The Spokesman-Review looks back at 2014

There was plenty of smoke to get in our eyes in 2014.

Like the smoke from record fires that burned Central Washington. Or the smoke from recreational marijuana that went on sale legally in Washington.

The agreement between Washington’s two largest universities to jointly operate a medical school in Spokane went up in smoke.

And the Seattle Seahawks could legitimately be described as smokin’.

We polled the news staff of The Spokesman-Review for the Top 10 stories of 2014 in Spokane, North Idaho and the Inland Northwest. It’s a totally unscientific survey, but many of the stories will continue to provide headlines in 2015.

Long, hot summer: Fires raged across Central Washington last summer and several lightning-sparked blazes burned into the Carlton Complex, which consumed some 300 buildings and more than 256,000 acres of forest and rangeland. Washington got some federal disaster help for the overworked local governments that fought the fires, but FEMA said “no” to individual aid, despite a personal plea from Gov. Jay Inslee to President Barack Obama. Questions about the state’s response in the early days of the fires have prompted criticism and damage claims, which are likely to spark a massive lawsuit in 2015.

Roll another one: Washington began a voter-approved experiment in state-licensed marijuana. The Liquor Control Board began issuing grower permits in March and the first stores opened in July, although some closed quickly because of a shortage of legal product. Spokane’s first legal pot customer lost one of his jobs after he appeared in the news. By the end of December, the state had recorded some $68 million in sales and $15.8 million in taxes. Spokane County alone had more than 120 licensed marijuana growers, processors or stores.

Apple Cup for med students: Washington State University and the University of Washington started the year in a partnership for medical education in Spokane. But in September, WSU officials announced plans to seek their own medical school on the Spokane campus where UW currently houses the first two years of training for students in its five-state med school program. In a “memorandum of understanding” signed by the two university presidents, each will seek money from the 2015 Legislature to go their separate ways.

The once, and perhaps future, Super Seahawks: The Hawks won their first NFL championship in February, crushing the surprisingly inept Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII. That prompted months of talk of a football “dynasty” in Seattle, which was quieted when the team started the 2014 season 3-3. But they won nine of their next 10, finished the season atop the NFC and have home-field advantage for the playoffs.

Shooting justified: In March 2013, Gail Gerlach came out of his house to see his SUV being driven away by a car thief. He fired at the speeding vehicle and the bullet went through the back window and hit and killed Brendon Kaluza-Graham. Gerlach was charged with manslaughter, but a Spokane County Superior Court jury sided with the self-employed plumber – who said he saw the driver turn around and point something at him – and found him not guilty in April.

I now pronounce you … : Idaho joined the growing number of states that allow same-sex couples to marry, although it happened in fits and starts. In May, a federal magistrate struck down a voter-approved ban, but marriages were on hold pending the state’s appeal. In early October, a three-judge panel ruled against the state but put marriages on hold for Idaho’s promised appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But a few days later, the Supreme Court denied petitions on the matter from five other states with similar bans, and the 9th Circuit lifted its stay. Idaho asked the highest court for a stay. Justice Anthony Kennedy said yes temporarily, but within a few days the stay was lifted and marriage licenses were issued to same-sex couples in Idaho.

Otto Zehm’s legacy: A two-year review of the Spokane Police Department by the U.S. Justice Department produced 42 recommendations ranging from better training, new hiring goals and better scrutiny of officers’ use of neck restraints that render a person unconscious. The audit report came as cities around the nation struggled with protests over excessive force by police against black men, and had its roots in widespread public outcry over the 2006 death of Otto Zehm after his arrest based on false accusations.

Reverse-engineered torture: The controversial report from the Senate Intelligence Committee on post-9/11 interrogation found that methods the CIA used amounted to torture, and linked those methods to Spokane. A pair of local psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, helped devise training at the U.S. Air Force Survival School at Fairchild for air crews to resist torture, and “reverse-engineered” techniques to use against suspected al-Qaida detainees. The company they formed in 2005 received some $80 million from the government, the report said.

A shout-out to Bette: When U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was picked for the GOP response to Obama’s State of the Union address in January, it was no surprise that she’d offer criticism of the Affordable Care Act, which she and her colleagues had voted to repeal dozens of times. In describing problems with the law, McMorris Rodgers cited the plight of “Bette from Spokane,” who had to pay some $700 per month extra for health insurance she and her husband didn’t like as well as their old plan. Further checking showed the $700 was for a premium plan that Bette Grenier and her husband were offered but didn’t take; they were paying about $550 more for more extensive coverage. They could have saved another $100 a month by going on the state’s website, but “I wouldn’t go on that Obama website at all,” said Bette, who added the congresswoman’s office had not checked the figures with her before using information from her letter in the rebuttal.

Canine casualty: Craig Jones left his dog Arfee in his van with the window partially down when he went into a Coeur d’Alene restaurant for breakfast. When he came back, Arfee was gone, the window shattered and blood in the van. A police officer responding to a call of a suspicious vehicle had approached the van and said the dog lunged at him. He shot and killed Arfee, which police initially described as “a vicious pit bull” but later turned out to be a Labrador mix. Chief Ron Clark apologized and ordered officers to undergo training on dog encounters, and the department’s internal use-of-force investigation took nearly two months. The incident prompted a “Justice for Arfee” Facebook page and bumper stickers. Jones filed a claim with the city in October for $350,000, which is often the lead-up to a lawsuit.