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January

Jan. 1: Jonathan Wade Ellington runs over and kills Vonette Larson of Athol in an apparent case of road rage that involved chases and gunfire. He is later sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Jan. 9: Rodolfo Arevalo is named president of EWU, becoming the first Latino university president in Washington.

Jan. 13: Developer Marshall Chesrown submits a formal plan for Kendall Yards, a 77 acre development between the Spokane River and West Central in Spokane.

Jan. 17: Joseph Duncan asks to move his trial for murder and kidnapping out of Kootenai County because of extensive pretrial publicity. The request is denied.

Jan. 27: Washington Legislature passes a bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Initiative promoter Tim Eyman promises to sponsor a referendum to overturn it.

Jan. 29: Jail inmate Benito Sichiro fights with jailers, is beaten and shocked with a Taser, later dies of a lacerated liver

February

Feb. 3: Spokane Transit Authority proposes putting a possible $300 million light rail system before voters

Feb. 6: A federal judge approves Kaiser Aluminum’s reorganization plan to get out of bankruptcy.

Feb. 7: Former Columbia High School teacher Robert Swalstad is jailed for having sex with a former student, age 15 at the time, whom he later married.

Feb. 8: Dennis Erickson hired as head football coach of the Idaho Vandals.

Feb. 16: FBI announces its investigation of former Spokane Mayor Jim West did not produce evidence to warrant federal criminal charges under the “very narrow” public corruption laws. West accuses The Spokesman-Review of creating a mob mentality.

Feb. 23: Trial for Joseph Duncan delayed.

Feb. 27: Groene family rejects plea deal for Duncan because he would escape death penalty.

March

March 3: Bobby Frazier, 69, who friends say is dying of cancer, hijacks a city bus at gunpoint to take him to his favorite tavern in Hillyard. “I’m having a bad day and it’s about to get worse,” he told the bus driver.

March 10: Spokane Police Department says it will reopen the investigation of Spokane Firefighter Daniel Ross for taking sexually explicit photos of a 16-year-old in a fire station. Spokane police officers investigating the case told Ross to delete the photos, which later hampered prosecution; public outcry prompted the reopening.

March 13: A new Gonzaga University dormitory under construction is gutted by fire during the school’s spring break.

March 20: Otto Zehm, a mentally handicapped janitor, dies in police custody after an arrest at a Spokane Zip Trip.

March 23: GU Bulldogs fall to UCLA in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

March 24: A mental health advocacy group calls for video tapes of Zehm encounter to be released; County Prosecutor Steve Tucker orders them withheld.

March 30: Spokane Shock arena football team debuts at Veterans Memorial Arena

March 30: In an effort to raise money for a settlement with sexual assault victims, Spokane Catholic Diocese settles with one of its insurance carriers for $5.25 million

April

April 3: Spokane rolls out the red carpet in an attempt to land the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships. The event later goes to Los Angeles.

April 5: Neighbors raise questions about the ability of streets and other infrastructure to support the Kendall Yards development.

April 8: Jo Ellen Savage dies after her car breaks through a barrier in the River Park Square garage and falls five stories onto the ramp. The city and the garage’s owner, Cowles Co., begin investigations.

April 11: Sheriff Sgt. Ozzie Knezovich is chosen by Spokane County Commissioners as sheriff to replace Mark Sterk. His chief rival for the job, Valley Police Chief Cal Walker announces he’ll run for the job also in the September primary.

April 17: While hundreds demonstrate outside, Vice President Dick Cheney campaigns in Spokane at the Davenport Hotel for Republicans Mike McGavick and Cathy McMorris, defending the Iraq War and the Patriot Act. City officials later seek reimbursement for police overtime, which they don’t get.

April 19: GU basketball star Adam Morrison says he’ll skip his senior year and turn pro.

April 21: A federal judge rejects a $45.7 million settlement between the Catholic Diocese and 75 abuse victims, saying it doesn’t include all parties, such as the local parishes.

