At the Spokane County Republican Party convention on Saturday morning, controversial Spokane Valley City Council Member Al Merkel was steering the course of the dominant political party of a county of over a half million.
As the head of the resolutions committee, he’d help hammer out a sprawling packet of declarations on policy: 20 resolutions stretched across 53 pages and more than 180 “be it resolved” clauses, weighing in on everything from “geoengineering” to freezing legal immigration.
But taken as a whole, the resolutions went beyond declaring positions: they set out tight new standards for denying future Republican candidates the party’s endorsement. And before lunchtime hit, the majority of the crowd of over 170 convention delegates had approved the whole thick packet, including resolutions on chemtrails and supporting American exceptionalism.
Read the full story at the link above, and read a first person narrative about how reporter Daniel Walters refused to pay the $100 journalist entry fee (double what they charged everyone else) and reported on the conference anyway here.
It's all-hands-on-deck, full steam ahead for wildfire recovery efforts as the city of Spokane's municipal government seeks to address ongoing needs. Here's the highlight reel from their agendas, plus details from other meetings across the agenda:
- The Spokane City Council will vote on a number of items related to wildfire recovery, including an emergency ordinance to cut demolition fees and a contract with the Washington State Department of Commerce to direct $1 million in state funds to residents impacted by the Spokane Complex Fire.
- At the council’s Finance and Administration Committee meeting, they’ll consider an emergency ordinance to implement eviction protections for renters who lost income due to the fires — protections that would also be available to people impacted by future emergencies.
- Spokane City’s Plan Commission will be discussing a policy to allow accessory dwelling units on properties with no primary dwelling unit — a technical way of letting people who are rebuilding in the wake of the fires start smaller, with a tiny home or other structure to get them back in stable housing even as full home rebuilds take more time.
- The Spokane County Planning Commission will host its first workshop on slate of data center zoning regulations the County Commission made way for last week.
Read all the details at the link in post.
When Sakeleanna Adame filed the lawsuit against Spokane Valley, she said she had two goals, neither of them financial: make the intersection where her son died safer and create a memorial there for him.
Wildfires swept through parts of Spokane County just days before the August primary, forcing thousands to evacuate.
A RANGE analysis found turnout fell more in fire-affected areas than elsewhere in the county compared with the 2022 primary, as voters faced evacuations, road closures and disruptions to their usual ways of casting a ballot.
Find the full story here.
The Board of County Commissioners has big feelings about data centers and Spokane City Council is back from vacation. Here are the big things on their dockets + other municipal meetings:
Read up on all that and more at the link so you can be the most informed Spokanite at the river, in the breakroom, or wherever you chat about the news.
On August 3, State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued an emergency order temporarily barring insurers from canceling or not renewing property and auto policies across all Washington ZIP codes affected by wildfire damage or evacuation orders, through September 30.
Additionally, insurers now have to provide 120 days’ notice before a cancellation or nonrenewal, double the usual 60-day notice. They must also wait at least 45 days after a missed premium payment before they drop coverage.
But some fear that may not be enough to solve long-term concerns.
https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-area-homeowners-could-lose-insurance-adding-insult-to-injury-2/
If you couldn’t catch it live, our candidate forum recording is now up on YouTube - thanks to our media partners KSPS-PBS and Midnight Waffles. If you haven’t filled out your ballots yet, hopefully this helps, and please vote by Tuesday!
On Sunday evening, nearly 200 people gathered inside the Nuestras Raíces Community Center for "A Night of Resistance," a fundraising event to benefit the Justice Forral, Jac Archer and Bajun Mavalwalla II, the three Spokane protesters who were convicted in May on federal conspiracy charges.
Featuring local musicians, community organizers, and speeches by Forral, Archer and Mavalwalla II, this event shifted the focus away from the courtroom and toward the community that has remained alongside them.
Read the full story at the link.
(Photos by Sandra Rivera.)