Spokane condos

Major developments continue forward in Spokane, Washington. 'Two major residential projects in downtown Spokane are moving forward.

On Thursday, the YMCA announced its building will be sold and demolished for a 14-story condominium tower.

Meanwhile, a massive, 80-acre development north of downtown Spokane has been given the green light by Mayor Dennis Hession despite concerns raised by city and state planners.

Hession said Kendall Yards is the largest project of its type the city has ever seen. The Spokane Area Economic Development Council has estimated the 20-year residential and commercial project, intended to build 2,600 residences downtown, will ultimately have an economic impact of $3 billion.

"I committed to becoming involved in this project because it is the most substantial project that has ever occurred in the city of Spokane," Hession said, noting that the developer has verbally agreed to address the issues raised by planners.

"You have to remember that this project is very unique in that it is a huge project within the central core of the city," he added.

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The Kendall Yards project application has been declared "technically complete." That means it's been scheduled for a public hearing before the hearing examiner, who has final say to approve or deny it.

The mayor's actions had a Washington State Department of Transportation planner wondering whether traffic concerns would be fully addressed.

"I was made aware that the city has deemed the Kendall Yards project technically complete without the traffic issues that we had discussed at our June 6th meeting being addressed or mitigation being proposed," wrote Greg Figg, a WSDOT planner, in an e-mail to the city's traffic engineer.

"This is a significant concern to us given the traffic volumes that will be added to the Maple/Ash I-90 ramp terminals," he said.

In the YMCA deal, a developer will pay the group $5.3 million for its property in Riverfront Park on the Spokane River.

Developer Mark Pinch is proposing a $50 million tower with up to 80 residential units and two levels of parking.

The condominiums would start in the $300,000 range, he said.

"We're going to develop that as good stewards of the park and good stewards of the river and provide Spokane with a dynamite project," Pinch said. "At the same time, we'll provide people who aren't residents in those homes with great access and great views."

The purchase and sale agreement, announced Thursday by Pinch and YMCA President Rig Riggins, allows the YMCA to move closer to its goal of co-location with the YWCA on 3.5 acres the YWCA announced Wednesday it planned to purchase.

The announcement also triggers the Spokane Park Board's 30-day right of first refusal to purchase the YMCA property, which it plans to exercise. What remains to be seen is how the park board would raise the money to match the $5.3 million offer by July 28.

"We would like that piece of property as part of the park, not as a high-rise building," said Ron Rector, vice president of the Park Board. "We just feel it should be part of the park and part of the view. It's got the best view of the river."'

Spokane condos

Nurses Should Support Spokane Children's Hospital Cinema

Nurses gathering around donning scrub caps of many colors to support a worthy cause. That site would be a nice reality. Children are our most precious items. When they get sick our hearts are torn.

'Sacred Heart Children's Hospital is honored by the support two incredible men, Ken Pickens and Doug Lee, and their goal to bring a cinema to the Children's Hospital. The cinema will provide a place where seriously ill children can be " just like other kids" and go to the movies with their family. In order to create this theatre experience money has to be raised. Ken and Doug are hard at work raising $100,000. Their goal is to complete the project by December of this year. Many community fundraising events are in the works to build this special place and Ken and Doug welcome your help!'

How would it look if nurses and doctors were to help with the fundraiser? I'm sure the children would be very happy.

Nurses Should Support Spokane Children's Hospital Cinema

Home of the Brave filmed in Spokane stars 50 cent

Home of the Brave, scheduled for release at the end of the year, just finished wrapping ip it's primaty filming in Spokane, Washington.

This independent film stars Samuel L. Jackson and rap artist 50 cent. Primarily dealing with the subject of the transition of a soldiers life on the battlefront to life at home, it keys in on present day reality. While such films as Born on the 4th of July touched on the life of a soldiers return after the Vietnam war; Home of the Brave will use the presnt Iraq war.

50 cent used his own life experience to act in the role.

