In brief: Envision initiative gets high court date

Envision Spokane and a coalition of business and government interests will make their case before the Washington Supreme Court on Nov. 10, the court announced when it released its fall schedule.

Each side will get 20 minutes to make oral arguments, but a request for 10 additional minutes can be made before the hearing.

The ballot measure in question, the Community Bill of Rights, would have been considered by voters in 2013 but was blocked by a Spokane County Superior Court judge. It was the third initiative put forward by Envision Spokane and would bolster environmental protection and neighborhood and labor rights if approved by voters.

Envision’s latest effort, the Worker Bill of Rights, is a scaled-back version of the 2013 measure and will appear on the November ballot.

The coalition consists of Spokane County, the Downtown Spokane Partnership, Greater Spokane Incorporated, the Spokane Home Builders Association and Avista Corp., among others, and was formed to prevent the measure from appearing on city ballots. Three Spokane City Council members – Mike Allen, Nancy McLaughlin and Steve Salvatori – also signed on to fight the measure.

Golf club members sue for deposits

Members of a Coeur d’Alene luxury golf club that closed in 2010 are suing a bank in hopes of recovering their membership deposits.

A trial in the case is set for Oct. 2 in federal court, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.

In the class-action lawsuit, the former members of the Club at Black Rock are asking Washington Trust Bank to pay them about $29 million, plus another $15 million in interest and other damages.

According to the lawsuit, the members each bought property surrounding the golf course overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene and paid club membership deposits that ranged from tens of thousands of dollars to $125,000.

But when the club fell into financial distress, Washington Trust Bank purchased the club and later sold it to a small group of investors.

The investors renamed it The Golf Club at Black Rock and collected new membership deposits.

Seattle teachers, district resume talks

SEATTLE – Seattle teachers and officials from Seattle Public Schools have resumed contract negotiations after three days of a teacher strike that has delayed the start of the school year for about 53,000 students.

Rich Wood, spokesman for the Seattle Education Association, told the Associated Press on Saturday the two sides were bargaining. But, he said, there’s no way to know if they’ll get a settlement or how long negotiations will take.

Officials said productive discussions with mediators Friday led to Saturday’s talks.