Spokane

Mining towns like Metaline Falls are struggling as auto sales slump, but across the border in British Columbia there is evidence that other places have found a future with another valuable resource.

Shot down in Shanghai?

Posted Fri, Dec 12, 6 a.m.

Another task Obama inherits is trying to bail out America's botched effort to have a pavilion at Shanghai's Expo 2010, the largest world's fair in history. There are reasons to hope that "yes, he can."

Up yours, Virginia

Posted Tue, Dec 2, 6 a.m.

Dispatch from the War on Christmas: Atheists make fools of themselves in Olympia while violence breaks out at Wal-Mart. The sacred season is now a very, very sick season.

Spokane: what Seattle used to be

Posted Fri, Sep 19, 4 a.m.

Mossback becomes enamored with a city he once regarded with disdain and considers what it would be like to move there. It reminds him of pre-1970s Seattle, before the yuppies ruined it.

On the fire line

Posted Tue, Aug 26, 4 a.m.

By Bob Simmons

The U.S. Forest Service considers changing its firefighting protocol in the wake of sentencing over handling of the Thirtymile Fire, which claimed the lives of four firefighters.

After a late start, MSM blogs are everywhere

Posted Wed, Aug 13, 5 a.m.

By Clark Fredricksen

The Northwest's mainstream newspapers are reporting political news on the Web first. Part 3 of 3

More fun than Deliverance!

Posted Fri, Jul 18, 5 a.m.

Spend your summer vacation in Eastern Washington, an exotic locale where lakes are slippery, the Scablands surprising, and wheat farmers are smashing stuff for fun.

Shooting for money

Posted Wed, Jul 9, 7 p.m.

By Harris Meyer

Our Yakima correspondent tries out the Ljutic Mono Gun — and checks out the trap shooting tournament scene. Part 2

When animals attack, and also when they don't

Posted Mon, Jun 30, 5 p.m.

It's the time of year when animal-human encounters are on the rise. Bears are picnicking on hikers, moose are invading trailer parks, and muskrats are blamed for destroying entire towns. You could be next.

Sparks in Spokane: a GOP odyssey

Posted Sat, Jun 28, 10 p.m.

By Scott St. Clair

The definitive report on the Washington State Republican Convention, as witnessed by Crosscut's resident elephant. There was a little friction, and it will be a tough autumn, but the GOP looks forward to a competitive gubernatorial race.

Fired up and ready to go — home

Posted Tue, Jun 17, 7 p.m.

The state Democratic convention in Spokane was both inspiring and stultifying. Among the delegates who bothered to show up, there was passion, tedium, booze, sunshine, and a desire for change.

George Nethercutt: Republicans need to rally around John McCain

Posted Thu, May 22, 11 a.m.

By George Nethercutt

The former Spokane congressman says he is a convert and urges those in his party who have doubts about the Arizona senator to get over them, for the sake of the GOP and the country.

A rebirth of architectural activism

Posted Sun, May 18, 8 p.m.

Red balloons and hot dogs help in a University of Washington grad student's fight to save the Nuclear Reactor Building. Plus: Honors for the state's historic preservationists.

A plea bargain douses the scandal of the Thirtymile Fire

Posted Thu, May 8, 5 a.m.

By Bob Simmons

The darkest moment in U.S. Forest Service history won't be told — not to a jury, anyway.

Greg Nickels' rebel yell

Posted Mon, May 5, 11 p.m.

Seattle's mayor waves the flag of secession. In so doing, he may have waved goodbye to a future in state politics.

McCain and Clinton both have serious problems

Posted Sun, Feb 10, 8 p.m.

By Ted Van Dyk

National update: Hillary Clinton must figure out a way to slow Barack Obama's surge of momentum, and Wisconsin may be a key state. John McCain's big drawback is having no real base in the party. Our campaign veteran also marvels at all the energy at a Labor Temple caucus.

The Northwest whiskey rebellion

Posted Mon, Jan 28, 5 a.m.

Entrepreneurs are lifting spirits with a rash of new distilleries in the region, putting a little more zip in the agri-tourism boom.

Is a species endangered if you can't find it?

Posted Fri, Oct 12, 5 a.m.

SPOKESMAN-REVIEW (SPOKANE)

That's just one of the questions raised by the mystery of the great white worm of the Palouse – a lilly-scented, spitting underground enigma.

The bad and the ugly of Northwest newspaper Web sites

Posted Thu, Sep 13, midnight

By Chuck Taylor

We're asking for your input with a Crosscut reader survey, so we thought we'd offer some advice ourselves – to the regional papers we're reading online.