'While surviving shootings (nine, his notorious backstory goes) and stabbings in New York, as he did during his youth as a drug-dealing player, is not like trying to stay alive in Iraq, 50 Cent said he could empathize with what the soldiers go through. A trip to Iraq to perform for the soldiers only reinforced his feelings.'

Home of the Brave filmed in Spokane stars 50 cent

Guilty Plea In Spokane Washington Killing

Twenty-five year old, Nicholas James Walter, pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery in an incident involving an arranged purchase of marijuana. A teenage victim Matthew Migaki was killed in the ordeal. Walter could see as many as 20 years in prison for the crime.

'As part of a plea agreement he accepted Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court, prosecutors dropped a weapons charge that could have meant five more years in prison.

According to court documents, Walters and two teenagers arranged to meet Migaki, 17, last June 5 on the pretext that he knew how they could get some marijuana.

Instead, investigators wrote, they planned to rob Migaki and the weapon discharged as Walter was pumping the action of a sawed-off shotgun to intimidate him.

Walter fled but was arrested in Sacramento, Calif., after gave the slip to a police officer in Portland, Ore., by using a false name.

Under the plea agreement, Walter is required to testify against Caleb J. Hanowell, whose trial on the same murder and robbery conspiracy charges is pending.

A third defendant, James N. Beasley, 16, pleaded guilty last year, agreed to testify against Hanowell and could remain in juvenile detention until he turns 21.'

Guilty Plea In Spokane Washington Killing

Spokane Catholic Diocese To Sell Bishop's Office Building

The Catholic Bishop's office building in Spokane Washington will be sold in order to help cover costs associated with a recent sex-abuse case against the diocese.

'The diocese has retained Keen Realty, a Great Neck, N.Y., company that specializes in representing companies in bankruptcy or other financial troubles, to sell its historic Catholic Pastoral Center downtown, as well as two vacant parcels near Spokane.

The Pastoral Center, also known as the Chancery, is among $11 million in assets the diocese claimed when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2004, listing more than $81 million in claims.

Keen Realty Vice President Michael Matlat said the Pastoral Center's asking price is $1.5 million. A 92-acre parcel of land near Medical Lake, west of the city, also is listed at $1.5 million, while a 3-acre parcel in the Spokane Valley is worth an estimated $75,000.

"It has always been our intention to sell everything," Shaun Cross, a lawyer representing the diocese in its bankruptcy case, said Wednesday. "This is the start of that process. Virtually everything the diocese owns will be put up for sale."

A federal bankruptcy judge recently ruled that churches, schools and other properties in 82 parishes are owned by the bishop and could be sold to satisfy creditors, who are mostly people who claim they were abused by priests and other clergy.

The properties are believed to be worth an additional $80 million. The diocese has appealed that ruling.

Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is among those named in bankruptcy claims as an abuser. Skylstad has denied the claim that he sexually abused a young woman in the 1960s.

The house where Skylstad lives also will be sold, part of an estimated $5 million in real estate the diocese owns, Cross said.

Another $3 million is potentially available from a parish construction loan portfolio, he said.

The diocese has announced settlements amounting to about $10 million with insurance carriers and is negotiating possible settlements with other insurance companies.

The 28,968-square-foot, three-story Pastoral Center on West Riverside Avenue was built in 1910 and has served as a general office building for the diocese.

The 92-acre vacant parcel is just northwest of Interstate 90 and Medical Lake Road, about two miles southwest of the Spokane International Airport.

The three-acre parcel is in a residential area next to Painted Hills Golf Course in the Spokane Valley.

The diocese recently sold the former St. Anne's Children's Home property for about $500,000.'
Spokane Catholic Diocese To Sell Bishop's Office Building

Extradition In Motion For Accused Suspect In 2001 Auto Collision

It has been five long years since Frederick D. Russell was living south of Spokane in Whitman County. The friends and relatives of three victims killed, and four injured, in an automoble crash in which Russell is accused of causing, could see him coming back from Ireland soon to face charges.

'A judge in Ireland granted a request Tuesday to extradite Russell to the United States to face trial on three counts of vehicular manslaughter in Whitman County.

