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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization
If socialists insist that "real socialism" has never been tried, it follows that neither has "real capitalism."
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
David Von Drehle: Twitter, the crystal meth of newsrooms
Smaller government? Some Trump supporters cheer the shutdown
The shutdown – which lasted 35 days and ended Friday with Trump agreeing to fund the government for three weeks – did dramatically shrink the size of government at least temporarily. Funding was cut off for nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments and about 800,000 employees went without pay, nearly half of whom were deemed non-essential and told not to report to work.
Steve King applauded at first Iowa event since House rebuke
Constituents applauded Republican Rep. Steve King on Saturday at the Iowa congressman’s first public event since being rebuked by his House colleagues over racist comments he had made to a newspaper earlier this month.
Sue Lani Madsen: Consider a dose of skepticism when tweets go viral
It only took four days to track down the source of the Covington High vs. Nathan Phillips virus, but it was already too late to undo the effect. King told the roughly 75 people who showed up for the first of 39 planned town hall meetings in his sprawling district that he doesn’t adhere to a white supremacist ideology and he repeated his assertion that he’s not racist. The nine-term House member caused an uproar after he was quoted in a New York Times story saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization – how did that language become offensive?” King claimed his comments were taken out of context, but the House voted 424-1 to rebuke him, with King himself voting in favor of the resolution, and Republican leaders denied him any committee assignments. Addressing what he called “the elephant in the room” in his opening remarks at Saturday’s event, King expressed frustration that his comments about white nationalism and white supremacy in the Times interview led to even his fellow Republicans disowning him.
Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes opens doors to provide Spokane’s homeless vets a hot meal, access to resources
Homeless people, including a number of military veterans, received a hot meal and a bevy of goods and services Saturday afternoon at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in downtown Spokane. The event, organized by city officials with help from the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, was designed to be a first step for homeless vets to find housing, mental health care, peer support and skills to get a new job.
Major changes around corner for Spokane middle schools
Spokane Public Schools will soon make major changes in the landscape of its middle schools, and they have more to do with new attitudes than state-of-the-art buildings. The biggest change – and the main reason to build those schools in the first place – is the addition of sixth-graders to all middle schools.
Work to begin on restaurant upgrade as part of River Hotel renovation
Work on the Onyx Kitchen in the River Hotel will begin soon, according to permits issued by the city. Renovation of the hotel began in November, and now the 3,500-square-foot restaurant will see $250,000 in upgrades. Management of the hotel, formerly the Red Lion River Inn, recently changed hands following Red Lion’s decision not to renew its lease on the property at 700 N. Division St. GVD and Ruby Hospitality will take over management of the hotel. GVD Commercial purchased the hotel property for $10.75 million in 2003. With the new hotel, Ruby will run six hotels in all, including Hotel Ruby, Ruby2 and the Montvale Hotel in downtown Spokane, the Hotel Ruby Sandpoint and Ruby Suites. Ruby Hospitality also manages the Montvale Event Center, the Bing Crosby Theater and Sapphire Lounge.
Eagles Temple building to undergo $2.2 million conversion
Building permits have been issued for $1.2 million in work to convert a 96-year-old building that has been home to a nightclub and theater into apartments. The project, which is expected to cost $2.2 million in all, will bring 21 residences on three floors and two ground-level retail spots on Howard Street just north of the rail viaduct. The former Eagles Temple, just south of Second Avenue at 174 S. Howard St., was purchased for $750,000 in December 2017 by Susannah Stoltz, who is developing the project. The building was built in 1923 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles and remained with the group as a meeting hall until 1960. After years of vacancy, it opened in 1969 as the Canterbury Inn, a nightclub, and then the Land’s End Tavern in 1974. In 1980, the space became a theater, Inter Players. Most recently it was the Modern Theater Spokane, which closed in 2016 because of high costs and low revenue.
Renovation of Pacific Fruit building will bring financial company offices, coffee shop, restaurant
A 97-year-old brick building in Spokane’s University District that still boasts the faded “Pacific Fruit & Produce Co.” on two of its exteriror walls will reopen later this year as a restaurant, coffee shop and new home to JMK & Associates, a Spokane-based financial company. The building at 102 E. Main Ave. is a former warehouse in what used to be an industrial end of downtown. It will be remade into offices, conference rooms and other spaces for JMK. The building will also have space for a large restaurant and 1,000-square-foot coffee shop. Tenants have yet to be identified. The building’s brick and heavy timber construction will be maintained, according to HDG Architecture, which is leading the renovation. A new concrete floor will be poured throughout the building, and new windows will be installed. The building’s original loading dock will be redesigned for a restaurant patio, and the existing “Pacific Fruit & Produce Co.” signs will stay. For decades, the eastern end of downtown now referred to as the University District was an industrial area hemmed in by railroads. As the area became less industrial and more urban and focused on higher education, some of the warehouses were demolished, including the Ryan Fruit and Produce Company warehouse, a 15,600-square-foot, two-story building near Division Street that was torn down to make way for Martin Luther King Jr. Way. In the 1990s, the building housed the Spokane MarketPlace. The 18,000-square-foot Piggly Wiggly warehouse also was demolished to make room for MLK Way. Built in 1927, the building was used by the Western Piggly Wiggly grocery chain and later by Safeway. JMK’s building was built in 1922 and originally called the Auto Freight Depot, before it was taken over by the fruit company. Trucks backed up to the building’s loading dock that fronts Pine Street.
