Regional News

Train derailments are not common in Spokane- the last major one happened in 1991. But in preparation for the worst, emergency managers did an exercise Monday to practice responding to a train derailment that involves hazardous materials.

Spokane will have its first charter school, Pride Prep, in 2015. It’s a major talking point among teachers and parents, but charters are just the tip of the iceberg for options in Spokane Public Schools. The district wants all parents to know the options, and is hosting a public meeting Monday.

Washington is still considered the most bicycle-friendly state in the nation by the League of American Bicyclists, while neighboring Idaho is among the also-rans. But Idaho bike riders pedal under a law that bicyclists in Washington and Oregon covet.

Last week, the National Climate Assessment was issued. Now, a WSU researcher says some of the predictions could mean benefits, at least in the near term, for Eastern Washington agriculture.
Chad Kruger is the director of the WSU center for sustainable agriculture and natural resources. He was a co-author of the agriculture chapter of the North West climate assessment, a summary of which was used to put together the National Assessment. Most of that research focused on central and eastern Washington.

Residents of the Logan neighborhood next to Gonzaga got preliminary approval from the city council this week to give Hamilton street a facelift. Neighbors want a more livable, walkable community, but some city council members are concerned with how changes on Hamilton will affect plans for the North Spokane Corridor.

Entities who want permits to withdraw from the Spokane River will face more restrictions down the road. The state Department of Ecology is creating an instream flow rule for the river’s stem in Spokane County, and a portion in Stevens County.

Heavy underbrush and voracious weeds on Coeur d'Alene's Tubbs Hill have gotten the city's goat. So, Coeur d'Alene is getting goats. A herd of more than 250 goats will be turned loose Wednesday on the city's unusual 120-acre park on the lake shore with instructions to chomp on shrubs that can turn into fire kindling during the hot, dry summer months.

The Selkirk Mountains are home to the last herd of mountain caribou in the lower 48 states. The southern Selkirk mountain herd of about 30 is listed as endangered under the ESA - endangered species act. But May 7th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed changing their status, and neither environmentalists nor snowmobilers are completely happy.

A sobering warning from noted glaciologists at the University of Washington. The enormous ice sheet covering much of the Antarctic is beginning to collapse, a process which will release enough water to raise the world's ocean levels by several feet.

Long-time Coeur d'Alene Indian tribe leader Ernie Stensgar thinks it's time to take away control of Native American trust funds from the federal government and let tribes handle the money. Stensgar, who is now chair of the Trust Reform Committee of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, has some powerful allies in his quest to control more than $4.5-billion in money held in trust for Indians - the entire Idaho congressional delegation.

 

Jokes about inaccurate weather forecasts are some of the oldest around. But a University of Washington atmospheric science professor says bad weather predictions are no joke.

 

Avista Utilities celebrated its 125th anniversary by building Spokane a new City Hall Plaza, and sprucing up the adjacent Huntington Park. Paige Browning reports on the celebration at city hall on Friday. At Avista’s celebration, there was sun, a big crowd, and live music. Local teenage band Acuff and Sherfey played to the crowd outside city hall, where people gathered for the first time at the new plaza.

40 years ago, Spokane leaders were on the brink of hosting the world’s fair. Expo ‘74 made Spokane the city it is today, with a large park along the river, a major performing arts center, and a downtown core. On Saturday, the Spokane Parks Foundation invites the public to remember what happened here in 1974.

 

A new federal judge for the eastern district of Washington, centered in Spokane, has been confirmed by a unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate. He's 56-year old Stanley Bastian, managing partner of a Wenatchee law firm and a former president of the Washington State Bar Association.

 

Cars can do amazing things these days - up to and including driving themselves. So some specialized researchers at a WSU lab in Spokane figure a car ought to be able to tell when its human driver is about to doze off.

 

The Saturday Earth Day celebration will be in a familiar place. After a couple of years holding the event on the streets of downtown Spokane, the location has been changed back to Riverfront Park.

Sherry Urann is an Earth Day organizer. She says "moving Earth Day back in to the park is an opportunity to bring awareness to the beautiful river and the falls, and also to remind us of all the intentions that came with the building of the park during the 1974 World's Fair."

 

A flat, dry desert expanse out in the middle of nowhere may seem an odd place to build a cutting-edge research lab. But Idaho has one.A whole host of state, congressional and federal officials gathered at the Idaho National Laboratory the other day to celebrate opening of a new research lab they call the Energy Innovation Laboratory.

The national zombie craze is going to mean some exciting business for the Spokane area. A local film production company made a big announcement Wednesday, that caught the attention of Mayor David Condon and other city officials.

 

At the start of this year's wildfire season, some new research may prove unsettling for forest managers and property owners in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Wildfires in the western U.S. have been growing larger and more frequent over the past 30 years. And a team of geophysical researchers fears that trend will continue as climate change pushes up temperatures and droughts become more severe in coming decades.