Foley symposium with Matthews postponed

An upcoming symposium in Spokane on former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley featuring MSNBC host Chris Matthews will be rescheduled.

The symposium, along with a fundraising reception, had been scheduled for Oct. 5 at Riverside Place in downtown Spokane. The symposium, which would feature Matthews along with former U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks and Spokesman-Review political reporter Jim Camden, was free; the reception, with Matthews being interviewed by Spokesman-Review Editor Rob Curley, was to raise money for a Spokane Speaker Series.

“Chris Matthews, for reasons beyond his control, was unavailable,” said Cornell Clayton, director of the Washington State University Foley Institute,

Those who donated to attend the reception will be contacted and offered a refund, he said.

A new date for an event with Matthews, the host of MSNBC’s Hardball, is being discussed but hasn’t been selected, Clayton said.