Community outreach and internal communication were not Goldmark’s strengths. DNR has been beat up over the recent wildfire seasons, and morale is low. Fresh leadership is on the way, but shoring up the agency won’t be easy.

New rules allowing people to erase previous marijuana possession convictions will go into effect at the end of the month, without Spokane Mayor David Condon’s signature or his support.

The legacy of Playfair Race Course is on display at the commercial park that took its place, as blue steel silhouettes of horse and jockey appear to race across the park’s entryway. Another legacy of the racetrack remains at Spokane City Hall, this one in red ink.

The gusting wind overnight may have brought lower temperatures and cleared out the smoky shroud that clung to the Spokane area, but it fanned the flames of several regional fires, forcing new evacuations as flames jumped roads and rivers.

"I ’m not intimidated by old history, I know Spokane is willing to embrace a good strong mayor for the future of Spokane for a second term.” – A confident pre-election 2011 Mayor Mary Verner discussing her chances of breaking Spokane’s Curse of the One-Term Mayor. We’re officially a tad more than a month away from Spokane’s Aug. 4 primary election and an excellent question has arrived by email from Paul Baxter, a civic-minded and loyal reader.

OLYMPIA – Washington has a statewide drought emergency that will likely lead some farmers to go without water for their crops and some small water districts to look at reductions for  their customers. Historic low snowpack in many of the state’s mountain ranges prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to expand the drought emergency to the entire state Friday morning. Earlier in the year he had issued emergency declarations for some regions that rely heavily on snow runoff from the Cascades or Olympics, as well as Yakima and some parts of southeastern Washington.

OLYMPIA – There’s a big downside to the relatively mild winter with more rain than snow that most of Washington experienced, and it’s not for skiers and snowboarders. Parts of the state have a snowpack drought. Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency Friday for the Olympic Peninsula, much of the eastern slope of the Cascades and the Walla Walla region, triggering special authority for state agencies to address what they expect to be water shortages for agriculture, fish and some rural water systems. Most urban water systems are expected to have adequate drinking water, and the dams along the Columbia River should have plenty of water to turn the turbines and pump out electricity.

OLYMPIA – Government agencies failed to react fast enough to smaller fires that grew last July into the largest wildfire in state history, Central Washington residents told legislators Thursday. While Department of Natural Resources officials defended their efforts to battle the Carlton Complex in hot, dry, windy conditions, Okanogan County officials and residents accused them of being disorganized and ill-prepared. They’re worried about a repeat this summer, when weather conditions are expected to be similar.