Spokane still on the hook for former TRAC shelter for now
The city of Spokane will keep paying rent on the Trent Resource and Assistance Center — at least for another week.
Monday, the city council punted on approving a $220,000 check to building owner Larry Stone. The payment would have gotten the city out of its lease on TRAC, which no longer operates as a shelter.
The decision came after Councilmember Michael Cathcart raised an objection to the plan, which had been put on the agenda by Mayor Lisa Brown’s office.
"I may not be against the decision to completely pull out of our lease at TRAC. In fact, I'm probably very for it," he said during the council meeting. "But that is something — with the power of the purse being in the hands of this body — it is something that we should be deliberating, and we shouldn't be told about after the fact."
On the dais, Councilmember Kitty Klitzke underlined her wish to end the agreement as soon as possible.
“I remember as a citizen being very frustrated with the price tag of this building. We were paying a ton of money for it. And I'm very eager to see us get out of this lease,” Klitzke said. “So, of course, I'll go along with deferring it for a week. But I really hope we get this done. I really think this is using up a lot of taxpayer dollars.”
Klitzke’s fellow District 3 councilmember, Zack Zappone, pushed his colleagues to just approve the check and avoid paying rent on what he called “an empty building we’re not using.”
Still, other members raised questions about where the money was coming from and voiced concerns about the lack of council discussion on the matter.
Zappone cast the sole ‘no’ vote on a motion to delay approving the check. The council will consider the expenditure again at next week’s meeting.
Spokane-DNR land exchange approved over resident concerns
The board that oversees Washington school trust land voted to exchange 200 acres of forested area that the state owns in southwest Spokane for a shopping center in Bellingham.
"We have a piece of property here that has been underperforming for decades, generating no revenue and, moreover, actually costing our agency funding, costing the schools, common schools and management, with dumping, trespassing, even homeless encampments, because the sheriff’s contacted us," said outgoing Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, making the case for transferring the parcel to Redmond, Wash.-based Blue Fern Development.
The company wants to build up to a thousand homes in the Latah Valley area.
In exchange, Blue Fern would buy a four-acre parcel in Bellingham that includes a grocery store and transfer it to the state.
The state would turn that into trust land that generates money for school construction.
Several Spokane area residents urged the Department of Natural Resources board to deny or delay the exchange to figure out a way to keep the land from being developed.
Still, the land exchange isn’t guaranteed.
The proposal approved yesterday will delay the closing of the deal until July, giving interested parties time to either buy the land or find another parcel for Blue Fern to develop.
Blue Fern already owns three parcels adjacent to state trust land.
Former state lawmaker named to succeed Baumgartner as Spokane Co. treasurer
Spokane state Rep. Mike Volz has added another professional title: acting official for the county treasurer’s office.
The county commissioners named Volz to the post on Tuesday, just a few days after now-Congressman Michael Baumgartner resigned as treasurer.
Volz is one of several people who have applied for the permanent job and are being vetted by the county Republican Party. The party will pick finalists and submit the names to the commissioners.
The process of naming a new treasurer is expected to take up to 60 days. Until then, Volz said he will continue to serve in Olympia.
“I told people I’m committed to going through session because the timing of this is, 60 days from now session is almost over," Volz told SPR News. "We’re winding down and I’m not going to vacate a seat when the work gets hard.”
The legislative session will convene next Monday.
Federal judge says Rolovich’s firing was legal
Former Washington State University head football coach Nick Rolovich lost his legal challenge against the school.
Rolovich and four WSU assistant coaches were let go in October 2021 after failing to comply with what was then a requirement for state employees to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
Rolovich sought a religious exemption. WSU denied the request through a “blind” review process, meaning the people who reviewed the request were unaware of the coach’s identity. Rolovich filed suit after his termination, arguing the firing was “unjust and unlawful.” His attorney said Rolovich was being punished for his faith.
Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice delivered judgment in WSU’s favor. In a ruling first reported by Spokane ABC affiliate KXLY, Rice found that Rolovich failed to prove the university acted illegally (Rice noted that in “thousands of pages of discovery,” Rolovich’s attorneys didn’t even mention a religious objection to vaccination), and that WSU had just cause to terminate Rolovich’s employment.
Rice also wrote that accommodating an exemption for Rolovich would have created “undue hardships” for the university, including damage to its reputation, exposing the people around Rolovich to the virus, harm to recruitment and fundraising, and increased travel expenses.
In a statement to KUOW public radio, WSU spokesperson Phil Weiler said, “As the Court recognized, the overwhelming, undisputed evidence proved that allowing an unvaccinated head football coach to continue in his position during the height of the pandemic would have endangered the health and safety of the university community."
First out of the gate in Idaho’s 2025 legislative session: opposition to same-sex marriage
Idaho’s first piece of legislation this year calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
Republican Rep. Heather Scott sponsored the resolution.
“What this decision did is it took the right away from the state to make the decision on marriage laws. Traditionally, that’s a state’s decision,” Scott said.
Idaho voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2006 stating marriage is allowed only between men and women. That amendment and similar laws within state code were overridden by the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling.
Lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee, including Democrats, unanimously introduced the resolution yesterday.
If approved, a copy will be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2012 in Washington state.
Spokane Co. offices closed tomorrow
Spokane County offices will be closed tomorrow. The board of commissioners voted yesterday to make the day a county holiday.
This comes after President Joe Biden ordered federal departments and agencies to close their doors on January 9 as a mark of respect for the late President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral.
The only exceptions are the Spokane County Regional Solid Waste System and transfer stations, as well as scheduled court dates in Superior and District Courts.
All Spokane County offices and departments will reopen for business on Friday for regular business hours.
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Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Doug Nadvornick, Brandon Hollingsworth and James Dawson.