[Previous entry: "Channeling Russell Nelson"] [Next entry: "stealing back the revolution, on Independence Day"]

06/27/2006: "The latest from Spokane"

Spokane invaded by thousands of porta-potties.

"Once a toilet has been used on a construction site, you don't want to put it anywhere but a construction site," Corn said "You wouldn't take one of those toilets and send it to a wedding."

The fish in the Spokane River are poisoned.

Spokane River fish have higher levels of some toxic man-made chemicals than those found anywhere else in Washington, the state Department of Ecology said Thursday in recommending an ambitious cleanup.

The department released preliminary results of water quality studies and said concentrations of some toxic chemicals must be reduced by as much as 99 percent to meet health standards.

The studies over the past three years looked at concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls - PCBs - polybrominated diphenyl ethers - PBDEs - dioxins and heavy metals, all of which can accumulate in fish tissue.

The studies found levels of PCBs are decreasing in fish, while amounts of dioxins found in trout downstream from Spokane are the highest found in the state.

Yes folks in Spokane still go swimming in that same river.

Spokane Valley Fire Marshal Kevin Miller says relatives of the 22-year-old man saw him struggling in deep water at Plante's Ferry Park, north of the Upriver Dam at about 4:45 p.m. Sunday.

And the cops in Spokane still aren't solving violent crime.

Steven Allison had a chance to tell police who had beaten him but refused. Days later he was dead and now, nearly a year later, the investigation has stalled.

Investigators have been focusing on two individuals but have little to show for their efforts to bring whoever was responsible for the death of Allison, 44, of Spokane, to justice, said Sgt. Joseph Peterson, head of the major crimes unit, and the lead detective on the case, Timothy Madsen.

I'm betting they won't solve this one, either:

A homeless, wheelchair-bound man was hospitalized with extensive burns after being set afire in downtown Spokane, police said.

Because the cops in Spokane don't solve crimes, they commit them:

A mentally disabled man buying a burrito ends up dead in March after being repeatedly shocked with police Taser guns and hog-tied on the floor of a Spokane convenience store.

One month earlier, two police detectives order the deletion of sexually explicit digital camera pictures of a city firefighter having on-duty sex with a 16-year-old girl.

And the month before that, in January, a delusional man suffering alcohol withdrawal dies in the Spokane County Jail after fighting with guards and getting a "donkey kick" to the torso by a jailer who is now a city police officer."

Spokane, where you can get away with murder, if your a cop, or a Catholic priest. And if you're a pedophile, too much is never enough.