The Spovangelist

A mid-sized city miracle!

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Town Call

February 19th, 2010 4 Comments

6th District Senator, Chris Marr

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Fan The Spovangelist on Facebook

February 10th, 2010 No Comments

No matter how public or private the writer, blogging  is a fundamentally social activity. Many of our most popular posting ideas come directly from you, the reader, and that is one reason why the Spovangelist is now on Facebook.
With the new layout, navigating to your favorite pages can be a bit of a hassle. One [...]

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The Power of Positive Biking

February 6th, 2010 10 Comments

A while back I received the following:
Dear Spovangelist,
We came across your blog today and thought that you might want to know about a cycling jersey we are selling that is stirring up quite a buzz. The new jerseys at www.sharethedamnroad.com send a message to aggressive drivers.
If you decide you want to write a little something [...]

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Haters?!

January 29th, 2010 24 Comments

What, pray tell, have I done to warrant this?

While it might be considered flattering to receive such scrutiny from our friends in the valley, what is the point of such a petty accusation? To get me to write more frequently on an ongoing basis?
If there is one thing SVI thrives on it is controversy. Their [...]

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Quoting Jane Jacobs

January 1st, 2010 5 Comments

“In Death and Life Jacobs described in detail how powerful forces were hurting cities, both physically and metaphysically. She discussed the importance of neighborhoods, and what made one block friendly, but another deadly. She talked about the need for old buildings, and faulted restrictive zoning regulations as often harmful to a neighborhood’s vitality. She castigated [...]

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Mixing Up the Pieces

December 11th, 2009 10 Comments

Tuesday I went through all the rigamarole of signing in for a badge to attend a meeting at City Hall. Wednesday I listened to a fascinating, albeit fanciful, presentation by an architecture student on converting our downtown skywalks into hydroponic juice farms. Today I take these two themes and mash them into one to share [...]

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Community Candid

November 19th, 2009 7 Comments

This is what community looks like:

Sometimes you just get hit with an “Aha!” moment and all the talk and striving and scheduling pays off. THIS is community in action, you say to yourself. Right here, this is what it is all about!
Most recently I felt it at Jon Snyder’s campaign party, and then at the [...]

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The Spotorialist

November 5th, 2009 15 Comments

Spokane needs a dedicated street fashion photographer.

Portrait by Austinspace
We’ve issued an appeal to round out the local blogosphere before, but we’ve learned if you really want something done you’d better be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself.
Consider: There is a world-renowned street fashion blog called the Sartorialist. It was [...]

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Trick or Vote Haunts Spokane

October 29th, 2009 4 Comments

This year Trick or Vote went down in Spokane and enjoyed a respectable showing for such an unconventional first time event.

Despite the descriptive title,  most people’s first reaction is “Trick or what?” The idea of adding political engagement into a holiday festivity is just not intuitive for most. Once people grasp the novelty and purpose [...]

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Browne’s Gets Hip to Facebook

October 14th, 2009 No Comments

Nobody can escape the fact that all kinds of nonprofits, civic institutions and businesses these days are abuzz with how to take advantage of social media. The mania has reached such epic proportions that specialized marketing consultants have come out of the woodwork to meet the demand.
Of course the mystique about things like Facebook is [...]

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