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David Von Drehle: Twitter, the crystal meth of newsrooms
Smaller government? Some Trump supporters cheer the shutdown
The shutdown – which lasted 35 days and ended Friday with Trump agreeing to fund the government for three weeks – did dramatically shrink the size of government at least temporarily. Funding was cut off for nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments and about 800,000 employees went without pay, nearly half of whom were deemed non-essential and told not to report to work.
Steve King applauded at first Iowa event since House rebuke
Constituents applauded Republican Rep. Steve King on Saturday at the Iowa congressman’s first public event since being rebuked by his House colleagues over racist comments he had made to a newspaper earlier this month.
Sue Lani Madsen: Consider a dose of skepticism when tweets go viral
It only took four days to track down the source of the Covington High vs. Nathan Phillips virus, but it was already too late to undo the effect. King told the roughly 75 people who showed up for the first of 39 planned town hall meetings in his sprawling district that he doesn’t adhere to a white supremacist ideology and he repeated his assertion that he’s not racist. The nine-term House member caused an uproar after he was quoted in a New York Times story saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization – how did that language become offensive?” King claimed his comments were taken out of context, but the House voted 424-1 to rebuke him, with King himself voting in favor of the resolution, and Republican leaders denied him any committee assignments. Addressing what he called “the elephant in the room” in his opening remarks at Saturday’s event, King expressed frustration that his comments about white nationalism and white supremacy in the Times interview led to even his fellow Republicans disowning him.
Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes opens doors to provide Spokane’s homeless vets a hot meal, access to resources
Homeless people, including a number of military veterans, received a hot meal and a bevy of goods and services Saturday afternoon at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in downtown Spokane. The event, organized by city officials with help from the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, was designed to be a first step for homeless vets to find housing, mental health care, peer support and skills to get a new job.
Major changes around corner for Spokane middle schools
Spokane Public Schools will soon make major changes in the landscape of its middle schools, and they have more to do with new attitudes than state-of-the-art buildings. The biggest change – and the main reason to build those schools in the first place – is the addition of sixth-graders to all middle schools.
Work to begin on restaurant upgrade as part of River Hotel renovation
Work on the Onyx Kitchen in the River Hotel will begin soon, according to permits issued by the city. Renovation of the hotel began in November, and now the 3,500-square-foot restaurant will see $250,000 in upgrades. Management of the hotel, formerly the Red Lion River Inn, recently changed hands following Red Lion’s decision not to renew its lease on the property at 700 N. Division St. GVD and Ruby Hospitality will take over management of the hotel. GVD Commercial purchased the hotel property for $10.75 million in 2003. With the new hotel, Ruby will run six hotels in all, including Hotel Ruby, Ruby2 and the Montvale Hotel in downtown Spokane, the Hotel Ruby Sandpoint and Ruby Suites. Ruby Hospitality also manages the Montvale Event Center, the Bing Crosby Theater and Sapphire Lounge.
Eagles Temple building to undergo $2.2 million conversion
Building permits have been issued for $1.2 million in work to convert a 96-year-old building that has been home to a nightclub and theater into apartments. The project, which is expected to cost $2.2 million in all, will bring 21 residences on three floors and two ground-level retail spots on Howard Street just north of the rail viaduct. The former Eagles Temple, just south of Second Avenue at 174 S. Howard St., was purchased for $750,000 in December 2017 by Susannah Stoltz, who is developing the project. The building was built in 1923 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles and remained with the group as a meeting hall until 1960. After years of vacancy, it opened in 1969 as the Canterbury Inn, a nightclub, and then the Land’s End Tavern in 1974. In 1980, the space became a theater, Inter Players. Most recently it was the Modern Theater Spokane, which closed in 2016 because of high costs and low revenue.
Renovation of Pacific Fruit building will bring financial company offices, coffee shop, restaurant
A 97-year-old brick building in Spokane’s University District that still boasts the faded “Pacific Fruit & Produce Co.” on two of its exteriror walls will reopen later this year as a restaurant, coffee shop and new home to JMK & Associates, a Spokane-based financial company. The building at 102 E. Main Ave. is a former warehouse in what used to be an industrial end of downtown. It will be remade into offices, conference rooms and other spaces for JMK. The building will also have space for a large restaurant and 1,000-square-foot coffee shop. Tenants have yet to be identified. The building’s brick and heavy timber construction will be maintained, according to HDG Architecture, which is leading the renovation. A new concrete floor will be poured throughout the building, and new windows will be installed. The building’s original loading dock will be redesigned for a restaurant patio, and the existing “Pacific Fruit & Produce Co.” signs will stay. For decades, the eastern end of downtown now referred to as the University District was an industrial area hemmed in by railroads. As the area became less industrial and more urban and focused on higher education, some of the warehouses were demolished, including the Ryan Fruit and Produce Company warehouse, a 15,600-square-foot, two-story building near Division Street that was torn down to make way for Martin Luther King Jr. Way. In the 1990s, the building housed the Spokane MarketPlace. The 18,000-square-foot Piggly Wiggly warehouse also was demolished to make room for MLK Way. Built in 1927, the building was used by the Western Piggly Wiggly grocery chain and later by Safeway. JMK’s building was built in 1922 and originally called the Auto Freight Depot, before it was taken over by the fruit company. Trucks backed up to the building’s loading dock that fronts Pine Street.
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