Lauren
@lpangborn.bsky.social
Product designer in tech Aspiring real estate developer 🏢 Urbanist and bike advocate in Spokane Columnist for @rangemedia.co
The "Yes" campaign was outspent by the "No" campaign nearly 4 to 1. Over $200k was spent by just two people, Larry Stone and Gerry Dicker.
Spokane Rising@spokanerising.com · 8h agoGiven this was the first transit measure in the Spokane area in a WHILE that has had an organized opposition campaign, I’m really heartened by the results. In 2016, the measure passed 55-44 in the same year the county voted for…Donald Trump. But there was no official “no” campaign.
When you ask voters to approve taxes for public transit, what you mostly get is a map of residential density. Here's the latest from Spokane, WA where the measure narrowly leads at the moment.
I hope these people get massive fines. They absolutely deserve them.
@kxly.com · 14h agoUnauthorized drones have grounded aircraft fighting the Spokane Complex fires. Despite an FAA flight restriction, officials detected 39 drones on Aug. 2 and 3, forcing aerial firefighting to stop at least once.
New: Police in Wisconsin used Flock to create a pretext to search a man's car for weed. Their justification? He drove from Wisconsin to Michigan, a “known source state for marijuana as it is legal there,” and Flock showed he "travels to Michigan frequently." www.404media.co/cops-used-fl...
Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed
"The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source state for marijuana as it is legal there," a probable cause justification reads.
404media.co
I’m happier living in our 1300 sq ft townhome in a walkable area than I was in our 2700 sq ft house in the suburbs. Not doing yard work is fantastic, but living a very short bike ride from downtown is amazing. We have way closer relationships to neighbors. Big life upgrade.
Mike Eliason@holz-bau.bsky.social · 7mo ago'Then there’s tax of moving to distant, affordable suburbs or taking out big mortgages: More debt, longer commutes, more maintenance & less time for socializing & exercise, among other trade-offs. We can end up, Rojas said, overworked & under-relating.' yep! www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Soooo what do we think will happen to the housing market in Spokane? I’m not economist but it seems to me: - demand for construction labor (to rebuild) is going to go up, and therefore prices - demand for housing (those 600 families gotta live somewhere) is also going to go up, and therefore prices
BREAKING: This is gobsmacking. An arrest––for arson––has been made in the Old Trails Fire, which destroyed more than 700 homes in the Spokane area. A DNR fire investigator was able to locate the origin to w/in a 10 sq m area. The fire was started with nothing more than a butane lighter or match.
Please stop flying your personal drones over wildfires. They can ground or collide with our firefighting aircraft, disrupting time critical firefighting and threatening people’s homes. Your photos are not worth someone’s home. If you fly, we can’t.
Spokane Public Schools says Indian Trail Elementary and Flett Middle School have been untouched by the Spokane Complex Fire as of Sunday morning.
Indian Trail Elementary, Flett Middle School buildings untouched by fire, SPS says
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Spokane Public Schools says Indian Trail Elementary and Flett Middle School have been untouched by the Spokane Complex Fire as of Sunday morning.
kxly.com
Riverside State Park (at least this portion) looks to be destroyed x.com/ProudArmymom...
Shelley (@ProudArmymom66) on X
View of Spokane this morning
x.com
More than 600 (likely homes) burned in and around Spokane County yesterday. The devastation is incomprehensible www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
Wildfire in northwest Spokane destroys 640 structures
The Old Trails wildfire in northwest Spokane destroyed 640 structures Saturday, according to Cody Rohrbach, Spokane County Fire District 3 fire chief.
spokesman.com
I know it’s not helpful, but I am very very angry at whoever on the west plains was careless enough to start this fire
Our city is on fire and I’m devastated
The American Red Cross has opened another evacuation shelter at the Spokane Convention Center for anyone under evacuation orders in north Spokane.
Red Cross opens second evacuation shelter at Spokane Convention Center
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. -- The American Red Cross has opened another evacuation shelter at the Spokane Convention Center for anyone under evacuation orders in north Spokane.
kxly.com
Gavin Cooley and Larry Stone purport to care about economic development. So why are they shooting themselves in the foot fighting against proven ways of spurring economic development (BUSES AND ROAD DIETS)?
