These were the top stories of 2023 from the Spokane Valley News Herald:
Kramer Overpass completion
The Kramer Overpass was opened to the public on Sept. 9.
This project cost $14 million, and according to Liberty Lake Mayor Cris Kaminskas, the city didn’t accrue any debt to fund the project.
Funding was secured back in 2015 as part of a $16 billion infrastructure package.
This overpass also helps alleviate some of the traffic issues due to community growth.
The Central Valley School District and the Spokane Valley Fire Department were also major partners in the project.
The Mayor said the new route will also help to increase the city’s sales tax base as well, because people can simply get back and forth to the businesses they love more efficiently.
One of the major improvements is in terms of public safety, as Fire Chief Frank Soto Jr. said the fire department and emergency responders can respond more quickly without having to worry about traffic so much.
Doris Morrison Learning Center
The Saltese Wetlands saw the construction of a new educational facility that was completed in April 2023.
The Doris Morrison Learning Center was a collaboration between the Morrison family, Central valley School District and the state.
Restoring the wetlands has been an ongoing project, and this learning center allows students to really learn about the local ecosystem.
The family sold the land to the county, and the only stipulation from the family was for a 3,000 sq. ft. facility to be built that would help educate the local community.
Superintendent of Central Valley School District, John Parker said the students need the hands on experience the facility offers.
“As a former science and mathematics teacher I think we need classroom spaces where we can go apply those scientific principles and allow kids to be engaged in their own brain,” Parker said during the April ribbon cutting. “A place they can work on real world environmental issues and we are so glad we get this opportunity in our district.”
Barker Project completed
The Barker Rd. project has been in the works for quite some time, and in April the city held a ribbon cutting to officially open the $26 million project.
This grade separation project helped to lift the roadway over the railroad tracks which heavily impacted traffic on a daily basis.
Approximately 65 trains run through the area ever day, and they were impacting emergency response times for first responders.
This bridge helped to alleviate some of those traffic stoppages.
There were so many delays that city leaders estimated the stoppages equated to three to four hours of time where traffic was waiting.
The city is also continuing to have more grade separation projects done to further help traffic along Trent Ave.
Liberty Lake library concerns
The Liberty Lake library was a topic of heavy discussion through the first half of the year.
Council had weighed whether or not they would have oversight on materials made available through the municipal library.
This was a continuation of issues the city saw after there was talk of trying to ban the book titled “Gender Queer” nearly a year before that.
According to the author that book is meant to describe what it means to be asexual and nonbinary.
Many members of the community used the public speaking time to assert that the first amendment protects the right of people to read what they want without oversight from a government body.
During a tense council session on May 16 council voted the measure through to give them oversight of library materials.
A measure that would eventually be vetoed by Mayor Cris Kaminskas.
Payton Begovich
The June 9 publication featured a story about a Liberty Lake teen who had been battling brain cancer since age 15.
In 2021, Payton Begovich was diagnosed with glio-blastoma multiforme, a malignant form of brain cancer.
The community rallied behind her family and held fundraisers to help cover medical costs.
Joe Van Voorhis, owner of Joe’s House in Millwood, held a fundraiser at his eatery that raised over $10,000 for the cause.
She was hospitalized for quite some time, but went home in early June.
Her health declined rapidly, and she passed away on June 22.
Bret Snow remains identified through genetic testing
Also included in the June 9 publication was the story about remains being found by the Spokane River that were identified as a homicide victim from 2015.
Bret Snow was reported missing by his family in Dec. 2015.
According to records, Cheryl Sutton, Colby Vodder, Kenneth Stone and Alvaro Guajardo were all sent to prison despite the body not being found.
Spokane Valley Major Crimes Detectives were not able to submit any evidence for genetic testing at the time the remains were found, so two separate skull fragments were placed in storage.
In Aug. 2022, the medical examiner’s office was able to submit both fragments for DNA testing, and through the testing they identified 30 cousins.
Many of the relatives were interviewed and that led to a DNA sample being taken from Snow’s mother, and they found it to be a match.
Former East Valley teacher arrested
Another memorable crime story that was covered last year started in March when a shooting was reported at the Cheney Starbucks.
At that time a caller reported that shots were fired and his vehicle had been struck on March 4.
Benjamin Hill, 41, was arrested in connection to this and other crimes. Evidence from four incidents were sent to the state crime lab, and traced back to a gun owned by Hill.
Collaboration between police agencies eventually showed that the casing found at the Cheney shooting matched the casing for an incident in which Hill had allegedly tried to shoot his ex-wife near Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.
Through the investigation, law enforcement found evidence that Hill had been harassing his ex-wife for months.
He was charged with attempted murder for the shooting in Cheney that nearly struck someone in the drive thru line.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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