When unsuccessful candidate for Spokane County Board of Commissioners Paul "Brian" Noble was elected as the new chair of the Spokane County Republican Party on Saturday — in a meeting held at the Spokane Valley church where Noble works as a pastor — former state Rep. Matt Shea leapt to his feet in a standing ovation. Consider it a sign of changing times. Over the years, the control of the local GOP has seesawed back and forth between a more hardcore wing who have defended the controversial and far-right Shea, and a more moderate wing who has sided with Shea's critics, like outgoing Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. When a slate of new precinct committee officers were elected in November, that balance of power shifted rightward once again: Local moderates saw their preferred candidates get blown out of the water for each leadership slot. Still, the speeches Noble gave on Saturday weren't exactly radical. While he called for "standing against the threats of woke-ism," he also called for the GOP to be compassionate to the vulnerable and care just as much for the "elderly and disabled among us" as the party does for the unborn. (DANIEL WALTERS)
LABOR PAINS
Washington's Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Spokane taxpayers aren't allowed to require unions to bargain for their salaries in public. Nearly 77 percent of city voters in 2019 approved a change to city code requiring that publicly paid contracts be negotiated in public. But the state Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 8 that requiring public bargaining violates the state constitution and state labor laws. While it's possible for contracts to be negotiated in public if both parties agree, one party can't force the other to do so in public, the court held. "We are grateful to the Court for finally putting this issue to rest and forcing the City of Spokane to bargain in good faith," Michael Rainey, who leads the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, said in a written statement. "This ruling makes it clear that forcing workers to give in to unfair and arbitrary bargaining conditions is patently illegal." (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)
SWEEP FREEZE
Camp Hope got another reprieve on Monday, when a federal judge approved a temporary restraining order preventing local authorities from sweeping the large East Central homeless encampment. The order comes a week after sheriff's deputies entered the camp to pass out flyers warning residents that eviction was imminent. The restraining order says authorities cannot arrest or remove residents from the camp without individual probable cause. It also says law enforcement can't keep using helicopter flyovers and infrared imaging to surveil the camp without a warrant. Clearing Camp Hope now, wrote U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian, would present an "immediate risk of irreparable injury." Bastian's decision stems from a larger lawsuit filed by Jewels Helping Hands and three Camp Hope residents in October seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the sheriff, police chief, city and county from sweeping the camp. A motion hearing is set for Dec. 28. (NATE SANFORD) ♦
