I just sent this email to Ted McGregor the publisher of The Inlander regarding the rather rosy eyed piece by Inlander reporters Smith and Deshais on the last decade in Spokane.  The problem is a woman died in the RPS Parking Garage that was the direct result of a $100M bond fraud that was consummated by the Cowles Media Empire.  This is a real page turning homicide mystery that no one wants to report.  Why?  And more interestingly this is a true story and not fiction!

*****

Dear Mr. McGregor,

I generally don’t expect much from The Inlander but do appreciate the stories that you break from time to time that the Cowles’ media won’t report in our little berg.  The Inlander did do some heavy hitting reporting on the RPS scandal at the time but abruptly stopped for some reason.  As I wrote you sometime ago I have a source who heard Cris Peck allegedly threatened you and The Inlander that if you didn’t stop with your reporting, the Cowles would pull their ad revenue and by inference the other advertisers in their sphere of influence.  They have done this before with other alternative papers by undercutting their ad rates and forced them to go out of business.  You have never responded to my request to confirm or deny this.  At the time I mentioned I have hard evidence that the Cowles did just this to KXLY while Tom Grant was doing his reporting there.  Herling confirmed they were losing $100K in ad revenue.

Sorry but I have to agree with Tim Connor’s critique of your story by Joel and Nick.  I posted several comments in the article thread to alert your readers to Tim’s piece and other alternative info re the Cowles Co has so far successfully covered up the manslaughter death of Jo Savage in the RPS Parking Garage.  The question is whether you will leave my comments.  The S-R has used the artful practice of self-censorship which it has a long M/O of doing with its own reporters in matters near or dear to the Cowles family by removing my civil comments to conceal this alternative info from its blog readers.  Why?   In a normal media environment this would be Page One above the fold material.  Why doesn’t it get covered here?

This story will eventually break and all the media that played along and compromised their journalistic responsibility/ethics/principles to their readers and viewers will look pretty lame as well as all who play “Spokane nice” in our town.

BTW you let Joe Shogun (AKA King Joe) off rather lightly in view of his summarily throwing folks out of Council Chambers during meetings.  When I was there on Dec 7, he threw two people out.  I was sitting in the audience near the front with Reporter Jonathan Brunt and I didn’t hear what was said to invoke the wrath of King Joe.

Yours,

Det. Ron Wright (Retired)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: rocketsbrain <nar9350@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 10:32 AM

Subject: OK some counter-insurgency working re RPS:-) (Big Laugh!)

OK I know some folks have issues with Dave and why he continues to blog under the watchful eye of the S-R.  . . . Dave just posted this piece in his blog somewhat by my prodding.  Never forget that it’s the thousands of little pin pricks of the long tail of the Blogos that will cause the Cowles’ dike on the free flow of info in this berg to break:-)

Never forget…

Posted by Dave at 3:47 a.m. on January 4 Comments (0)

• Tags
• Inlander
• Spokane politics

Good morning, Netizens…

After reading quite a few messages about the article that appears in the latest Inlander, which appears here http://www.inlander.com/content/newscommentary_decade_review_rps_sta_strong_mayor and a well-written rebuttal written by The Center For Justice’s Tim Connor which appears here: http://cforjustice.org/2010/01/01/01012010/ and after pulling and reviewing my own records about the early days of the River Park Square Parking Garage debacle, I have had to make some hard decisions yet once again. I state once again because this entire affair has been beating our consciousness for a considerable time, it has impacted a lot of innocent people, but regrettably, it isn’t over yet.

I know too many people who simply sold their homes and businesses and moved out of the area because of the politics of the time. I remember how the stench of corruption hung over City Hall once the facts surrounding the public-private partnership first became known.

The Inlander article by Joel Smith and Nicholas Deshais appears to have deliberately ignored anyone who holds a different opinion of the facts. No mention is made of the death of Jo Savage, save for the comments to the article by both Ron_the_Cop and the Center for Justice’s Tim Connor. In fact, I cannot recall reading anything in the Inlander that is negative in any way to the interests of Downtown Spokane. Do Smith and Deshais have the balls to quote the elegant former City Councilwoman Cherie Rogers on the “mystery financing” surrounding the parking garage, for example? That might ruin their thesis. I nearly spilled my coffee upon hearing that Jim Sheehan’s developments have any ties to River Park Square. Oh, yeah, sure.

However I think someone should award Joel Smith and Nicholas Deshais a set of matching pom poms and frilly cheerleader costumes so they can stand in front of River Park Square and properly serve up more plastic cups of boosterism that they seem to have uncapped in lieu of journalism.

Dave

I just updated my last post:

A New Year’s Day brick through The Inlander’s rose-coloured windows.