Other media

Spokane's Sterling Bank faces ultimatum from government regulators The bank is given 60 days to raise $300 million. Sterling's new head calls the situation "manageable." Bank stock trades at $1.29.

A star Spokane reporter reflects on why she left her newspaper Karen Dorn Steele, who did outstanding investigative reporting for the Spokesman-Review, gives a first interview on why she left and what she learned about a paper deeply woven into the local power structure.

CENTER FOR JUSTICE

Spokane woman, 60, reaches Everest summit on fourth try She began climbing seriously at age 50.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tacoma's nose out of joint at thought of Spokane having more fraud With Spokane named a scam city by Forbes, Tacoma fights back with its own long roll of dishonor.

NEWS TRIBUNE (TACOMA)

Spokane: America's capital of scam The chamber of commerce isn't going to like this. A Forbes reporter discovers the Inland Empire is, and always has been, fertile ground for fraud.

FORBES

Blog posts

What were they thinking?

Posted Tue, Sep 22, 6 a.m.

by Knute Berger

Spokane's "criminally insane escapee" raises big questions.

A Lincoln Portrait for today

Posted Thu, Feb 5, 1 p.m.

by Thomas May

Spokane Symphony commissions a modern work by Michael Daugherty, whose Letters from Lincoln was composed to honor baritone Thomas Hampson, who grew up in Spokane and will give the work's world premiere on Feb. 28

Sausage Links, townhall debate edition

Posted Tue, Oct 7, 3 p.m. 2008

Tonight is the second presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, and it represents what could be a knock-out punch for the Democrats. That is, if you're still convinced the election isn't over. (Hint: It is.) If the current polls are any indication, McCain's only chance of winning this election are if Obama walks onto stage tonight wearing an Arab headdress and an Irani lapel pin, and after giving a shout-out to Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers, tells the television audience that Sarah Palin is a trollop.

Sausage Links, HOV lane endorsement edition

Posted Mon, Oct 6, 1 p.m. 2008

The Seattle Times is recommending voters reject Initiative 985, the Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that would create a statewide "traffic congestion relief" fund, eliminate localized revenues for devices such as red-light cameras, and open HOV lanes during non-peak hours. The paper's editorial board writes, "I-985 is a poorly-packaged jumble of different agendas that will – please, listen carefully – worsen traffic in certain areas. It makes no sense to design a functioning, complicated traffic system by initiative." ...

Sausage Links, pork barrel edition

Posted Fri, Oct 3, 5:29 p.m. 2008

What's the most important news of the day? It's not the passage of the Wall Street bailout bill. It's not the pundits' reactions to last night's vice-presidential debate. No. The most important news item of the day is that Saturday, Oct. 4, is the last day to register to vote. So if you haven't already, do it. ...

Sausage Links, the big debate edition

Posted Thu, Oct 2, 1 p.m. 2008

So. Tonight's the big vice-presidential debate between Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Democratic Sen. Joe Biden. Which Palin will show up? Will we see the pitbull with lipstick or the incoherent Couric interviewee? It's anybody's guess. But with expectations already at rock-bottom, it's fair to assume she'll look better than many liberals think. What about Biden? As former Gore advisor Michael Feldman wrote in the Washington Post this morning, Biden's mission is not to screw it up. ...

Sausage Links, Buildergate edition

Posted Wed, Oct 1, 2:21 p.m. 2008

Liberal bloggers are delirious with joy about Buildergate, the series of allegations announced yesterday accusing Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi of directly and illegally soliciting funds from the Master Builder's Association in May 2007 to fund the Building Industry Association of Washington's "war chest." Both David Goldstein at Horse's Ass and Aaron Ostrom at FUSE call the memo a "smoking gun" and a game-changer for the hotly contested gubernatorial race.

Sausage Links, cheap shot edition

Posted Tue, Sep 30, 2:10 p.m. 2008

The folks at Horse's Ass report that while state Attorney General Rob McKenna has already filed suit against the Building Industry Association of Washington for multiple campaign finance violations, new evidence suggests that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi may have "actively solicited funds" on behalf of the BIAW. If it's true it would be a deadly blow to Rossi's campaign. While the big papers haven't yet caught on, I guarantee you'll be reading about "buildergate" tomorrow. ...

Sausage Links, weak sister edition

Posted Thu, Sep 25, 1:58 p.m. 2008

Is the Gregoire candidacy growing weak? Not surprisingly, that's what local conservative pundit Eric Earling thinks. But you know things aren't going well for the Democratic governor when someone at the Stranger says Gregoire is running a "lackluster, defensive campaign." ...

Sausage Links, skeptical journalists' edition

Posted Wed, Sep 24, 1:16 p.m. 2008