April 28: An attorney for Jo Savage says the River Park Square garage should be closed

May

May 1: Coeur d’Alene will get a $65 million Kroc Salvation Army Center.

May 3: Mayor Dennis Hession calls for hearings on the safety of the River Park Square garage. The garage’s chief executive insists two days later the garage is safe, and a report from an expert hired by the garage says the barrier exceeds the building code. But a 1993 engineering report mentioned possible problems with garage walls.

May 15: Major reconstruction on Interstate 90 corridor through Spokane starts, and continues through the summer

May 23: Kootenai County commissioners Gus Johnson and Katie Brodie lose their re-election bids in the state primary.

May 24: Mexican President Vicente Fox visits Yakima.

May 26: Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne confirmed as secretary of Interior, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch moves into the job.

May 30: Otto Zehm’s death ruled a homicide by Spokane County coroner. The next day city attorneys file a “gag order” preventing the release of files and tapes of the incident.

June

June 1: Orville Moe is fired as general manager of Spokane Raceway Park.

June 6: The signature drive to repeal the law against gay discrimination fails.

June 15: The parishes, not the Spokane Diocese, own their churches and schools, says U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenkbush, who urges all parties to settle the case.

June 19: After several attempts to find a buyer, the city is unable to save the Mohawk and Rookery buildings, Mayor Hession says.

June 22-24: Hoopfest in Spokane and the Ironman Triathalon in Coeur d’Alene mean big crowds – and a shortage of portable toilets.

June 23: A homeless amputee is set afire near the railroad tracks in downtown Spokane by two transients. Doug Dawson, 50, dies of his burn injuries.

June 28: The Kendall Yards application is declared “technically complete”.

July

July 3: Two Spokane police detectives who ordered firefighter Daniel Ross to delete sexually explicit photos of a 16-year-old from his camera are suspended.

July 3: U.S. Senate kills a Bush proposal to sell off National Forest land, including 26,000 acres in Idaho and 7,500 in Washington.

July 6: Kaiser emerges from bankruptcy after 4½ years.

July 12: Video of Otto Zehm beating is released, and contradicts police earlier description that he lunged at officers.

July 13: City of Spokane spills an estimated 53,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Spokane River. City later acknowledges previous spills.

July 14: Teen involved in firehouse sex incident files a $1 million claim with city.

July 18: Spokane Convention Center opens

July 20: Anne Kirkpatrick chosen as Spokane’s new police chief.

July 22: Former Spokane Mayor Jim West dies of cancer at a Seattle hospital.

July 26: Washington Supreme Court rules 5-4 against same-sex marriage, upholding current state law and tossing issue back to Legislature.

August

Aug. 1: Kaiser announces it will spend $30 million to expand Trentwood rolling mill.

Aug. 4: River Park Square garage to get upgrades, developer says.

Aug. 11: Attorneys for sex abuse victims say the suit against the Spokane Diocese could be settled for $60 million.

Aug. 22: Attorneys for Joseph Duncan ask a judge to keep his statements to police out of the upcoming trial. In a later pretrial hearing, a judge rules victim Shasta Groene will testifiy with Duncan present in the courtroom if she takes the stand.

Aug. 25: Idaho Legislature in a special session approves acting Gov. Jim Risch’s tax plan to cut property taxes and raise sales tax.

Aug. 26: Spokane Shock win the af2 Arena football championship, beating Green Bay in a game in Puerto Rico.

Aug. 29: Mayor Hession orders a review of the Spokane Police Department, the fourth such review since 1982.

Aug. 31: Convicted rapist Kevin Coe arrives in Spokane for hearings on whether he can be released after serving his criminal sentence or face life-long civil commitment at a facility for sexual predators at McNeil Island.

September

Sep. 12: Metropolitan Mortgage begins mailing out a $38 million payback to investors, which amounts to about 6 cents on the dollar.

Sep. 14: Spokane Valley leaders pick a site for a city center, a 20-acre area near the former University City mall.

