Stories by Emry Dinman for the Spokesman-Review

News > Local government

Rep. Emily Randall, state and local Democrats address Spokane in “People’s Town Hall”

UPDATED: Fri., April 25, 2025

Rep. Emily Randall, Washington’s other freshman member of congress, traveled to Rep. Michael Baumgartner’s district Friday with other notable local and state Democrats to speak to residents and hear their concerns about “illegal and damaging actions by Trump, Musk and their allies.”

News > Local government

Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone running for reelection

UPDATED: Thu., April 24, 2025

Spokane City Councilman and high school teacher Zack Zappone is running for re-election, saying he wants another four years to work on public safety, homelessness, housing affordability and city infrastructure reforms.

News > Local government

Insurrection, incompetence and ‘incandescent’ courage: Liz Cheney addresses crowd in Spokane Wednesday

UPDATED: Wed., April 23, 2025

Inside the Republican cloakroom behind the House chamber, then-Rep. Liz Cheney watched on Jan. 6, 2021, as her colleagues walked between tables signing their names to object, state by state, to the certification of the 2020 presidential vote. It was just before the insurrection began.

News > Local government

As crews thin fire fuel in Spokane parks, officials look to upcoming tax ask to fund maintenance

Wed., April 23, 2025

Under the crisp but sunny spring sky, crews are hard at work in the wooded park near the Corbin Art Center fighting a fire that hasn’t happened yet.

News > Local government

Spokane outlaws discriminating against homeless job applicants

UPDATED: Mon., April 21, 2025

It will soon be illegal in Spokane for an employer to ask a prospective employee if they’re homeless or reject their application solely because they do not have a permanent address.

News > Local government

Spokane City Council declines to reinstate Prop 1 after state Supreme Court strikes it down

UPDATED: Mon., April 21, 2025

The Spokane City Council voted 4-3 Monday to not move forward with reinstating Proposition 1, the overwhelmingly voter-approved anti-homeless camping law that the Washington Supreme Court struck down on Thursday.

News > Local government

Upgraded recycling center unveiled in Spokane Tuesday

UPDATED: Mon., April 21, 2025

Waste Management, the nation’s largest garbage collection business, on Tuesday will unveil $18 million of investments into the Spokane Materials and Recycling Technology Center, the region’s hub for recycling sorting.

News > Local government

Homeless camping ban struck down by state Supreme Court

UPDATED: Thu., April 17, 2025

The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday overturned Spokane’s law banning homeless encampments from most of the city.

News > Local government

Spokane leaders announce ban on right turns on red lights at some downtown intersections and other safety initiatives

UPDATED: Thu., April 17, 2025

Noting a rising rate of traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Spokane, Mayor Lisa Brown, members of her cabinet and several City Council members announced a slate of initiatives aimed at making the city’s streets safer for pedestrians and drivers.

News > Spokane

Democratic congresswoman, state party chair to hold Spokane townhall

UPDATED: Thu., April 17, 2025

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, a Democrat who represents the Tacoma and Olympic peninsulas in Congress, will host a town hall in Spokane Friday evening along with state Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad and others to discuss “illegal and damaging actions by Trump, Musk, and their allies,” according to a news release.

News > Local government

Lacking state funds, Spokane will fund abandoned RV removal through September

UPDATED: Tue., April 15, 2025

Spokane will resume a contract to dispose of abandoned or disabled RVs littering the city’s streets, picking up the slack after a pause in reimbursements from the state.

News > Local government

Monaghan statue likely headed to family mausoleum in Fairmont Memorial Park later this year

UPDATED: Thu., April 17, 2025

The statue of Ensign John Monaghan, who was killed in the second Samoan Civil War, likely will be moved to the Monaghan family mausoleum in Fairmount Memorial Park, closing a chapter on the yearslong debate over whether the statue should be removed from its prominent downtown Spokane location where it has stood since 1906.

