As the primary election fast approaches, inside baseball is spilling outdoors. Several of the candidates running for Spokane government this year who didn't get endorsed by the local political parties are claiming they didn't want those endorsements in the first place — and some of their opponents are calling foul. In last week's election issue cover story, for example, we reported that City Council candidate Katey Treloar didn't seek endorsements from the local Republican or Democratic parties because she was committed to being nonpartisan. (The Democrats voted to endorse two of her opponents.) That news came as a surprise to her opponent Paul Dillon and Spokane County Democrats leader Carmela Conroy, who were both very much under the impression that Treloar was seeking the party's endorsement. After all, Treloar attended the Democrats' June 28 endorsement meeting and literally filled out a document titled "Spokane County Democrats endorsement application." But Treloar claims that she only went through the process so she could introduce herself to the local Democrats and that she told them she didn't plan on accepting an endorsement. To Treloar's credit, she was quoted saying the same thing in a June 22 Inlander article six days before the meeting. But Conroy doesn't remember Treloar telling the Democrats that. (NATE SANFORD)
PRIMARY EDUCATION
School's out for the summer, but the tests continue. Thirty-seven school board hopefuls from six school districts are vying for spots in the general election as voters prepare to cast their ballots in the Aug. 1 primary election. While more than half of the school board races will move directly to the general election ballot, candidates for the Spokane, Medical Lake, Cheney, West Valley, Rosalia and Deer Park school districts will be whittled down to the top two vote-getters in the primary. Medical Lake boasts the largest school board primary in the state with 17 candidates — including three incumbents — looking to fill four seats. Meanwhile, two of the three candidates for the Spokane School Board, incumbent Mike Wiser and Ericka Lalka, are the only primary school board contenders in these six districts who have reported campaign finances, raising $1,040 and $2,375 respectively, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. Candidate statements, experience and contact information can be found at votewa.gov. (COLTON RASANEN)
FOR THE WIN
Last year was one for the award books. So says the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, which recognized the good work the Inlander did in 2022 during its annual convention in Dallas this weekend. Nate Sanford won second place in beat reporting for his work covering Camp Hope, the large homeless encampment in east Spokane that dominated headlines for much of the past year. Sanford, along with former staffer Daniel Walters, won second place in feature story writing with their cover story about outgoing Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. Samantha Wohlfeil got the honorable mention in the solutions journalism category with her story on the work being done by the Colville Confederated Tribes to re-establish wild lynx in Washington. Our photographers, Young Kwak and Erick Doxey, also got the honorable mention in the photography competition. Lastly, our columnist CMarie Fuhrman won first place for a collection of her columns, which the judges said were "beautifully written and taking on such important subjects. Minimalist prose with a maximal effect." Congrats to us! (NICHOLAS DESHAIS)
