SPS looks to fill open seat
The Spokane school board is one member short. That will likely change in the next 10 days.
Three of the remaining board members interviewed four applicants for the open seat last night.
The finalists for the seat vacated by Melissa Bedford are Luke Tolley, a neighborhood activist who works at The Arc of Spokane; Nicole Bishop from SNAP, a former chair of the Spokane County Democratic Party; lawyer Kate Telis; and IT specialist Glenn Andrews. Former educator Brianna Hawkins had a family emergency and was unable to attend.
The applicants each had a chance to answer 15 questions — from "What is your passion, especially in education?" to "How would you deal with complaints from parents?"
They were also given the chance to turn the tables and ask their own questions. Bishop asked how the district’s new cell phone rules are going over with students.
Board president Nikki Lockwood said that was something board members recently asked applicants for the non-voting student representative for the board.
“A couple of them said, ‘I wasn’t sure about this,’ they all said, ‘We’re talking to each other outside of class,’ and so it’s just really good," Lockwood said. "I care a lot about discipline, discipline reform and our discipline rates are down a lot, by a lot and especially in middle school, which was always the spot where it was a little higher, so that is something we’re going to keep track of, but it’s a really promising start.”
Board members say they plan to talk at their next meeting a week from Wednesday and choose Bedford’s replacement.
Union checks, state health coverage available to striking Boeing machinists
Striking Boeing machinists are not getting a paycheck from the company, but they are now receiving strike pay from the union.
The union said it's paying members 250 dollars per week.
Union leaders acknowledged the work stoppage is causing financial hardships for some.
But Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751, said they're determined to stay on the picket lines.
"They’ve been preparing for this for 10 years. We’ve been talking to members about saving so they can stand on principle for the last 5 years," Holden said. "And our members sent a strong message to us, to the company that they are ready."
Relations between Boeing and the union have been souring for about a decade, Holden said, as the company has threatened to move work out of the Puget Sound region.
The union wants the company to boost its offer of pay increases and to bring back a defined benefit pension plan.
Mediated talks broke off last Friday. There are currently no new negotiations scheduled.
Striking Boeing workers who lose their health insurance while away from the job can also apply for coverage from the state’s health exchange, according to Washington state officials.
A new law signed this year gives workers who lose their insurance due to a strike 60 days to sign up for state coverage, even if that period is outside of the regular enrollment period that begins in November, they said.
WA minimum wage to rise
Washington state labor officials say the state’s minimum wage will increase by 38 cents an hour next year.
The Department of Labor and Industries announced yesterday the new wage of $16.66 will take effect on the first of January.
It’s an increase of almost 2.5% and applies to employees who are aged 16 and older. Several Washington cities, most in the Seattle metropolitan area, have minimum wages that are higher.
The base wage for younger workers, 14 and 15 years old, will increase from $13.84 an hour to $14.16.
That’s 85% of the wage for adults. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.
New judge appointed to serve northern ID
North Idaho will soon be getting a new district court judge.
On Monday, Governor Brad Little announced he has appointed Spokane attorney Casey Simmons to the bench to replace retiring Judge Richard Christensen.
Simmons is a Colton, Wash. native who earned bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Idaho. She worked the past five years as an attorney at Winston and Cassatt in Spokane.
Before that, she tried cases for six years as a Kootenai County deputy prosecutor. She will hear cases from the five north Idaho counties.
Stage perfectly set for dust storms, meteorologists say
The two dust storms that have blown through central and eastern Washington during the last week are the result of near perfect conditions for such events.
The storms were the result of two main factors, according to an official from the National Weather Service office in Spokane.
"Our precipitation anomaly for the last 30 days is 25% or below, so we’re very dry at the surface," meteorologist Joey Clevenger said. "And then it's agricultural season, so farmers are out working their field and breaking up a lot of the dry soil."
He said those conditions created a perfect storm, pardon the pun, for the dust storms.
The dust limited the visibility for a time Sunday afternoon, leading to treacherous driving conditions on Interstate 90.
There has been no measurable precipitation in Grant, Douglas, Adams and western Spokane County for 30 to 45 days.
The forecast looking a week out doesn't promise much rain either, Clevenger said, but that long-term forecasts from the Climate Prediction Center indicate near normal to above normal precipitation about a month out.
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Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Deb Wang and Steve Jackson.