Picture this: It’s 2031. Spokane has made many of the changes needed to begin addressing issues with climate change.

The City Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution that codifies the system by which it will decide how the unprecedented windfall of federal support is distributed in Spokane.

Less than three years after it launched, the future of a center aimed at connecting people with social services, like housing and job training, was muddied this week.

Fifty years ago this month, the Spokane City Council voted unanimously to tax its businesses to raise the $5.7 million necessary to kickstart Expo '74. At the same time, a street festival was held intended to show lawmakers that, even though a bond issue had failed at the ballot box, there was still enthusiasm for a world's fair. 

Council members agreed Thursday to push back the potential in-person reopening until at least Sept. 17, citing the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Spokane County.

The future of the city of Spokane’s fleet of vehicles is green.

A wide field of candidates has stepped forward to represent Northwest Spokane on the Spokane City Council.

Scolding an elected official just doesn’t quite feel the same over Webex.

The Chronicle was predicting that the jitneys (private cars or vans) would now be allowed to undercut the streetcars by charging only a nickel. This would put Spokane’s financially strapped streetcar system in an even bigger bind.

With the immediate pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic slowly receding, city officials are focusing on a long-term plans for homeless services in Spokane.

Brewer, a lifelong Spokane resident, served stints on the Spokane City Council, Spokane Plan Commission, Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority and Spokane Transit Authority. Later in life, he became a booster for his neighborhood, founding the Hillyard Heritage Museum Society. 

Utility customers can check an interactive map on the city’s website to see whether they are on the “week A” or “week B” schedule. The city also mailed notices directly to customers that indicate during which week their recycling will be collected.

City staff finalized the details of a long-awaited legislative proposal last week that would set parking rates between $0.50 and $3 per hour in downtown Spokane, depending on the demand for spaces in that area.

The city could incentivize reductions with rewards, like a rebate on utility bills. Or, it could take a firmer approach by raising rates on prodigious water users and implementing mandatory irrigation standards on new development. The city's Water Resource Collaboration Group is looking to cut consumption by 25%. 

Current regulations offer the Spokane City Council and Spokane County Board of Commissioners a potential path to holding some in-person meetings, but it remains narrow and unlikely.

As was the case during state and federal campaigns last year, candidates for city office are planning virtual events while weighing the risks of what were once staples of election season, such as knocking on residents’ doors.

Steve Salvatori was diagnosed last year with leukemia and placed on a clinical trial drug intended to defeat the cancer. That treatment hasn't taken, and while Salvatori is receiving chemotherapy in Florida, a 67th birthday in July feels like an outside possibility.

The Gonzaga Law School and Washington State University graduate has served two years as a court commissioner and has 17 years of experience in the legal system in Washington state. She was nominated by Mayor Nadine Woodward and confirmed by the Spokane City Council last week. 

For about two hours on Jan. 14, as winds whipped mercilessly and tossed down trees across Spokane, there was not a single fire department crew left to respond to emergencies.