News

Police in Browne's Addition investigating Ricin letters

Saturday, May 18th, 2013, 12:27pm

Spokane Police conducted an operation in Browne's Addition Saturday morning in conjunction with the investigation into two letters that preliminarily tested positive for Ricin found at the Spokane Post Office earlier this week.

Law enforcement was at 1st and Oak in Browne's Addition, where police and a HazMat team executed a search warrant.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed the search warrant was being executed but had no further details as to whether or not anyone was in custody or what led the investigation to Browne's Addition.

An apartment complex is located at 1st and Oak and residents are being asked to stay in their apartments while the search warrant is being executed. Several streets are also blocked off in the immediate vicinity.

Earlier in the week the 10th Civil Support Team, a Washington National Guard unit whose mission it is to investigation weapons of mass destruction, was deployed to Spokane after the discovery of the letters. Their mission was to aid in identifying whether or not Ricin was found in those letters.

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Spokane schools moving to all-day kindergarten

Submitted by KXLY Web Staff

Friday, May 17th, 2013, 6:21pm

They don't have the money yet but that didn't stop the Spokane Public School board from voting to move all 34 elementary schools to full-day kindergarten this fall.

The district now has until August to hire 30 new teachers, create space for full-day kindergarten, not to mention educate parents on what this means for them.

For parents of 4-year-olds it's been a year of being in limbo. Sydney Mott wants full-day kindergarten for her son Jackson. To ensure this she signed him up at two schools: Saint Aloysius Catholic School -- a guarantee that comes with a cost -- and Moran Prairie Elementary near her home, just in case Spokane Public Schools adopted full-day kindergarten.

"Finding out today now that he can go to full-day kindergarten at the school right next to us is really nice to know that we have that opportunity now," Mott said.

She has no doubt full-day kindergarten is what's best for Jackson's education and soon little Taylor.

"For what these little ones can do in that short amount of time, I think they need all day to learn all that they can and really get used to being in school," she said.

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Monroe Street Bridge closing for nearly a month

Submitted by Camille Troxel on Friday, May 17th, 1:41 pm

Be prepared for some driving headaches! The Monroe Street Bridge will be closed for almost a month starting on June 3rd.

Clearwater Construction will be closing the bridge in order to work on the Kendall Yards and Spokane Joint Storm Water Facility. The project will install manholes and piping that will run under Monroe Street.

The bridge will be closed from June 3rd to June 27th. During that time traffic will be redirected to the Washington Street Bridge.

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Grant and Holmes selected as Champion Schools

Submitted by Camille Troxel on Thursday, May 16th, 5:22 pm

OTTO, the Spokane Indians Mascot, will be visiting two local elementary schools this spring as part of the Itron Champions Programs. Grant and Holmes Elementary Schools have been selected as this year's Champion Schools.

The blue mascot will lead cheers and laughter for each school at an assembly. In addition, Itron will provide each school with 250 Indians tickets to be given out to students as rewards for good attendance, hard work and achievement in the classroom.

"We love bringing the Itron Champions Program to schools and getting kids excited about learning," said Indian Senior Vice President, Otto Klein. "This is a great opportunity for the Indians to support our local schools and students."

OTTO will visit Grant Elementary on Friday, May 24th and Holmes Elementary on Thursday, June 6th.

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Kyra Wine defies the odds

Submitted by KXLY Web Staff

Thursday, May 9th, 2013, 7:11pm

In 2008, three-year-old Kyra Wine became the victim of the worst case of child abuse in Benewah County history, her injuries so severe doctor's amputated her feet. Now, five years later, she's an active, happy eight-year-old girl.

The abuse Kyra and her sister Amanda endured is heartbreaking and unimaginable but now they are thriving.

"Every birthday, yeah, every birthday is special," Kyra's grandma, Deanna Wine said.

For her eighth birthday, Kyra didn't ask for anything special.

"I just let them get whatever they want," Kyra said.

Making the gifts on her grandma's kitchen table an even bigger surprise; a birthday is always a big deal when you're a kid, but when you're Kyra, each candle carries more than a wish. They're a symbol of survival, a light of hope.

"When this all happened with Kyra the doctors said that basically she had hours," Deanna said. "If she hadn't been taken to the hospital she had just hours to live."

On June 17, 2008 Benewah County Sheriff's deputies responded to a home for a welfare check on Kyra, then three-years-old, and her six-year-old sister Amanda. They couldn't have found them any sooner.

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Police arrest man for shooting in West Central

Submitted by KXLY Web Staff

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, 5:00am

Spokane police arrested a man in connection to a shooting in West Central Spokane that sent one man to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

It happened around 8:30 p.m. on Monday in the 2500 block of West Boone Avenue.

One man was shot in the leg in the front yard of a home.

Police spoke with several witnesses and found the suspect, Billy Jack Wessels, 26, at a house on the 2300 block of West Sharp Avenue. He was arrested on two counts of second-degree assault and one count of felony harassment.

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Sequester slashes into Meals on Wheels funding

Submitted by KXLY Web Staff

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013, 7:25pm

Sequester slashes into Meals on Wheels funding

Meals on Wheels is the latest victim of budget cuts stemming from the federal sequester.They're being forced to scale back on many of their services.

Volunteers deliver to 1000 seniors in Spokane County everyday, and like many non-profits they've had to deal with budget cut after budget cut. The most recent one may be the toughest to swallow as they had a 30-percent growth in clients in the past year.

Seniors only receive one meal a day because of those cuts, and now, the sequester means $6,000 was slashed from the Meals on Wheels home delivery fund. It also decreases funding for group meals by $5,000.

It won't equal fewer dinners, but instead will come from the ingredients.

"What we've been doing is really looking at our menu, seeing what we can eliminate, and still keep a nutritious meal," Executive Director Pam Almeida said.

One reason why the cut isn't deeper is because Aging and Long Term Care dipped into reserve funding. Almeida says that saved the program more than $40,000.

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