A work-in-progress mural in downtown Spokane located on W Railroad Alley between Jefferson and Madison streets and featuring some of the city's classic signage past and present.
I sometimes hear local folks say they don’t want to promote outdoor rec here because “their” spots would get crowded. Well I was just on our river, close to downtown, at a relatively new put-in, on a *gorgeous* evening, and was the only person there! There’s still LOTS of room for promotion
Can any of my followers join me at this event? We desperately need to ask Kuderer and Riccelli why they are so intent on having urban renters subsidize the insurance premiums of wealthy property owners who live in wildfire zones on the suburban fringe.
Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner@oicwa.bsky.social · last wk.Join Commissioner Kuderer, State Sen. Riccelli, and Spokane City Councilmember Telis for a conversation about wildfire mitigation, community resilience, and homeowners insurance. Aug. 5 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the MAC. Doors open at 5 p.m. Bring your questions! RSVP here: https://bit.ly/4yOGUlh
Society was better when this shit was illegal
Catherina Gioino@catgioino.bsky.social · last wk.I wrote about how much Americans wagered on sports betting in 2025 and how it’s more than they spent on movies, art, museums and music combined. Read my article @fortunemagazine.bsky.social fortune.com/2026/07/26/g...
New experience for me today: riding through a freshly burned section of Riverside State Park [don’t worry, the firefighters said I could go through]
It's wild to me how many people do not understand this. "Luxury housing" is not some ontologically separate category from the rest of the housing market. Nor is "affordable housing." It's all one big fluid market & when you build more, everyone moves up & frees up the bottom end.
Max Dubler 🏳️🌈@maxdubler.com · 2w agoThe idea that the wealthy, the middle class, and the poor are all in completely separate housing markets with no overlap ignores how things work in the real world. In the absence of new high end housing, wealthy people outbid the middle class for the best available existing housing and renovate it.
I see a lot of criticism of new builds in Spokane like “why are we letting developers build luxury housing” and “luxury housing doesn’t help the housing crisis”. It does, actually! A new apartment building on a gravel lot in Kendall Yards is an excellent example! People who rent there (cont)
Max Dubler 🏳️🌈@maxdubler.com · 2w agoThe idea that the wealthy, the middle class, and the poor are all in completely separate housing markets with no overlap ignores how things work in the real world. In the absence of new high end housing, wealthy people outbid the middle class for the best available existing housing and renovate it.
The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office will shut down its Flock Safety automated license-plate readers Sept. 22, 2026, after reviewing the program’s effectiveness and cost.
Clearwater County Sheriff's Office to end Flock Safety camera program
CLEARWATER COUNTY, Idaho -- The Clearwater County Sheriff's Office will discontinue its Flock Safety camera system, effective September 22, 2026.
kxly.com
i think people look at homelessness as a relatively new phenomenon and reason backwards to think that in the Before Times, poor people must've all been able to afford houses/their own apartments etc. Most of the housing types the poor used were actually just outlawed (boarding houses, SROs etc)
Max Dubler 🏳️🌈@maxdubler.com · 2w agoThe two hardest and most unforgiving facts in housing policy are that it actually costs a lot of money to build new homes and that the rents that poor people can afford are not enough to pay off the cost of construction.
Real lift example: The city of Spokane wants to do some preventative maintenance on Astor, a local access street — low speeds, low volumes, few destinations — but it’s going to cost a shitton to do because the street is SIXTY EIGHT FEED WIDE. It’s wider than Francis, a five lane state highway.
Oh The Urbanity!@ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 2w agoI can’t get over the fact that our post-war roads are just *enormous*. Even random residential streets like this one, which has a dead end at a park behind me. And then people complain about taxes and the quality of roads!
Wasting all that space in our neighborhoods for pavement is a health hazard (and makes housing more expensive).
Catie Gould@citizen-cate.bsky.social · 2w agoYour annual reminder that urban heat islands are a policy choice. www.sightline.org/2022/01/11/t...
I can’t get over the fact that our post-war roads are just *enormous*. Even random residential streets like this one, which has a dead end at a park behind me. And then people complain about taxes and the quality of roads!
I’m sorry but whoever took horses on the Centennial Trail through Kendall Yards and let them shit all over should be in jail
