Spokane

The Spokane City Council unanimously approved a 5-year police contract that will give police officers raises and remove barriers to civilian oversight.

City Council Members and Mayor Nadine Woodward have praised the contract, saying it complies with a city charter amendment passed in 2013. The charter required the city to allow a police ombudsman to independently investigate potential police conduct and publish reports on his findings.

Spokane’s city Flag Commission says it has picked a dozen finalists for a new city flag. They were chosen from 400 citizen submissions.

Washington's Covid vaccinations are getting back on track after harsh winter weather nationwide slowed down shipments last week.

Many scheduled immunizations had to be canceled, but this week picked up pace again. Department of Health officials say one day this week, a record 5,000 doses were administered at the mass vaccination sites.

Some residents across the greater Spokane region could lose power late this afternoon and tonight as strong winds hit the area.

The National Weather Service issued an advisory Monday warning winds could be around 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts as high as 50 miles per an hour. The warning is in effect for the area ranging from Spokane to Moses Lake and South to Walla Walla.

Hoopfest, Spokane's famed three-on-three basketball tournament, is extending its popular outdoor, all ages event to more than one weekend a year.

The organization has announced it will host an outdoor league, starting in March.

Spokane area school districts are heeding the call of Governor Inslee and President Biden to bring more students back to school.

Most, if not all, have had at least some children attending since day one of the academic year. But now individual districts are moving at their own pace in easing in older students or expanding the number of days in the classroom.

Spokane Police arrested an Airway Heights man Thursday who is accused of vandalizing a Spokane Jewish Temple with racist symbols.

The man, 44-year-old Raymond Bryant, was caught on the temple’s camera system earlier this month and was arrested for defacing the side of the temple and its Holocaust memorial. Thursday morning police executed a search warrant on his home and arrested him. He was charged with malicious mischief and harassment, both felonies.

Amazon announced Thursday that it will open a new Fulfillment Center in Spokane Valley.

The new center will be located at 18007 E. Garland Ave and will process larger orders like pet food, outdoor workout equipment and cleaning supplies, according to a news release. 

Many Spokane residents who have been inoculated at the mass Covid vaccination site at the Spokane Area could get their second dose within days.

Kelli Hawkins, the communications manager for the Spokane Regional Health District, said the switch to second doses is a part of a larger Washington State Department of Health push to get people fully vaccinated.

“I do know they have released information about prioritizing second doses for a couple weeks," she said. "That will happen here in Spokane too and our second doses will start taking place next week.”

The door has opened a little wider for Spokane and eastern Washington counties as they emerge from the pandemic. 

Governor Jay Inslee announced during a press conference Thursday that the East region of the state, which includes Spokane and eight other counties have met the metrics to move to Phase 2. The criteria the region had to meet included a flat or declining hospitalization, positivity and new cases rate. 

Police are investigating a hate crime Monday after a Jewish temple in Spokane was vandalized with anti-Semitic symbols.

When workers arrived at Temple Beth Shalom Monday, they found the Holocaust memorial and the side of the temple had been vandalized, according to the Spokane Police Department. Police suspect a white man last seen wearing blue jeans, a dark jacket and a red mask spray painted Swastikas on the temple. He was caught on Temple Beth Shalom’s security cameras Monday.

Spokane got its first taste of snow last week, but Nov. 15 marks the official start of snow season for the city.

If big vehicles like RVs and boats aren’t moved from street parking by Thursday, they could be towed by the city to make way for snow plows.

"We smacked the Sad Puppies with a rolled-up newspaper," said a woman on the shuttle bus between hotels at WorldCon in Spokane, Wash., on Sunday night. "It's the only way to teach them."

The Boeing Company built more than 700 KC-135 Stratotankers for the Air Force in the 1950s to the mid-1960's. The majority of these "flying gas stations" are still flying today because of delays in building a modernized replacement.

The annual World Science Fiction Convention is happening now in Spokane, Wash., packed with the usual discussion panels, author readings and autograph sessions. In most ways, it's like any other WorldCon — five days of mingling between fans and creators of genre-related media from novels to paintings to music to podcasts. WorldCon has been held nearly every year since 1939 (World War II necessitated a break), rotating through different cities around the globe.