In brief: Spokane residency required for city appointees
Appointees who represent the city of Spokane must live within city limits.
The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously approved a new rule that requires city residency for nominees appointed by the council to serve on city boards or to be city representatives on governing boards of agencies such as the Spokane International Airport.
The rule was proposed in response to Mayor David Condon’s nomination of a businessman who lived outside city limits to the Spokane Airport Board.
The nominee withdrew his application after it became clear that a majority of City Council members indicated they wouldn’t support him, in part because he lived outside city limits.
New coffee shop to feature shirtless men
Spokane, a battleground in the bikini barista wars, soon will be home to a coffee shop staffed by shirtless men.
Chris Mullins, 28, bought Tailor’s Bean Shack at 1602 N. Ash St. a month ago and has been prepping for his new business, Hot Cup of Joe. The grand opening is Friday.
He’s been busy telling his customers about his plans and has gotten mostly positive feedback.
The stand will be open daily from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Mullins sees his new focus as equal opportunity, a counterpoint to the bikini barista stands. “This is something the women have been crying out for for a while,” he said.
Mullins said he has no interest in pushing the boundaries of modesty, though he says his employees may eventually wear only “cute, classy underwear.
“We’re not going to be wearing thongs,” he said.
Chambers can’t run for Henderson’s seat
BOISE – John Chambers won’t run for Rep. Frank Henderson’s Idaho House seat this year after all.
Henderson had endorsed Chambers, a semiretired executive with Ground Force Manufacturing in Post Falls, to succeed him after the 91-year-old lawmaker’s current term ends next year. But then Chambers discovered belatedly that his home is 180 feet outside of Legislative District 3, putting him in District 2 instead. The district lines changed four years ago.
“I’m disappointed, I’m embarrassed, I’m devastated by this,” Chambers said Tuesday.
Henderson said, “If he lived on the other side of the road, he’d be in my district. … John would have been an excellent legislator.”
Commissioners approve waste plan
Spokane County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of a plan to transfer control of the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System and ownership of two transfer stations from city to county.
The move follows a unanimous approval of the reconfigured solid waste system by the Spokane City Council on Monday.
The city would continue to own and operate the region’s garbage incinerator on Geiger Boulevard. The county would continue to send county waste to the incinerator.
The county is purchasing transfer stations at Colbert and on Sullivan Road for $9.9 million and pledging seven years of garbage deliveries to the incinerator, although the county could bypass the incinerator after three years with full payment for the transfer stations.
Terms of the agreement were structured to avoid rate increases to residents.
The county is now waiting for other cities in the county to decide if they want to participate in the regional system.
Valley man found with meth gets 10 years
A Spokane Valley man will spend the next 10 years in federal prison after more than 12 pounds of pure methamphetamine was discovered in his apartment last spring.
A federal judge handed down the sentence to Todd Anthony Sawyer Jr. last week, about five months after the 28-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing the drug with intent to distribute. He was first arrested in March after a Washington State Patrol drug detection dog found 202 ounces of meth in a duffel bag under Sawyer’s bed.
Sawyer’s apartment was searched after Washington state Department of Corrections officials were tipped that the convicted felon was dealing drugs, according to an FBI news release.
DUI suspect hits patrol car, WSP says
A 30-year-old man suspected of driving drunk struck an unoccupied Spokane Valley police cruiser before his arrest early Tuesday, the Washington State Patrol said.
Justin Yochum was booked into Spokane County Jail on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol Tuesday. The 2011 Subaru sedan Yochum was driving struck a marked Ford Crown Victoria patrol car parked on North Howard Road in Spokane Valley just after midnight, according to a WSP news release.
Yochum told the deputy driving the cruiser, “I am drunk,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Now taking submissions for camp listings
The Spokesman-Review is gathering information for its annual list of summer camps.
This year, people can submit their free listings online at www.spokesman.com; email information to summercamps@spokesman.com; or mail it to The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99210, Attn: Summer Camps.
Please include the name and location of the camp; dates of operation; general theme; any costs; recommended ages; contact information; and any other details readers might want.
Listings received after 5 p.m. April 4 will be included in the online version but won’t be guaranteed for the print edition.