Sep. 19: In the Washington GOP primary, Ozzie Knezovich tops Cal Walker for sheriff.

Sep. 19: Raceway owner Orville Moe, former Airway Heights Mayor Dale Perry indicted for public corruption.

Sep. 21: City examiner OKs Kendall Yards plans

Sep. 22: New Police Chief Kirkpatrick sends a complaint about a police officer to the city’s citizen review board, the first complaint the panel has seen in more than a decade. The panel decides it doesn’t have jurisdiction over the complaint; Kirkpatrick calls the system worthless.

Sep. 28: Joseph Duncan’s statements to police ruled admissible for his trial.

October

Oct. 2: Former U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth Hage dies in an auto accident in Nevada.

Oct. 3: County Prosecutor Steve Tucker says he won’t file charges in the Zehm death. The next day he says that decision is back on hold, pending an investigation by the FBI. The decision still hasn’t been made.

Oct. 4: As part of its bankruptcy, Spokane Diocese sells Chancery Building for $2.05 million to an affiliate of Cowles Co.

Oct. 10: Spokane has the highest gasoline prices of anywhere in the United States except Hawaii. The Federal Trade Commission later attributes the costs to refineries, not the gas stations.

Oct. 11: Cal Walker resigns as Spokane Valley police chief.

Oct. 16: Joseph Duncan pleads guilty to three counts of murder and three counts of kidnapping from the 2005 slayings, sparing young Shasta Groene from having to testify against him. He could still get the death penalty in Idaho if he doesn’t in an upcoming federal case.

November

Nov. 1: Police Chief Kirkpatrick says Spokane police logs will be made public for the first time since the mid ‘80s. “It’s the law,” she said.

Nov. 2: Cabela’s confirms it will build one of its sporting goods mega-stores in Post Falls to anchor a 200-acre retail and hotel development.

Nov. 2: Vice President Cheney campaigns for Republicans at the Coeur d’Alene airport. Local officials ask for reimbursement for security costs; they get the same answer as Spokane officials got earlier: No.

Nov. 7: Congressional candidates in Washington and Idaho buck the national trend toward the Democratic Party, but not all Republicans survive. Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris is ousted after three terms and two Spokane legislative seats go Democratic. Republicans lose six seats in the Idaho Legislature, but Butch Otter is elected governor.

Nov. 8: Nearly half of all Washington high school students haven’t passed the math portion of the WASL test, which is needed for graduation. Gov. Christine Gregoire later announces a plan for a three-year delay in that requirement.

Nov. 9: Fred Russell is returned to Whitman County from Ireland to face charges in a 2001 vehicular manslaughter case.

Nov. 16: Spokane Health Director Kim Thorburn is fired by the Health District Board. A survey earlier in the year showed she received high marks from the public but low marks from the board.

Nov. 29: A Kootenai County deputy prosecutor and other county staff have sent sexually explicit e-mails back and forth on their county computers. Deputy Prosecutor Keith Bauman later tries to block the release of his e-mails from the government computer, contending they are private.

December

Dec. 2: The Spokane Catholic Diocese concedes that the bankruptcy case, which it hoped would be settled this year, will go into 2007.

Dec. 4: Two amputees are arrested for multiple bank robberies. One hid the money in his prosthetic leg.

Dec. 9: Dennis Erickson announces he will leave Idaho University after 10 months to become head coach at Arizona State University. WSU defensive coordinator Steve Akey was named UI head coach 10 days later.

Dec. 13: Elson Floyd. the president of the University of Missouri system, is named president of Washington State University to replace retiring V. Lane Rawlings.

Dec. 15: A heavy windstorm that knocked out power around the Northwest caps a year of wild weather that included heat waves in May and June and West Side flooding in November

Dec. 19: Convicted rapist Kevin Coe is ordered to stand trial on whether he should be civilly committed as a sexual predator to McNeil Island.

Dec. 28: The Spokane Tribe announces it has reached a tentative gambling compact with the state that could lead to development of a massive casino complex in Airway Heights.