The extradition has been under review ever since the former Washington State University student was found in Dublin on Oct. 23, four years to the day after he fled the United States.

"This is really a very significant step in getting him back into a Whitman County courtroom," Prosecutor Denis Tracy said. "Based on the track record of Irish courts in not granting extradition, we were quite concerned. But it looks like the effort is paying off."

Russell, 27, is charged in the 2001 crash on state Highway 270, the two-lane road that connects Pullman and Moscow, Idaho.

His attorney, Mark Moorer, said his client has always maintained his innocence.

"That appears to be the question of the day: Will he appeal (the extradition ruling)?" Moorer asked. "I have an e-mail in to (Russell's) solicitor (in Ireland) and I am waiting for a response."

Accident reports said Russell was driving an SUV about 90 mph and trying to pass other vehicles when it struck three cars the night of June 4, 2001. All the dead and seriously injured victims were returning from a movie in one car.

Killed in the crash were WSU seniors Brandon Clements, 22, of Wapato; Stacy G. Morrow, 21, of Milton; and Ryan Sorensen, 21, of Westport. Seriously injured were John Wagner, of Harrington, Kara Eichelsdoerfer, of Central Park, and Sameer Ranade, of Kennewick.

Russell suffered minor injuries. At the hospital after the crash, his blood-alcohol level measured 0.12 percent, above the legal intoxication threshold of 0.08.

A few days before his trial was to begin, Russell hitched a ride on Oct. 23, 2001, with Bernadette Olson, who was a graduate student at the time studying under Russell's father, Greg Russell. The elder Russell is a former prosecutor who then was working as the head of WSU's criminal justice program.

Olson drove Fred Russell to the airport in Calgary, Alberta. Federal officials believe Russell flew immediately to England before settling in Ireland.

In March 2004, Olson pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to investigators about her interactions with Russell. She later resigned from her post as assistant professor of criminal justice and legal studies at the University of West Florida.

Tracy's office, with help from U.S. officials, filed for Russell's extradition after a Dublin tipster spotted his photograph on the U.S. Marshals Service's Web site, which listed Russell among the United States' 15 most-wanted criminal suspects. He had been working in a Dublin lingerie shop under the alias David Carroll.

Until Tuesday, the return of Russell, who also faces four counts of vehicular assault and various charges relating to his fleeing the country, remained in doubt. That's because the previous 18 attempts to extradite U.S. suspects had been denied by Irish officials, including a vehicular homicide case out of California, federal officials said last year.'

Extradition In Motion For Accused Suspect In 2001 Auto Collision

Dog Reunites With Spokane Woman After Six Years

Here's a heartwamrming story for you dog lovers.

'Thanks to modern technology a Spokane woman was reunited with her dog recently six years after she lost her.'

Just to clarify; the dog was lost, not the woman.

'Annette Wulff had a microchip implanted in her dog when she was just a puppy. However the dog – Lady – disappeared when she was just eight months old. Not knowing where she was or what happened to her Wulff feared the worst.

On Monday she got a call from Spokanimal.

“I was totally amazed I was just thinking about two or three days ago about getting a boxer and now the next day she was home,” Wulff said.

As for Lady, who was adopted by another family and re-named Baby, Wulff says she’s exactly as she remembers her, just a little bigger and with one other noticeable change.

“She likes to ride in the car now,” Wulff said. “I don't have to train her to do that … before she was getting sick now she doesn't get sick.”'

Doesn't this dog story bring a tear to your eye.

Dog Reunites With Spokane Woman After Six Years

EchoStar expands local HD channels to Spokane

'EchoStar Communications Corp. said Dish Network satellite television customers in the Seattle and Spokane areas will now be able to receive local TV stations in high definition.

Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar (NASDAQ: DISH) also is making high-definition channels available to customers in Dallas; Houston; Miami; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego; San Francisco; and Sacramento, Calif.

The company now offers local HD channels to customers in 24 cities. EchoStar is offering its entire DishHD lineup and more than 70 standard definition channels for $49.99 a month. Local channels will be added for $5 a month.

