Regional News

A Jewish rabbi who is visiting Spokane this weekend is hosting a presentation and sermon on his views of Israel, the Palestinians, and his own thoughts as his view changed from that of a Zionist to Palestinian solidarity activist.

About 300 former military members are in Spokane this weekend to talk about issues important to veterans.

In the Doubletree Hotel, the national convention for the group Veterans for Peace has the feel of the 1970s anti-war movement. Many of the men and women here participated in that, both as members of the military and as civilians.

An iconic Spokane music store is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week.

Bob Gallagher has been the main force behind the 4000 Holes record store in Spokane, which opened its doors back in 1989. In case it’s not registering, 4000 Holes is a phrase from the Beatles song “A Day in the Life.”

Gallagher says in the time leading up to opening the store, he attended a few record swaps in the region, and it all crystalized in his mind one day that he could open his own store.

Caleb Sharpe, the 17-year-old who is accused of killing one student and injuring several others in a school shooting in Freeman, south of Spokane two years ago, entered not guilty pleas to 55 counts before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price on Friday.

Students will soon be returning to the region’s K-12 schools and universities. But just as they’re beginning a new academic year, another group of students is finishing its work. About 30 new physician assistants graduated today [Thursday] at Gonzaga University.

Native American groups released several adult salmon into the Columbia River above Grand Coulee Dam on Friday, the first time those fish have been in that stretch of waterway since the 1940s.

Avista Corporation is proposing a half mile long park to be built along a section of Upriver Drive near their corporate headquarters.

The idea is partly as a mitigation procedure required by the Federal government under the dam relicensing procedure, which Avista most recently did for its Upper Falls Dam in 2009.

Avista’s Director for Environmental Affairs, Bruce Howard says the increased number of people recreating on the river, as well as a desire to keep Centennial trail users safely away from traffic helped prompt the idea.

Today on the Inland Journal podcast, we talk with Gavin Duffy, the chief deputy marshal of the Spokane office of the U.S. Marshals Service. The service has a few basic tasks. For one, it’s active in rounding up fugitives around the region. The Marshals Service sometimes makes news; for example, one of its agents, Bill Degan, was killed during the shootout at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in August 1992. But for the most part, it’s an agency that keeps a low public profile.