

A 1997 study of street and park trees in Spokane concluded that the “overall health of Spokane’s street trees is below average.” In 2007, the Matrix report, which examined ways to save money within city government, said the quality of the city’s urban forest likely had decreased since the 1997 report and recommended spending $525,000 a year to start a street-tree maintenance program – a service that the report said exists in most cities.

Jonathan Brunt

Meeting will present DNR’s draft plan

Members of the public can review the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ draft strategic plan at a Feb. 3 meeting in Spokane.

The meeting runs from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Spokane Public Library’s downtown branch, 906 W. Main Ave.

The draft plan outlines DNR’s strategic goals, including sustainable management of state lands; protecting working forests and agricultural lands from conversion to other uses; cleaning up Puget Sound; and developing renewable energy resources on state lands.

The draft will be available for download Monday at www.dnr.wa.gov.

Becky Kramer