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KXLY
July 26, 2021 4:05 PM
SPOKANE, Wash. Mayor Nadine Woodward has declared a housing emergency in Spokane.
Along with the declaration, Woodward proposed several priority actions designed to improve housing availability, including incentives for converting commercial buildings into residential spaces, using revenue made available through state legislation, shortening review processes for residential projects and augmenting staff with consultants to help with developments.
“We are at a crossroads in our community and with this proclamation I am taking immediate action to address the critical housing needs in our city,” said Woodward. “These initial steps will take advantage of some existing market momentum and help sustain it.”
Spokane Mayor Woodward promises immediate action on housing crisis
Woodward announced a housing emergency in Spokane Monday and outlined steps to improve housing. Some will be voted on at a city council meeting on Monday night. Author: Mia Hunt, MacKenzie Belley Published: 1:42 PM PDT July 26, 2021 Updated: 8:25 PM PDT July 26, 2021
SPOKANE, Wash. The Spokane City Council will vote on amendments to the city s homeless response system on Monday.
With this vote, it is another acknowledgement from the city of Spokane that there is a severe housing shortage for people of all income levels but increasingly for those who are experiencing housing insecurity.
SPR s Doug Nadvornick reports.
About $200 million in federal pandemic rescue plan money are coming Spokane’s way. Local officials have outlined the deliberative public process they’ll use to decide how to spend it.
Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward says she plans to hold in-person open house-style meetings in each council district. It also proposes a telephone town hall for those who want participate from home and also what she calls a virtual “thought exchange.”
“These are one-time funds. They’re not funds that we want to spend to stand up new programs or add on to programs that already exist because that’s not sustainable, but to strategically, as we restore services and as we help those who are struggling, households, families, businesses, that we also look at leveraging these funds for future investments to make that generational impact, Woodward said.
Cooling centers in Spokane will open Sunday
There will be 1,000 spaces open in central and neighborhood cooling centers to anyone needing relief from the heat. Author: Mia Hunt Updated: 5:08 PM PDT July 16, 2021
SPOKANE, Wash. The City of Spokane will be open again on Sunday ahead of temperatures in the high 90 s.
The cooling centers were open in early July during the historic heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest. There were 20 people in Spokane who died from heat-related complications and 91 people died in all of Washington.
There will be 1,000 spaces open in central and neighborhood cooling centers to anyone needing relief from the heat.