Spokane residents face watering regulations

Spokane likes green lawns. And to keep them that way, the average Spokane County resident uses twice the amount of water as the average person statewide. To help change that trend, Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, following the lead of Post Falls, has proposed new watering regulations that would come with fines up to $125.
Discuss: News Is A Conversation

Police investigate Spokane shooting

What some Logan Neighborhood residents thought were post-Independence Day fireworks Saturday afternoon were in fact gunshots that sent a man to the hospital.

Nonprofit getting office upgrade

Fifteen employees of a Spokane nonprofit agency that helps disabled people learned Wednesday that they had less than two weeks to move out of their building, and they couldn't be happier. On July 14, the employees of Coalition of Responsible Disabled will move out for the week. When they move back in it will be – they hope – into dramatically renovated offices that should be more accessible for people with disabilities.

Democrat or Republican? Take the quiz and see where you fall

Wondering whether you're a solid Republican or Democrat, or just someone who leans one way or the other? Our quiz might help you decide.
Multimedia: Take the quiz

Diploma mill customers will remain secret

Operators of a Spokane diploma mill are heading to federal prison, while senior Justice Department officials say they are going to keep secret the names of the 10,815 buyers who used the bogus and counterfeit degrees to get jobs, promotions and enhanced retirements.
Document: List of 131 countries and money spent on fake diplomas (PDF)
Previous story: Diploma mill ringleader gets 3 years

Empire deal gives foundation liabilities

Pension promises, malpractice claims and other financial liabilities hooked to Empire Health Services would be offloaded to a new charitable foundation established to capture the proceeds of the hospital system sale.

Smoking out the loopholes: Bar, club owners fight ban

OLYMPIA – Walk up the stairs above Frankie's bar in Olympia, and it's like stepping back to 2005. Bar patrons are talking over tall mugs of beer, nothing unusual about that. But there are ashtrays – ashtrays! – on the tables. And a slight smoky haze hangs in the air, as people happily puff away on cigarettes and cigars.
Related stories:
Indoor smoking measure a success (Dec 2007)
Smoking ban effect minimal (June 2007)
Spokane hookah bar finds way around smoking ban (June 2006)
State law: Revised Code of Washington

Activists march in Spokane without incident

The activists who made headlines last year in a clash with police at the Fourth of July celebration in Spokane’s Riverfront Park marched peacefully through the streets and into the park Friday evening. They clutched signs and chanted, “Who’s streets? Our streets” and “No judgment, no peace, no violent police.” Police said there were no violations during the demonstration.

Let us spray: The Dougslayer battles box elder bugs

I'm happier than Dr. Guillotine with a fresh blade. No messy, one-at-a-time executions for me. I'm armed with a weapon of mass extermination: a green plastic yard and garden sprayer carrying a 2-gallon payload of insect doom known as ... Buggslayer.

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Huckleberries' Best of the INorthwest: July 3
Inland NW news and commentary, updated each weekday.

Graduation stories

The Voices writers canvassed the region from the West Plains to Spirit Lake as high school seniors prepared to receive their diplomas last week. Read the stories of accomplishment and perseverance here.

Nonprofit getting office upgrade

Fifteen employees of a Spokane nonprofit agency that helps disabled people learned Wednesday that they had less than two weeks to move out of their building, and they couldn't be happier.

» Watershed plan

» Buyers of fake diplomas shielded

» Smoking ban still hot topic

» After decades, veteran receives Purple Heart

» Empire deal gives foundation liabilities

Food project hopes to grow awareness

SANDPOINT – A patch of ground wedged between a downtown Sandpoint motel, a carwash and a home is producing food this summer for soup kitchens.

» EPA slaps new fine on project

» Party balloons carry Oregon man to Idaho town

Orangutan populations diminishing, study finds

BANGKOK, Thailand – Orangutan numbers have declined sharply on the only two islands where they still live in the wild and they could become the first great ape species to go extinct if urgent action isn't taken, a new study says.

» Stockpile of uranium removed from Iraq

» Hostage rescue humiliates weakening rebels

Busch bounces back

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Busch fell a lap down at Talladega and came back to win. So when a steering problem dropped him to the back of the field at Daytona, he didn't panic.

» Venus bests Serena

» Better or bitter teams

A rich palette of green

Art collectors set a sales record during the summer auctions that concluded Wednesday in London. Yet buyers largely played it safe, making classic bets like Bacon and Monet over newer artists whose prices could suffer more in an art-market slowdown.

» Education island

» SEARCHING for good videos

SEARCHING for good videos

Where do you go to find the latest Web video of your favorite actress, especially the recent one with her flipping out when surrounded by paparazzi?

» It's a wonderful life

Our travel tradition urges energy answers

Not long after gas hit $4 a gallon in Spokane, I flew to California to join my daughter for a trip we'd been anticipating for weeks. She drove me past a Chevron station in Santa Barbara and laughed at my naiveté. Unleaded was selling there for $4.77 a gallon.

» Speaking with pride

» Fearful times in Zimbabwe

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