Category Archives: In The News

The East Central Neighborhood in Spokane could see more changes along the I-90 corridor. The Washington State legislature passed Senate Bill 5853, which would allow the Washington Dept. of Transportation to lease state property near Interstate 90 and the north ...

A proposal allowing the Department of Transportation to lease state property near Interstate 90 and the North Spokane Corridor back to the community won final approval from the Legislature Wednesday. The proposal, sponsored by Spokane Democrat Sen. Andy Billig, would ...

When construction began on Interstate 90 in the late 1950s, hundreds of homes were demolished to make way for the highway. The East Central neighborhood, home mostly to immigrant and Black residents, was split in half. And as the North ...

A state Senate bill designed to provide incentives to create manufacturing jobs is receiving some support in Spokane, though it might reduce revenue for some public entities that were created to promote such job creation. Senate Bill 5901 would create ...

Lawmakers in Washington state have started a new legislative session amid the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and much of their work will be done remotely as leaders try to limit the possibility of exposure. Since Friday, four Democratic ...

Construction began Wednesday on pharmaceutical manufacturer Jubilant HollisterStier’s $92 million expansion in Spokane that’s expected to create at least 200 new jobs. Jubilant HollisterStier makes pharmaceuticals used in the global fight against COVID-19, including vaccines and therapeutics. The company, a ...

Colleagues of Washington Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig will forgive him if he uses baseball metaphors in his speeches. Billig (D) is also a part owner of the Spokane Indians, a minor league baseball affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. In fact, ...

The date was March 13, 2020, and Senator Andy Billig was driving home from Olympia when he got a call saying all Washington schools were going to shut down because of COVID. It was the end of the legislative session ...

By Sen. Andy Billig, Rep. Timm Ormsby and Rep. Marcus Riccelli When a crisis bears down, you can panic, ignore it and hope for the best, or confront it head-on. We chose to confront the COVID-19 pandemic with every available ...

Although I’ve never been a big believer in the Cascade Curtain, more than a decade in Olympia has taught me that there is a certain West Side bias that results in somewhat rare recognition, let alone praise, for things Eastern ...