🌱 Tiny Homes For The Homeless Proposed + Union Participation Up 14.5%

Happy Friday, neighbors! Here's everything you need to know going on in Spokane today.

First, today's weather:

A couple of morning showers. High: 59 Low: 36.

Here are the top three stories today in Spokane:

1. Jewels Helping Hands, a homeless service provider, has submitted a proposal to the city of Spokane advocating for the building of 250 low-cost tiny home shelters instead of the single building emergency shelter space the city had proposed. The project, Hope Village, would be a solution to the homeless encampment across I-90 Fred Meyer near Freya Street that originated in front of City Hall as a protest. The site has over 300 residents living in tents, ramshackle RVs, and beaten-down cars. (Inlander)
2. Recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that union participation in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area is up 14.5 percent as of 2021, outpacing the nation as a whole but trailing the state. Overall, unionized workers grew during the pandemic. David Macpherson, professor of economics at San Antonio, Texas-based Trinity University and the co-author of unionstats.com, attributes the rise in numbers to a tight labor market and a low unemployment rate. (Spokane Journal of Business)
3. Spokane firefighters battled a large fire at an old masonry building located at 921 W. Railroad Alley. The fire, fueled by combustible materials in the building's basement, lit up the skies of downtown Spokane yesterday morning. It was reportedly under control by 7:15 a.m. (KHQ Right Now)

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Today in Spokane:

• Friends of the Library Book Sale At Shadle Park Library (10:00 AM)
• Free AARP Tax Aide At North Spokane Library (1:00 PM)
• Spokane Orchid Society Show At Community Colleges of Spokane (2:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Radio Bar is serving up creative drinks to the backdrop of an intense sound system playing music and sporting events. The cozy bar located in northwest Spokane's Audubon-Downriver neighborhood is decked out with high-quality speakers for pure listening pleasure. (Inlander)
• Spokane's Kolva-Sullivan Gallery is exhibiting "Small Cars, Big Inspiration," the photographs of teen photographs, Anthony Schmidt. The eighth grader's works are particularly noteworthy due to his young age, passion for cars, and autism spectrum diagnosis. Schmidt credits his interest in cars and passion for photographing them to his autism. (Inlander)
• Before releasing his new album, (Un)Commentary, and playing Coachella, Alec Benjamin will be bringing his singer-songwriter pop to the Knitting Factory Concert House on Saturday, Apr. 9. The show comes just a week before he takes the stage at the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (Inlander)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Friday. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Carla Varner