Some Spokane politicians want to replace the existing property tax system with one that shifts tax burden from homes, apartments and many commercial properties and place it instead onto parking lots and vacant land.
Spokane can be a quiet town at night – aside from the occasional, roaring interjection of a race barreling down a street or across a downtown bridge, and the revving engines echoing across the river canyon.
Spokane Valley City Councilman Al Merkel wore his signature bright orange tie to court Friday, waiting to hear a judge’s ruling regarding whether he has conducted city business on his personal social media accounts and then withheld those records from the city.
More than a dozen people gathered near Spokane City Hall on Monday to show support for three people on trial this week for their actions during or before a protest last summer.
Three years after conservative and liberal Spokane County voters unified, soundly rejecting a county tax to build a new jail and boost criminal justice, local leaders are about to decide if and how they might try again.
