By overwhelming majorities, voters in North Idaho's West Bonner School District have overwhelmingly told their school board that enough is enough. Two trustees, Chair Keith Rutledge and Vice Chair Susan Brown, were recalled in a Aug. 29 special election. After hiring a superintendent with no K-12 experience and canceling previously approved curriculum — costing the district money to return materials — the district's constituents no longer believe the two have the students' best interest in mind. With their removal, the board has lost its far-right majority. Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale says this is the first successful recall he's seen after nearly a decade on the job. Close to two-thirds of voters voted to oust the pair. And nearly three times more voters turned out for the recall than for the 2021 election in which either candidate came to office. The results will be canvassed and made official on Sept. 7. The remaining board members have four months to appoint new members, or else Bonner County commissioners will step in to complete the job. (COLTON RASANEN)
PREACHING AWAY CRIME
Last week, Spokane City Council members met with police and leadership from Catholic Charities to discuss ideas for improving safety and fentanyl-related issues near the intersection of Second Avenue and Division Street, a long-troubled intersection in downtown Spokane and the subject of an Inlander cover story last month ("Second and Division," Aug. 16, 2023). "Over the past month or so it's gotten to be in full-on crisis mode," said police Lt. Dan Waters. Council members and police floated various ideas to stop people from congregating and causing trouble in the area, including lights, music, cutting down trees, fencing and even closing off part of the street to make the area around Catholic Charities' housing units a "closed campus." Perhaps the wildest suggestion was to move people along with street preachers. "It sounds crazy, it absolutely works," said Catholic Charities Eastern Washington CEO Rob McCann. "You get somebody with a megaphone reading the Bible, it'll clear out any space in downtown Spokane." (NATE SANFORD)
COMMUTING DOLLARS
The Spokane Regional Transportation Commission, which doles government transportation spending, has released its top projects for the next few years and, unsurprisingly, a lot of it is going to complete the north-south freeway. Nearly half of the more than $1 billion being spent before 2027 is heading to the North Spokane Corridor — $502,397,895 to be exact. To put that in context, spending on all regional transit projects, including a major project to convert North Division Street to a bus rapid transit corridor, comes to about $200 million, or about 20 percent of the total. And spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects comes to $28 million, an unprecedented 13 percent of the total. That includes work to connect the Centennial and Fish Lake trails, constructing the Millwood Trail between Spokane Community College and Felts Field, building the Pacific Avenue Greenway in downtown Spokane, "pedestrian enhancements" in Airway Heights, and work on Medical Lake's Lake Street to make it accessible to people with disabilities. For more information, visit www.srtc.org/tip. (NICHOLAS DESHAIS)