News > Local government

Spokane to rejoin Aquifer Protection Area if voters approve

UPDATED: Mon., April 14, 2025

When Spokane County asks voters to reauthorize the 40-year-old aquifer protection area for another 20 years, the city of Spokane will be included for the first time since 2004.

News > Local government

City of Spokane approves another $100,000 in legal fees to fight Shea lawsuit

UPDATED: Mon., April 14, 2025

The city of Spokane has committed another $100,000 to fighting a federal lawsuit brought by pastor and former state lawmaker Matt Shea, bringing total costs with a Seattle-based law firm to $150,000.

News > Local government

Restroom renaissance: Spokane parks officials pledge bathrooms will be cleaner, newer and more accessible if levy passes

Sun., April 13, 2025

Every park bathroom in Spokane will be renovated or replaced entirely if voters approve a 20-year, $240 million parks levy, the Spokane Parks Department has pledged in its plans for the systemwide improvements the levy would fund.

News > Local government

Spokane council to consider mirroring LGBT+ protections; one member proposes protest amendments

UPDATED: Sun., April 13, 2025

While Washington is not among the dozens of states rolling out restrictions on transgender people and gender-affirming health care, Spokane’s city council likely will soon double up on protections for the LGBT+ community currently enshrined in state law.

News > Local government

Women’s homeless shelter in Knox Presbyterian Church the final piece of Spokane’s new ‘scatter-site’ model

Fri., April 11, 2025

The eighth city-funded homeless shelter opened last week as part of Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown’s pivot to smaller shelters dispersed throughout the city – the last of the new “scatter-site” model to debut for the time being.

News > Local government

Spokane COPS will continue to receive city funding – but much less

UPDATED: Thu., April 10, 2025

Spokane’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, expects to enter into a much smaller contract with the city after a contentious review of the program’s services late last year – and it will receive even less than it could have after declining to work to “enhance engagement with historically marginalized communities.”

News > Crime/Public Safety

Man shot dead by Mead neighbor while reportedly retrieving belongings Monday

UPDATED: Tue., April 8, 2025

One man is dead and another in jail after a confrontation in Mead in the wee hours of Monday, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported.

News > Local government

Spokane to release illustrated zine on civic engagement at April 17th Lilac City Live event

UPDATED: Fri., April 4, 2025

It’s not uncommon for people to express at Spokane City Council meetings that they wish it was easier to understand how the city’s government works and how to get civically engaged with their elected representatives.

News > Local government

Ubiquitous city council attendee Christopher Savage announces bid for dais

UPDATED: Thu., April 24, 2025

Meals on Wheels board member and ubiquitous City Council meeting attendee Christopher Savage is running again for a seat on the Spokane City Council, hoping to unseat incumbent Councilman Zack Zappone.

News > Local government

Former prosecutor Kate Telis announces run for Spokane City Council

UPDATED: Thu., April 24, 2025

Kate Telis, a former prosecutor who has more recently worked on the campaigns of several Spokane-area candidates, has announced she is running for Spokane City Council.

News > Washington

‘We are in a trade war’: Washington leaders, business sectors largely express confusion and concern at Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement

UPDATED: Wed., April 2, 2025

Washington is uniquely positioned to feel the negative effects of a trade war spurred by a host of new tariffs, several statewide officials said this week.

News > Local government

Last ditch effort to halt Thorpe Road land sale falters

UPDATED: Tue., April 1, 2025

Another last-ditch effort to halt the sale of undeveloped land on Thorpe Road in the U.S. Highway 195 corridor through Latah Valley appears to have failed after the state Board of Natural Resources declined Tuesday to hear the appeal of conservationists.

News > Local government

Spokane police to get eight pole-mounted surveillance cameras, including four ‘covert’ ones, for nearly $78,000

UPDATED: Thu., March 27, 2025

The Spokane Police Department will be getting eight cameras that can be mounted to light and utility poles, four of which will be “covertly” disguised, after the Spokane City Council approved nearly $78,000 Monday for the purchase.

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