In brief: Spokane Art School in new location
The Spokane Art School is getting a permanent home – the space occupied by the Tinman Gallery in north Spokane.
Gallery owner Sue Bradley agreed to sell the space at 811 W. Garland Ave. to the school, she said Tuesday. The school will take over Aug. 1.
The decision to close the Tinman was “bittersweet,” Bradley said. She enjoyed working with artists, but she won’t miss the retail aspects of running the gallery, which opened in 2003.
Bradley will continue to serve on the art school’s board of directors.
The Spokane Art School closed its doors in 2008, selling its downtown building and putting the money it had left into an endowment fund. It reincorporated in 2012 as a nonprofit institution and offered classes in various spaces. The school will expand into the adjoining Tinman Gallery space with “On the Road,” a show of work by 30 local artists based on the book by Jack Kerouac, according to a news release. The public is invited to a reception at the school from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 1.
Dog killed during north Spokane robbery
A dog was shot and killed during a home invasion robbery in north Spokane late Tuesday, but a man and an infant also in the home were unharmed.
Police were called to the 100 block of East Hoffman Avenue just before 11 p.m. Tuesday. The resident reported that two armed, masked men had broken into his home, said police spokeswoman Monique Cotton.
“According to the victim, several shots were fired,” Cotton said. A police dog attempted to track the two suspects but was unsuccessful. “It looks like only a few small items were taken,” Cotton said.
The victim was unable to provide a description of the two men other than they were wearing masks, Cotton said.
Police do not know whether the robbery was random, Cotton said.
The Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service picked up the dog, which was a boxer, and will hold it as evidence at the request of the police department, said SCRAPS director Nancy Hill.
Sterling Bank discrimination trial begins
A jury trial pitting former Sterling Financial chief executive Heidi Stanley against the bank began this week.
Stanley accuses the bank, which has since been sold to Oregon-based Umpqua Holdings, of discrimination when it fired her in midst of her treatments for breast cancer.
The bank’s former board of directors fired her in 2009 as part of a calculated executive purge to secure new investors and ward off financial collapse.
The bank’s directors said they fired Stanley to save the bank and that it had nothing to do with her cancer or gender.
The trial is unfolding in Spokane Superior Judge James Triplet’s courtroom in front of 16 jurors and alternates. It is expected to last for more than two weeks.
Building owner discovers squatter, theft
The owner of a vacant commercial building in Greenacres discovered last week that the building had been stripped of valuables and there was evidence that a squatter had been living inside.
The former Ching Hau Garden, 18203 E. Appleway Ave., has been stripped of all the copper plumbing, copper wiring and stainless steel appliances, according to a Spokane Valley Police Department news release. The new owner of the building said it was in good condition two weeks ago when he checked it last.
Damages are estimated at $100,000. Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest is offering a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Tipsters, who can remain anonymous, can call (800) 222-TIPS or visit www.crimestoppersinlandnorthwest.org.
Seattle taxi drivers polish skills, charm
SEATTLE – Some Seattle-area taxi drivers are trying charm school as a way to improve their customer service and fight off competition from other ride services.
KOMO-TV reported about 130 drivers from Yellow Cab sat in a classroom Tuesday to listen to hospitality management instructors from South Seattle College. The four-hour program focused on connecting with customers, leaving a good impression and dealing with complaints productively.
One of the region’s major cab companies, Yellow Cab, asked the college to design the class in response to competition from smartphone app ride services like Uber and Lyft.
Cabbie Paul Cheema said he and his fellow drivers want to show customers they’re trying to make a change in the industry.
The class costs $60.
Five overpasses damaged by truck
OLYMPIA – Transportation officials say they’ll need to repair all five freeway overpasses that were hit by a dump truck hauling an excavator.
The Olympian reported that a 45-year-old dump truck driver was making a delivery from Montesano to Chehalis on Friday.
State patrol spokesman Guy Gill said the man was pulling a flatbed trailer with an excavator on U.S. Highway 101 when the excavator’s boom crashed into the first overpass. The man continued driving southbound on Interstate 5 and the boom hit several other bridges.
Gill said the driver told authorities he didn’t realize he had hit anything. Two cars hit debris that fell during the collisions but no injuries were reported.
Transportation spokesman Doug Adamson said it’s unclear how much the repairs will cost.