I thought this was worthy of its own post:

I’ve notice that there has been considerable interest in my professional opinion that the Cowles Co. as evidenced by its past criminal actions is a ongoing criminal enterprise as defined in the Federal Rico Act.  Both former Sheriff Tony Bamonte of Breaking Blue fame and I are extensively quoted in this excellent investigative piece by award winning investigative journalist Larry Shook:

‘Deathtrap’

Cowles media dynasty called hub of
organized crime by two former lawmen

Woman died, public threatened because of
government collusion with powerful family, they say  

I would encourage all to watch this short video produced by Larry Shook and decide whether the manslaughter death of Jo Savage is being covered up by the Cowles Co criminal enterprise:

Scroll for Updates:

HT Tim Connor – Center for Justice, Spokane, WA

And life continues on in Spokane, WA.  Spokane has many fine attributes which are why my wife and I chose to relocate here.   Unfortunately the political and governmental environment here leaves much to be desired.  The co-option and corruption in fact is the worst I’ve seen in my entire thirty-five career as a law enforcement criminal investigator.  This is a company town run by the Cowles Co which by its past criminal actions is a ongoing criminal enterprise as defined in the Federal Rico Act:

. . .This ongoing criminal enterprise has successfully robbed in broad daylight the public treasury.  Sheriff Bamonte and I believe that the evidence proves that Jo Savage died as the direct result of this public corruption that has its roots in this criminal enterprise.  Its ongoing criminal actions over time were the proximate cause of Jo Savage’s death during its commission of the RPS Bond Fraud, RPS Bailout and their subsequent cover-ups and its operation continues to put the public at risk. . .

The question still remains is the RPS Parking Garage safe for continued public occupancy? As quoted by Shook, the late Steve Rudd a highly respected construction fraud expert said, “This is the most dangerous public facility I have ever seen.” Do we know it is safe for our loved ones to use?  The City of Spokane has ignored Sheriff Bamonte’s and my demands for the immediate inspection of the RPS Parking Garage.

. . .This criminal enterprise has so thoroughly co-opted/corrupted the political/governmental structures in Spokane that they can no longer act to protect the citizens of Spokane from criminal victimization and from imminent public hazards. The citizens of Spokane and the family of Jo Savage have a fundamental right to ensure that justice is served when their political/ governmental law enforcement and decision making bodies can’t or won’t act because of their systemic co-option/ corruption.  In our legal system – NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.

[Note:  This is a direct quote from my RICO complaint]

The Decade When Spokane Grew Up (Again)

Cleaning up the park in the ’70s was great, but Spokane finally became a real city in the 2000s Joel Smith, Nicholas Deshais

Ron T. Cop

Tim you didn't mention the crooks so far have successfully covered up the First Degree Manslaughter death of Jo Savage and County Prosecutor Steve Tucker is the prime suspect in this cover up.  As for the Inlander I have a source that says Chris Peck [Former Spokesman-Review owned by the Cowles Co] editor] threatened Inlander Pubisher McGregor his ad revenue would disappear if the continued hard hitting reporting on RPS. I have hard evidence that the Cowles Co did this to KXLY when Grant was reporting there. Laurel Siddoway is a common denominator here.

BTW are you going to do a MOBIUS Project wrap up story? Fortunately some sunlight on the players may have disrupted this potential run on the public's money again by Spokane's power elite.

I posted the piece above in the comment thread of the Inlander article as well as this one:

Manslaughter death of Jo Savage in the RPS Parking Garage

Submitted by Ron_the_Cop on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 22:02.

Folks are free to read my evidence and professional opinion re the death of Jo Savage being a First Degree Manslaughter under WA State Law and decide for themselves what the truth is. Further her death was covered up by the powers that be and we still don't know if the RPS Parking Garage is safe for continued public occupancy:

RPS fraud & new Idaho lawsuit & Cover up of manslaughter death of Jo Savage in RPS garage

Here's Tim Connor's article:

A New Year’s Day brick through The Inlander’s rose-coloured windows.

On my way through the Browne’s Addition Rosauers yesterday I picked up two bottles of champagne, a couple peppers, curry sauce, two bottles of tonic water and a free copy of The Inlander.

I should explain the champagne. I thought the 2000s were a miserable decade, and one that will likely be viewed by historians as a pivotal period in which America’s worst instincts devoured its best. Jaded though I am, I still have children to raise, I still have hope that someone will teach me canasta in time for my golden years. I take all reasonable steps, including champagne and medicinal quantities of Guinness, to not succumb to the inner Irish blues that pull at the corners of my smile.

But, apparently, I’m still not seeing all the sunshine in this gray sky, especially here, in Spokane. Here, according to The Inlander’s Joel Smith and Nicholas Deshais, Spokane “finally became a real city in the 2000s” thanks to River Park Square and the turn to the strong mayor system of government.

“This,” Smith/Deshais announce in the first graph of the paper’s 12/31/09  lead news story, “is the decade that did it.”

As to River Park Square in particular, Smith & Deshais think it’s well past time to accept all the expensively promoted economic benefits of the painfully subsidized mall, and slide a big granite slab over the well-documented corruption that was at the heart of the project.

Lots of people who are pleased as punch about RPS are quoted in the story, which advances the rather laughable proposition that even Jim Sheehan’s developments near Main and Division are at least an indirect consequence of River Park Square’s makeover.

Some sense of sobriety in assessing River Park Square’s economic effect would have been useful. In my accounting, the approximate $40 million Spokane will lose to pay off the securities fraud case doesn’t begin to reflect the true financial cost of RPS. . .

UPDATE I:

I've notice that there has been considerable interest in my professional opinion that the Cowles Co. as evidenced by its past criminal actions is a ongoing criminal enterprise as defined in the Federal Rico Act.  Both former Sheriff Tony Bamonte of Breaking Blue fame and I are extensively quoted in this excellent investigative piece by award winning investigative journalist Larry Shook:

‘Deathtrap’

Cowles media dynasty called hub of
organized crime by two former lawmen

Woman died, public threatened because of
government collusion with powerful family, they say  

I would encourage all to watch this short video produced by Larry Shook and decide whether the manslaughter death of Jo Savage is being covered up by the Cowles Co criminal enterprise: