History for Chron

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency said they would give their cohorts at the City of Spokane a break on enforcement of clean-air standards as long as “reasonable efforts” were being made to comply.

The new policy will defer monetary penalties against the Lilac City and other communities across the country provided they continue legitimate cleanup efforts.

The stance was a reversal from an enforcement program outlined earlier by EPA Director Anne Burford.

She had put 218 counties in 33 states on notice that they faced the potential loss of millions of dollars worth of federal highway funding and bans on certain kinds of construction as a result of dirty air.

City Manager Terry Novak argued that Spokane did not belong on the dirty-air list because it was attempting to improve air-pollution levels.

Spokane County Prosecutor Don Brockett said a man shot to death by Spokane City Police officers was intoxicated but not suffering from low blood sugar at the time of the shooting.

Richard Rule, a 44-year-old diabetic and vice president of a downtown printing company, was shot on Sept. 1 when he left a family dispute carrying a loaded .357 Magnum pistol.

Rule was later found to have a blood alcohol content of .16 which was higher than the .10 level that was considered to be legally intoxicated.