In brief: Spokane City Council salutes zombie TV series jobs

The Spokane City Council on Monday took ancestral veneration one step further in saluting the undead – that is, about 1,600 jobs that the zombie television series “Z Nation” brought to the city.

The council recognized the nearly 200 actors, 1,300 extras and more than 100 crew members the series, set to premiere this fall on the Syfy Network, employed during its filming around the region this summer. It passed a salutation declaring this to be the “Summer of the Zombie Apocalypse in Spokane.”

Rich Cowan, co-founder of North By Northwest Productions, accepted the salutation holding the torso of a decimated zombie before the council.

“The most important thing that comes out of this is the jobs,” Cowan said, before presenting each council member with a piece of “authentic fake zombie brains” as a thank-you for supporting the project.

“Z Nation” follows the lone survivor of a zombie outbreak as he travels from New York to California so scientists can retrieve antibodies from his blood and create a vaccine. The council called Spokane “a prime city for television series and big-screen filming and production” because of its ability to depict many other cities across the country.

Daniel Moore

Neighbor held in alleged rape

A 29-year-old convicted felon who moved to Spokane two months ago faces rape and burglary charges after allegedly attacking a woman who lived next door.

Kenneth S. Williams was booked into Spokane County Jail just before 4 a.m. Monday. The alleged victim told investigators that Williams held her at knifepoint after forcing his way into her home. She had been speaking to Williams through her doorway, which she’d left open to allow in a breeze.

The woman sustained knife injuries to her throat in the struggle, as well as bruising, according to court records.

Police arrested Williams in the 1000 block of East Crown Avenue. They found an identification card belonging to Williams at the home where the alleged rape took place.

At an initial court appearance Monday, Williams was ordered held in lieu of $200,000 bond by Spokane Superior Court Judge Annette Plese.

Kip Hill

Ticket amnesty draws 400

More than 400 parking scofflaws took advantage of Spokane’s amnesty program, paying nearly $90,000 to resolve unpaid tickets at face value before the city begins disabling and towing vehicles belonging to repeat violators.

Spokane this month will begin using wheel-locking boots to disable vehicles belonging to motorists with four or more unpaid parking tickets in collection. The city had offered the amnesty program as a way for violators to avoid the customary late fees and interest while clearing up their unpaid fines before the new enforcement effort begins.

Motorists whose vehicles have been booted will have 48 hours to get their parking fines and penalties paid before the vehicle is towed away and begins accruing impoundment fees as well, according to the city.

About 76,000 parking tickets issued over the past decade remain unpaid, representing about $3.9 million in fines, fees and interest.

David Wasson