Dish Network plans to launch high-definition local channels through its satellite service in additional cities until it reaches more than 50 percent of all U.S. households by year's end.

EchoStar serves more than 12 million satellite TV customers nationwide.'

EchoStar expands local HD channels to Spokane

Spokane Washington's Avista Corp. Chooses New President

'Avista Corp. said Monday it tapped insider Scott Morris to be president and chief operating officer for the electricity and natural-gas provider.'

Avista is headquartered in Spokane Washington.

'Morris, who was most recently senior vice president of the company and president of Avista's utilities unit, will continue to oversee that group, as well operations of the overall corporation.

Morris joined Avista's utilities group in 1981 in its marketing division and has held a variety of management roles within the company, including general manager for Avista's Oregon and California utility business. He has been president of Avista's utilities business since August 2000.'

Spokane Washington's Avista Corp. Chooses New President

Spokane Home Prices Surge 26.4 Percent

'There are signs the pace of home sales in Washington is slowing down, but prices continued to climb in the first quarter of 2006, according to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.

Rising interest rates lessened the number of homes sold in the first three months of 2006, compared to a year ago, but the price of homes soared 17 percent in the same period.

The Spokane market was particularly strong, with prices rising 26.4 percent from the year before, to an average of $169,900, the report said.

"It's fairly typical that the Spokane market really heats up three years or so after the Seattle market has caught fire," said Glenn Crellin, director of the Pullman-based center.

After a few years of rising prices in the Puget Sound region, the Spokane market looks like a bargain and buyers swoop in, Crellin said.

The report is produced in conjuction with Washington Realtors.

Crellin said the raising of interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board is the main reason for the flat statewide market.

But he cautioned that the market appears flat only in comparison to the superheated housing sales of recent years.

"The market remains very strong," he said, especially compared to the rest of the country.

Roughly half of Washington's 39 counties reported fewer sales between January 1 and March 31 than a year ago, but the statewide total was only 0.3 percent (120 sales) below the record for a first quarter.

King County, the state's largest, saw the number of homes sold in the first quarter drop 10 percent from the year before. But neighboring Snohomish and Pierce counties each reported roughly 9 percent more sales.

In Eastern Washington, Spokane was the only urban market with rising sales. The number of homes sold in Yakima was down 3.6 percent and in the Tri-Cities was down 5.8 percent. The top performers in Eastern Washington were Kittitas and Walla Walla counties, where sales rates were nearly 50 percent above a year ago.

Statewide, there are only about half the homes on the market required to avoid significant inflationary pressure on housing, Crellin said.

The statewide median price soared to $280,200 during the first quarter, 17.1 percent above a year earlier, but a slower increase than during the fourth quarter.

Grant and Yakima counties were the only areas to report median prices down from a year ago, and only slightly. Sparsely populated Columbia County was the only market in the state reporting a median price below $100,000.

Prices averaged double digit increases in 29 of the 39 counties.

The most costly market in the state was San Juan County, where the median price of $625,500 was 33.8 percent above last year.

King County remained the most expensive urban market, with a median price during the first quarter of $399,500. Yakima was the least expensive urban market, with a median price of $129,400.

Buying a house continues to become more difficult in Washington.

The Housing Affordability Index - which measures the ability of a middle income family to buy a median price home with a 30-year mortgage - slipped further below 100 in the first quarter.

The statewide rate of 93.3 meant that a typical family had only 93 percent of the income required to buy a median-price home. Buyers in seven counties faced index values below 100, with the problem especially big in San Juan, Jefferson and King counties, which had values ranging from 37.1 to 77.1.

At the other extreme, four counties had index values above 150, suggesting the typical family would not have much trouble buying. They were Benton, Columbia, Garfield and Wahkiakum counties.

The first-time buyer affordability index for the first quarter stood at 54.3, the fourth consecutive quarter of record low affordability.

"The biggest challenge is finding affordable starter homes," Crellin said. "Only three counties offer the typical entry-level buyer the opportunity to afford a typical starter home." They are Benton, Columbia and Wahkiakum.'

Spokane Home Prices Surge 26.4 Percent